Satish and his thoughts

Nature, Nurture and Fate

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 01:52:00 +0000

One often ponders about what exactly the secret of life is -what causes success, failure, happiness, suffering, social fame or ignominy. Is it Nature, Nurture or Fate controlling life inexorably and invisibly?

The answer would depend upon who gives the answer. A newly-born baby enters the world with genes inherited from his parents. If, in later life, he is afflicted by any serious illnesses which are linked to his abnormal genes, a genetics specialist might simply look at the problem as one emanating from his genetic architecture. He would grow up and learn that nothing much could be done to alter the condition.

It has been observed that nurture, too, has a big role in shaping life. Behavior, personality and attitudes get influenced by the social environment in which one grows up. Children from broken homes who witness or are subjected to aggressiveness and physical violence or those who are born to alcoholics or drug addicts sometimes develop abnormal behavior patterns and attitudes in their later life. Nurture, in some instances, appears to script one’s success or failure story. Sometimes, the correlation is too obvious to be ignored. Of course, one also comes across occasionally how tenacity and hard work more than compensate the negative impact of nurture to achieve success.

Those who believe in astrology follow horoscopes which not only forecast future but also suggest how the stars in unfavorable positions can be appeased so that harm does not come one’s way. A man – suave and intellectual, who never believed in astrology, was in deep love with a woman but his parents would not agree to their marriage unless their horoscopes matched. The man was ready to do anything to win her hands. When he found that the stars did not approve the marriage, he bribed the astrologer to make the horoscopes match somehow. The marriage did take place but they did not live happily ever after. The man ended his life after 30 years of marriage and I do not know how he and his father both now in Heaven might be looking at the turn of events in retrospect.

A fatalist, however, believes that whatever happens in life is inevitable and it owes to his fate. A rationalist might not accept this; if everything is predetermined, then there is little role to play for any individual, he would conclude.

The protagonists for each of the above beliefs are unlikely to change their beliefs easily. Even the great scientists Albert Einstein had his own belief as per his saying:

“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”

What is in a name?

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:46:00 +0000

Notwithstanding the wisdom in the famous lines of William Shakespeare – “What is in a name? That we call rose by any other name would smell sweet” I still think name matters a lot. After all one hears his name thousands of times from the cradle to the grave. It is inextricably linked with everything of his life – his successes and failures, his nature and temperament, his social contributions as well as misdeeds. Consequently, a name gets firmly attached to the person like his shadow. Be that as it may, one must, to begin with, love his own name lest others make a dog’s breakfast of it.
On attaining adulthood, to my dismay, I realized that my name was solely responsible for encountering so many refusals against my initial romantic escapades. My grandfather had chosen ‘Satish’ at the time of my joining school and from then till date I am carrying it as a haversack. Satish - the hero of several novels of the great Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya must have been the favourite character symbolizing sincerity and sacrifice for many including my grandfather. Today TV serials give sufficient clues as to why I was not a hot pick among girls. The story would have been quite different had I got ‘Sayan’ or ‘Subhro’ or any such trendy names.
No wonder, people are so choosy in giving names for the newly- born. Those who have religious or astrological beliefs go to any extent to fulfill their compulsions. A few years back, I was asked to suggest a name beginning with the alphabet ‘V’ for my grand-daughter. There are a few alphabets out of twenty-six in English language which provide only a few words beginning with them. That is why words beginning or ending with those alphabets are always dreaded in word games. After scratching my bald head for two days, I came upon the name ‘Vaijayanti’ which was hailed by all as a sweet name befitting the cute baby. I have not revealed as yet to anyone the secret behind my creativity foray; my favourite celluloid heroine ‘Vaijayantimala’ who came in dreams so often during my college days was the source of inspiration.
Some names are really funny but only their users know how badly they feel using them. If I have to address a short man as Mr High, or a slow working official as Mr Quick, it would put me off. When election was announced, Mr Moody or Mr Power could cause confusion with the prime-ministerial aspirants Mr Modi and Mr Pawar.
In Southern parts of India, a person’s name traditionally includes the name of the ancestral place he belongs to, the name of his father and finally his own name. Therefore some names can make one breathless if all the initials are to be expanded. The famous author Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanaswami is better remembered as R.K.Narayan. Long names may also sound anachronistic especially in an age of miniaturization and the need of the hour is to use as short names as possible. In Bollywood, for a year or two, films with long names were released expecting audience queues would be correspondingly longer. But the clever public came out promptly with acronyms like QSQT (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak) or DDLJ ( Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayange).
Taking cue from the above, my obituary should justifiably read: “SCD – Born 1940, Died 20..; Nobody knows what he did in between”.

Getting up after a deep slumber

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:18:00 +0000

My apologies to you all for going out of sight for such a long period. It is just like Rip Van Winkle getting up from sleep after twenty years and finding the world to have changed a lot meanwhile. Much water has flown through the Ganges river anyway.
I do not know what exactly caused this black-out. It was certainly not the usual periodic writer's block; I have been writing articles all these days for a magazine and also for a book. There has been some disillusionment after the whole world got affected by economic melt-down.
Hopefully the painful days of the recent past are going to be over soon. I also want to write on other topics which deserve analysis and discussion. Let me now get down to writing. Keep reading!

Politics and not Good Economics Prevail

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:48:00 +0000

If over 300 million Indians who are grouped under the category BPL(Below The Poverty Line - an euphemism for the starving not in a position to get two square meals a day) continue to live in their misery despite two eminent economists being at the helm of economic power of the nation, and if the disparity between the rich and the poor has widened alarmingly despite their noble economic policies for the 'aam admi'(the common man), there must be something amiss. The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are acclaimed all over the world as eminent economists and they are architects of India's incredible growth story destined to emerge as the world's second largest economic power by the year 2050. However, going by the spate of recent policy announcements, one wonders whether they have turned seasoned politicians abandoning their garbs of economists as the general election draws near. First came the mega loan waiver for the farmers costing the exchequer over Rs 60,000 crores.The Finance minister has so far been able to reallocate Rs 10,000 crores only for the loan waiver. Is he leaving the Herculean unfinished job of providing over Rs50,000 crores for his successor being sure that he would not have to burn the mid-night oil over the problem? Then the largesse for the middle class following the announcement of tax sops would cost the nation dearly. The 'aam admi' are already reeling under as inflation shows no sign of being reined in. On the other hand, with more disposable income in the hands of a small percentage of population the raging inflation is most likely to become worse engulfing more people. As if not satisfied with its own profligacy, the government appears to be patting its back for having got the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission just at the opportune moment. About forty-five lakh government employees will get 40-60% salary hike putting an additional burden of Rs20,000 crores. What would happen to the pernicious inflation and also the growing disparity between the rich and the poor? There is no time for the policy framers to ponder over these mundane matters now as vote-bank politics is ruling supreme. For those hapless millions who are not part of any pressure groups, such bonanza makes little difference to their lives and on the contrary, they are viewed as ominous signs of darker days ahead. History says when Rome was burning, Nero was fiddling! Is history going to repeat?

POSCO PROJECT IN JEOPARDY

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:44:00 +0000

The 12-million tonne steel project in Orissa to be set up by POSCO was acclaimed as the biggest FDI over two and half years back but it seems to be jinxed. From the beginning, it has been facing roadblocks one after another. There was a furore over the company's reported plan to export high grade iron ores and it died down only after the officials refuted such reports.
The site and infrastructure demanded for setting up of a dedicated port at Paradip also ran into rough weather. But the biggest shock the company got when the landowners of the proposed site refused to part with their land. There was considerable media hype that the project would be a boon for the people of Orissa which is one of the most underdeveloped states in India.It was expected by inveswtors as well as the government that people would just lap it up. Instead, organised resistance groups sprang up to protest against setting up of the project for fear of thousands being displaced from their homes and farmers loosing their farmlands.The resistance soon found sympathisers not only among political parties of all hues but also social activists and environmentalists. If one has been following the news reports on agitation that is going on for months, he or she would conclude that the proposed site has turned into a veritable war-zone. Besides regular violence and injuries to protesters as well as lawkeepers, the situation is getting out of hand as people are arming and training themselves to continue their fight against any forcible acquisition of land. Perhaps, the wind of Nandigram has blown to the neighbouring state.
The last straw on the camel's back came by way of the recommendation given by the Supreme-Court appointed centrally empowered committee saying that POSCO should not be given piecemeal forest clearances. It has urged that only after 'considering the ecologicalimportance of the area, number of trees to be felled, adequacy and effectiveness of the rehabilitation and resettlement plan for the project affected persons and benefits accuing to the states', the clearance should be given.
From the hurdles faced by POSCO, it is quite clear that there there has been too many slips 'twixst the cup and the lip. In their anxiety to win some brownie points, both the state and central government have been going gaga over such projects without first tying up the loose ends. The Chief Minister of Orissa has made a bold statement that work at the project site would commence on 1st April, 2008 coinciding with the state's birth anniversary despite such poor progress made by the project in the last two and half years. The first day of April is also used by pranksters all over the world every year to fool people. Let not POSCO steel project provide fodder for April Fool's Day of the year 2008.

Water: Waste Not, Want Not !

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:34:00 +0000

Location of steel plants is generally decided upon the proximity to two most important resources – iron ore and coking coal. Surprisingly, the third one – water which is emerging as critical resource is not always given proper consideration. Water scarcity is flaring up often as a serious crisis in several parts of India despite floods ravaging the country for decades. Industrialization has worsened the situation as power and steel plants spring up which are water guzzlers.
Now that India is poised to emerge as the second largest steel producer in the world attaining 180 million tones of annual production by 2016, the crisis of water is going to aggravate with 3-4 mega projects of 6-12 million tones capacities along with dozen of smaller capacities being put on the anvil.
The states rich in iron ore deposits having wooed investors for new steel projects are in an unenviable position. The case of the state of Jharkhand serves best to exemplify. It was reported that 11 companies including Tata Steel and Jindal Power and Steel Ltd have applied to draw water from Subernarekha which has the flow of 1520 million cubic meter (MCM) water against the demand of 1667 MCM. Officials said that nearly 329 MCM is being drawn from the river for irrigation, 220 MCM for potable water and 150 MCM for industrial use.
Indian steel industry’s water usage is abysmally poor. For producing one tonne of steel, according to CSE, steel companies in India use 10-80 cubic meter water where as US plants use only 5-10 cubic meter water. Moreover, approximately 80-85 per cent fresh water used in steel making in India is discharged as effluent although over 90-95 per cent water used for steel making in USA is recycled.
Steel is necessary for development but water is essential for life. For sustainable development, the steel industry in India would have to learn to conserve water and use new technology to minimize its use just as it struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming and protect the environment. India’s quantum jump in steel production from 51 million tones to 180 million tones will call for celebration only when the scarce water resources are judiciously used without triggering social conflicts and causing miseries to millions of common man.
It may be recalled that someone had perhaps rightly warned “The Third World War would most probably be fought over water”. Let not steel industry be the villain of piece!

Glossing Over Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:03:00 +0000

An opinion poll conducted by a leading newspaper asked the poser - 'Neither our policy makers understand nor care about climate change'. Pat came the response from the readers; 93% agreed whereas only 5% disagreed with it. Interestingly, the newspaper carried the same day a photograph of a group of school children staging a street play on global warming. The message from the events is clear. The politicians do not put their hearts into such mundane issues as they are obsessed with much more serious matters like how to expand their respective vote banks. Climate change can take care of itself whereas they have very limited time to feather their own nests before the edifice built by severely compromising social and national interests crumble because of their own infightings. There was one more shocking news relating to increasing pollution in cities. Despite directions from the Supreme Court to take measures to curb pollution, the city of Kolkata is chocking due to a lax administration and the city has a maverick Transport Minister who fires salvos unfailingly whenever courts deliver any judgement putting restrictions on the irresponsible and undisciplined public transport operators. It is reported that the mandatory emission tests of vehicles averages a mere 14% for 1.3 million vehicles belching their polluting fumes at will throughout the city. No wonder, Kolkata city has the highest incidence of lung cancer in the country. If only our policymakers understood that they are as much susceptible to health hazards caused by high pollution, they would perhaps divert their attention from power games to climate changes and fighting pollution which will benefit common man.

Politics Invade Steel Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:52:00 +0000

There is all round euphoria and optimism pervading the steel ministry. The national steel policy had envisaged a total production of 110 million tonnes by 2020. The ministry had originally envisaged steel production of 65 million tonnes by 2012, which had been revised to 80 million tonnes. Having revised production figures for crude steel production in the financial year 2006-07 and pegging at 50.71 million tonnes and that of finished steel at 51.90 million tonnes thus becoming the 5th largest steel manufacturer in the world, the optimism of Steel ministry understandably continues to soar high. The steel secretary said recently “Based on the current expansion program, that the companies have presented, it is estimated that the capacity of all the companies put together to touch close to 120 million tonnes. Even if they operate at 90% of the installed capacity, the production level will be at 110 million tonnes.”
In industry circles, such projections of capacity expansion are termed differently namely Pessimistic, Optimistic and Realistic. While the Optimistic projection has been given above, the pessimistic projection would be quite uninspiring based on growth attained in the past decades. The growth of steel industry during 2006-07 though very outstanding cannot be taken for granted as normal for the next five years, some cynics may argue.
It is understandable that such optimism is based on what was discussed by the ministry officials with the steel industry captains recently. It is reported that they pledged to create an additional capacity of 70 million tonnes within next five years and "they have gone full throttle to fructify their expansion plans".
Unfortunately, things are not moving always exactly as per the plans drawn up by industry captains and bureaucrats. There is too much politics in the air polluting the industrialisation tempo. The violent resistance in several states to SEZs serves to tell the people who are actually calling the shots. Even the POSCO steel project in Orissa which was showcased as the largest foreign investment in the steel sector has been languishing for nearly two years due to local agitation over land acquisition problems. The inter-ministerial group (IMG), set up by the government to expedite investments in the sector, cannot provide relief to investors whenever politics get precedence over economics.
So whether projections will ultimately turn out to be optimistic, pessimistic or realistic will depend upon politics and going by the present uncertainties and the low level to which it has already plummeted, such optimism may turn out to be misplaced.

Look Out! Your 'Carbon Footprint' Is Showing

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:05:00 +0000

The catastrophic effects of global warming have started sinking gradually among people all over the world as more and more irrefutable scientific evidences pour in. Greenhouse gas emissions mostly consist of carbon dioxide have been identified to be responsible for playing havoc with the global climatic change. Hard facts are pointing fingers at developed nations to be worst offenders for contributing recklessly to global warming due to their extremely high level of carbon dioxide emissions compared to the developing nations.
Data pertaining to the year 2004 published in newspapers are found to be fully in line with the above inference. The carbon dioxide emissions in million tonnes for the year country-wise are: USA - 5912, UK - 580, Japan - 1,262, Russia - 1,685, China - 4,707 and India - 1,112.
If the total emissions data are unsavoury for the developed nations, the picture is even more revealing about individuals of different countries. Those who live in large houses, occupy big office spaces, travel by cars and planes frequently and use more electric power for air-conditioning and heating are the ones contributing more dangerously to the cause of global warming as in such cases more fossil-fuel burning is warranted giving rise to higher carbon dioxide emissions. A person using bicycle or public transport and living in small house, lighting his house by CFLs and travelling by trains instead of planes would be a 'green' hero whether he or she adopts such a lifestyle by choice or compulsion.
So, even in the developing countries, there are offenders albeit those belonging to the richer classes whereas the poorer masses have to bear the brunt of global warming despite their 'green' lifestyles. Such awareness among the 'haves' and 'have-nots' is bound to ignite social dissention just as striving to usher in change in carbon footprints of the rich is going to be a Herculean task. Global warming , however, cannot discriminate based on the economic or social status while punishing the inhabitants for ravaging the environment.
After all, Death is the greatest leveller, is it not?

Global Warming: Dubious Ways For A Noble Cause

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 09:28:00 +0000

It has finally dawned upon people all over the world that the apocalyptic disaster due to global warming can no longer be wished away and it is waiting as sure as death to strike the Planet Earth. With resigned acceptance by people and media coverage, the awareness about the lurking danger is fast spreading. The initiatives of Al Gore's Life Earth have already resulted in big musical shows in Tokyo, Sydney, Shanghai, London and Hamburg drawing huge crowds. More are being planned all for the noble cause of fighting global warming. Tens of thousands of music lovers thronged the venues in their cars with the aim of fighting the menace and added more greenhouse gas emissions instead. It turned out to be a case where the remedy is worse than the disease. Moreover, with celebrities like Madonna championing the cause, the effect could just be the opposite. Her 'carbon footprint' (with limousines, private aircrafts and luxurious lifestyles in tow) is not going to inspire the common man even as fans in these concerts have been reportedly urged to sign a seven-point pledge designed to change behaviour and put pressure on political leaders in every country.
But fans love to imitate the lifestyles of their favourite celebrities. So, those, like me, who want the whole business of fighting global warming to be serious one, would raise eyebrows at yet another well-publicised campaign titled 'Global Cool' which is being kick started by Hollywood star Sienna Miller with Bollywood superstar Amitava Bachan. The ostentatious wedding ceremony the superstar Amitava recently arranged for his son-actor Abhishek must have caused equivalent to a few thousand times 'per capita' greenhouse gas emissions. Unless the idea is merely to create media hype for the campaign, it is doubtful if any actual benefit would be bestowed to the cause by choosing such dubious ways.
Yet another striking example of celebrities being drawn to the bandwagon is that of Salman Khan. The actor was arrested for killing rare birds while on a film shooting spree in Rajasthan and the case is still under trial. How can such a person inspire the general public to protect the environment? Let us neither pay lip-services to fighting global warming nor make it a farcical musical soiree.

Let Us Make 'Green' Steel

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 01:09:00 +0000

India is already the seventh largest steel manufacturer in the world making 44 million tonnes of steel during the year 2006 and is aspiring to catapult to the second position by the year 2020 with a production capacity of 180 million tonnes. While such targets have caused excitement and euphoria, little has been heard or talked about what impact the massive steel industry expansion would have on the environment.
The whole world has accepted the contention that development should never take place at the cost of environment; it is high time that such issues are discussed and settled here too. Due to stringent environment laws prevalent in USA and Europe, steel units have fallen from grace of general public as one of the main culprits for environmental degradation and have closed down unable to make steel economically.
While India has got an enviable iron ore reserves which ought to be exploited fully for its own economic growth and providing job opportunities to the millions of jobseekers, we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the environmental issues while planning to boost steel production capacity four-fold within a span of just 12 years.
The environmental damage can be somewhat controlled if steel is brought under eco-labelling umbrella. A license is granted to a product based on a basket of criteria including sources and types of raw materials used, judicious use of natural resources, energy-saving production processes, waste management and the product's bio-degradability. Though the general public is somewhat aware of ISI mark as a sign of quality assurance given by Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) to a wide range of products such as consumer products, consumer durable products and iron and steel products, it is still not known to many that BIS also issues EcoMark which is an eco-labelling scheme. There are already 16 product categories covered by it which includes electrical goods, lubricating oils, textiles and plastic products but not steel products so far. Interestingly, BIS does not charge anything for EcoMark for those manufacturers who have licenses for ISI mark.
For the sake of protecting environment, let our steel manufacturers produce 'green' steel with with EcoMark labels. Merely making steel to IS specifications will not suffice to vouch for their social responsibility to protect the environment. The new generation steel consumers may insist on buying only 'green' steel as the awareness grows and everyone's 'carbon' footprint is closely watched.

Changing Lifestyles to Fight Global Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 02:54:00 +0000

"The threat of climate change is real and unless we alter our lifestyles and pursue a sustainable model of development, our future will be at peril."
You must have read it - the message was given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his 1.1 billion countrymen on World Environment Day. That he finally turned his attention to the imminent global crisis is surely a consolation to many even as other nations have already taken several measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In my post 'Global warming: Challenges for The Corporate World', I had touched upon a few steps the corporate world can embark upon to save the planet Earth from unimaginable devastation due to climate changes. As individuals, we too can fulfill our social responsibility in this war against global warming which ironically has been brought about by man himself by his lifestyles with no thoughts spared for the damages they cause to the environment. Experts suggest changes in lifestyles can defer and reduce the severity of global warming. Some of them are:
1. How you go from place to place
The least damage you can cause to the environment in going short distances is to walk down. Cycling may the next best thing to do. For longer distances, public transport should be availed. In case cars are to be used, let the fuel-efficient small cars using bio-fuels be the natural choice and certainly not big cars or limousines which are fuel-guzzlers. Similarly, train journeys will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions several times over compared to plane travel.
2. What are your food habits Organic foods and vegetables should be part of your menu as without use of fertilizers and pesticides, these are eco-friendly. For those having preference of non-vegetarian food, it should be admitted that the environment gets unduly burdened to support the animal livestock.
3.The way you live in your home CFL lighting saves energy by 80% and should replace all lighting by incandescent bulbs. Saving energy is the best way to save the environment. Even using showers instead of buckets of water for baths is a luxury one better avoids for fighting global warming.
4. Keep the family size small Since man is directly and indirectly polluting the environment, less population will automatically bring down greenhouse emissions. So smaller the size of the family, the more 'green' will be its carbon footprint.
Can we really bring about such radical changes in our lifestyles? Perhaps it would need all sincerity and commitment on the part of every individual to make an impact on the environment. It would be indeed a daunting task in a world whose privileged class does not want to sacrifice anything for the sake of benefiting the masses - the empty rhetoric of politicians notwithstanding. Will they ever set examples for others by practicing what they love preaching? The swanky offices and homes of ministers and MPs, the convoys of cars used often for every occasion by them, the traffic snarls (read more pollution) their movements cause are just a few examples to show where a beginning can be made for emulation by others. But that sounds like a pipe-dream.
Is it not?

Global Warming: Challenges For The Corporate World

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 28 May 2007 15:09:00 +0000

As a thumb rule, a company's image is generally dependent upon how much profit it makes. While buying stocks or just for maintaining brand loyalty, the public views the company from this angle alone. However, traditional yardstick of profit to rate companies may soon become outdated. After its six years of painstaking research by 2000 experts by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the three successive reports have bluntly put the steps needed to be taken urgently if the climatic catastrophes are going to be kept in abeyance if not averted altogether. Progressive corporate houses that are conscious of their social responsibility are already trying to do their part and watch their carbon footprints. Such concerted actions are the need of the hour to mitigate the serious problems likely to strike mankind.
Modern offices are swanky and spacious illuminated brightly by incandescent lamps. Bosses occupy office rooms whose sizes seem to match their egos than anything else. If the offices are designed to allow more natural light and use energy-efficient lighting, there would be lot of saving of power which in turn would bring down greenhouse gases. Such buildings should provide solar panels to meet its own power requirements even if partly. Companies having residential colonies can go for central air conditioning which can supply air to the houses. A small community town is reportedly getting ready in Florida having such a facility. Some corporate bigwigs, however, may develop cold feet to such measures which in a way try to clip their wings.
Contrary to popular belief, automobiles cause more pollution than factories. Instead of travelling by individual cars, if the public transport is used by employees of companies, then there would be significant reduction in greenhouse gases. The corporate tradition to provide cars of sizes to executives commensurate with their hierarchical positions is unjust in a world fighting global warming as bigger cars are fuel-guzzlers. The cavalcade of cars often seen whenever the top bosses travel may be good for ego trips but is outrageous from the point of becoming carbon neutral.
Executives of progressive companies frequently go places. They fly in and out to save time. Unfortunately, air transport causes many fold greenhouse gas emissions than train travel. Although train journey is slow, it should become the unenviable choice for the sake of fighting global warming. Some airlines offer free tickets for frequent fliers for their business growth. There are many instances when executives of large corporate houses get more interested in availing the free tickets than doing justice to the purpose for which the flying is undertaken. Such schemes may be very attractive to individuals but they leave dubious carbon footprints.
As the awareness grows about causes for greenhouse emissions and measures for its control, everyone is going to watch with alacrity how carbon offsetting is being made by individuals as well as corporate houses. Carbon footprints may soon be the new bottom-line for companies.

To Fight Global Warming Or Not To ...

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 07 May 2007 01:01:00 +0000

Horror scenarios of global warming are no longer being brushed aside as mere flights of imagination of some over-zealous scientists. After the publication of two successive reports submitted by UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC), people in general all over the world have belatedly become aware of the fast approaching Doom's day. It has now dawned upon everybody that this man-made crisis can only be somewhat mitigated by man-made solutions. The present war-cry is to cut down greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible so that even if action is taken now, the impact would be felt after decades.
As a simple measure, the use of energy-efficient fluorescent lamps (CFLs) instead of the conventional incandescent lamps can reduce carbon dioxide emissions drastically. According to the UN draft report, this change alone will reduce a billion metric tonnes of carbon gas emissions and will save $122 billion by the year 2020. The benefits are simply awe-inspiring and nations are getting ready to jump into the bandwagon.
Unfortunately, every change is accompanied by some pain or the other. Even before the awareness about the above energy-saving measures spreads and among the masses, the conventionalists are taxing their brains on how to stall such changes. Their contention is that use of energy-efficient lamps may enhance mercury contamination unless their manufacturing and disposal are handled with utmost care as these lamps contain highly toxic mercury in them. While no one should overlook the need of caution to be exercised, there is a risk of vested interest spreading misinformation especially among poor and illiterate masses in developing countries to pour cold water on such useful products.
Among the two evils of global warming and mercury contamination, while global warming is threatening to wipe out life from the planet Earth, mercury hazards which can become life-threatening sporadically must be minimised by adopting safe handling and disposal methods. It appears as though man is caught between the devil and the deep sea. But my survival instincts prompt me to take on global warming first and after taming the demon go after mercury hazards.

And Miles To Go Before ...

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:09:00 +0000

India would love to be ranked No.2 globally - be it economic power or steel production or some other criterion. We are already euphoric about emerging as the second strongest economy by the year 2050. This is not daydreaming. The world famous financial analyst Golden Sachs made this forecast after thorough research. But doubts linger in the minds. Already the GDP growth rate for the year 2007-08 has been scaled down to 8.5%. Then, are we going to attain double digit growth rates or the economy will start cooling even before getting heated?
I read in Economic Times that India is set to emerge as the world's second largest steel producer by the year 2016 when the production capacity will rise to 120 million tonnes. The steel secretary is reported to have given this one-liner assurance -"Given a conducive mineral policy framework, this country should be producing 120 million tonnes by 2015-16 and 180 million tonnes by 2019-20". Doubting Thomas es would say it took 16 years after the liberalisation of the steel industry to double the capacity; will it then be possible to treble capacity just within 9 years notwithstanding the acquisition spree of foreign steel companies by domestic producers. The National Steel Policy took years to see the light of the day. The mineral policy framework will emerge only after several ministries and Planning Commission arrive at a consensus. All this will take time. Then one does not know whether the policy will really be 'conducive' to the steel industry or not. Some of the mega projects for which MOUs were signed with lot of fanfare have not made much progress. Posco project in Orissa is still dragging its feet over land acquisition and independent port facilities at Paradip. The JSW project in West Bengal is facing resistance over land acquisition.
The serious delay in execution of power projects (which are the most important ones for building the infrastructure) and the recent alarming news of severe power cuts in the industrial hub Mumbai affecting production show the failure of the government to implement projects in time. During the Tenth Plan, power sector could achieve just 56% of capacity addition against target. The Working Group on power has already warned of serious fund shortage to the tune of Rs450, 000 crores ($100 billion) during 2007-12 which is nearly 45% of the total funds needed for power projects during the period.
With such pathetic performance of the government in the past, the optimism aired by officials should be taken with a pinch of salt. We should not get too excited about such scenarios as we have learnt from past experiences that there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. Some may consider me as a pessimist for expressing such doubts. I would be happy if I am proved wrong.

Carbon Credit At Risk of Getting Discredited

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:29:00 +0000

'Carbon credit' has so far been touted as a practical scheme of fighting global warming. Simply stated, it is intended to reward 'carbon credits' to those who bring down greenhouse emissions by adopting appropriate measures. Those who exceed greenhouse emissions would have to buy 'carbon credits' for offsetting.
The whole business of fighting global warming this way appeared too simplistic to me. My apprehension that the rich nations would be exploiting the poor nations by their unrestricted greenhouse emissions with the help of carbon credits bought from the poor nations was sounded in my post 'Carbon Credit As Sops Saps Poor Nations'. It said:
"... GHG emissions, unfortunately, do not affect selectively but pervade everywhere. So the rich as well as the poor will suffer unimaginable losses in the long-term and we will be leaving the planet in much less habitable condition for the future generations.What a ghastly scenario!" After reading a news report in The Times of India titled 'British firms use India prop to pollute', I feel reassured that I was not wrong in harbouring such apprehension. It quotes Mary Taylor - a green activist saying
"It is really perverse. It allows western companies to continue polluting while handing over large amounts of money to a company in India, which itself produces large amounts of green house gases."
Companies earning millions of dollars by encashing carbon credits and investing the profits in projects that contribute to global warming should not be allowed to put an air of 'holier than thou' in the corporate world while for the poor masses, it would be be out of frying pan into fire.
Is it not?

Scoring Hundred

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:20:00 +0000

The Significance Of The Number 100
The digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 singly or in combination give various numbers. However, the number 100 has different significances altogether depending upon the context in which it is used.
Milestone in Life: Octogenarians and nonagenarians are not held in public awe anymore with longevity increasing all over the world. But when one completes one hundred years, the centenarian does get reverential attention.
Academic Performance: In schools and colleges, the most brilliant student is indisputably determined by the one who scores 100 out of 100.
One Hundred Metres Sprint Race in Olympics: There are dozens of sport events for which medals in Olympics are awarded to the winners. But the winner of gold in one event - 'One hundred metres sprint race' is given the singular honour of 'fastest man/woman in the world'. The fastest man today in the world, according to the official records, is Donavan Bailey of Canada who finished the race in just 9.79 seconds.
Googol: One of the two Google founders Larry Page had initially wanted to give the name Googol to their search engine. Googol is 1 followed by one hundred zeroes just as one billion is 1 followed by nine zeroes. Due to some spelling mistake, Googol became Google which millions use as search engine.
The100th post in Blog: Bloggers are publishing thousands of posts in their Blogs round the clock. But the 100th post, I think, is a very significant milestone for an individual Blogger. Self-propelled to blogosphere without any idea about the alien world, my blog 'Satish and his thoughts' started on 24 June, 2006 completes its 100th post with this. For me, its significance is no more less than other significant 'One Hundred's listed above. But for the support and encouragement of you all, my blog would not have seen this red-letter day.
I wish you all 'Happy blogging' in days, months and years to come.

Appalling Apathy To Alarming Global Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:15:00 +0000

If my last post was on indifference at the national level to the impending crisis due to global warming, the present one based on an news in Economic Times titled 'Doomsday's here. Almost' touches upon the apathy at international level.
The writing is on the wall that man-made greenhouse emissions might trigger massive extinction of life on Earth in near future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), after its six years of painstaking research by 2000 experts, has warned in its first report of rising global temperatures and sea levels. "The Earth would heat up between 1.8 centigrade and 4 centigrade by the end of the century, and upto 6.4 centigrade at the poles which heat up twice as fast around the equator. Melting ice has led sea levels climb 17cm in the 20th century and at the rate of 31cm per year since '93."
The irony is that the climate changes will affect the poorest regions in the world that are least responsible for production of greenhouse gases. As if to rub salt to injury, the worst offender nation USA which produces 25% of global emissions has been apathetic to joining Kyoto Protocol that has united all nations with few notorious exceptions to fight out the catastrophe. Perhaps, such attitudes and past actions on the part of some rich nations prompted Pope Benedict to write in his first book "Rich countries bent on power and profit have mercilessly plundered and sacked Africa and other poor regions and exported them the cynicism of a world without God."
The hapless millions of the developing nations which are being punished for the wrong-doings of others would find solace to know that the US Supreme Court has now declared global warming a serious and urgent problem in its first ever ruling on the subject. With ice-caps perilously melting in the polar regions, I hope the offenders' hearts would also start melting at the misery of the poor millions. As part of their retribution, massive assistance to the needy to mitigate the situation is called for.
Better be late than never!

Is Anyone Listening To Warning On Global warming?

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:06:00 +0000

After a long time, I found today's newspaper headlines screaming "Himalayan Meltdown only 20 years away ..." truly newsworthy. Usually, this space is taken up by news relating to cricket World Cup or such banal issues like government's ban on TV channels for committing obscenity or hike in bank loan rates. As if, these things deserve more attention than the apocalyptic scenario of impending global warming.
According to an UN draft report by its climatic panel, the glaciers in the Himalayas will melt away affecting hundreds of millions of people. The draft technical summary warns "If current warming rates are maintained, Himalayan glaciers could decay at very rapid rates shrinking from 500,000 square kilometres to 100,000 square kilometres by 2030s. In Africa and Asia, millions would go hungry due to damage to farming and water supplies. In lands close to the equator, declining crop yields would leave hundreds of millions unable to grow food".
The whole world is slowly waking up to the stark reality and several community measures are being taken on a war footing to ward off the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. In Sydney, they switched off incandescent lights and air-conditioners to conserve power and thereby collaborate to fight global warming.
Our leaders here are seized with more pressing things like election in UP, Supreme Court ruling on OBC quota etc. Of course, they are far-sighted enough as far as their vote-bank politics are concerned and would rather be interested in expanding their own fortunes than worrying about shrinking Himalayan glaciers by 2030s. By then, it would be too late to rectify their Himalayan blunder!

No Time For Governance

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:28:00 +0000

“Procrastination: Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now” - Larry Kersten (American Sociologist and Author).
I found the above quote very amusing and relevant. Those in the government - ministers and bureaucrats seem to have been immensely inspired by it. Or else how can one gloss over the colossal loss of over Rs25,545 crores ($58 billion) incurred in 476 centrally-funded projects. It just sums up to 8% of cost overun. The irony is that the most serious delays occurred in power, petroleum and railway projects which constitute the backbone of India's infrastructure. The government, without any let or hindrance, would be happy to fantasize about becoming the second largest economy in the world when development of basic infrastructure vital for such dreams to materialise remains neglected.
Who is to blame for such poor performance? Nobody. In the recent history of the government, there is hardly any instance when any head of a minister or bureaucrat has rolled for such failures. Introspection seems to be the right medicine to cure such maladies. The other day, the Prime Minister, while talking on the slippages in power projects, suggested introspection for the officials. For the crucial power sector, the achievement against the target was a meagre 56% for the Tenth Plan. Interestingly, such shortfalls did not happen overnight but was spread over 5 long years and despite a separate ministry of Programme Implementation supposedly monitoring central projects round the year.
BCCI President Sharad Pawar, who is also the Agriculture Minister, also advised introspection after the debacle of Team India in World Cup 2007. Where else his heart should be as BCCI is the richest cricket organisation in the world? It is unfortunate that he cannot devote so much time for the hapless farmers who are committing suicides by dozens.
Similarly, inflation is forcing millions of self-employed, daily wage-earners and senior citizens(who are not getting pension from the government) to tighten their belts to make both ends meet. The ministers and the government officials who should have been alarmed at their own failures are protected automatically with their pay and perquisites linked to consumer price index. And even before any pressure has built up for setting up of the Sixth Pay Commission, the Prime Minister himself took the initiative to announce it to win the hearts of the pampered and organised group of government employees who constitute merely 4% of the total labour force.
My advice to the remaining 96% of the labour force is that they should be patient and introspective.

India's Fuel Basket For Power

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:40:00 +0000

Starting from where I had left my last post, India is gearing to use a basket of fuels for meeting its burgeoning power needs. It aims at generating 65.6% (84,400 MW) Thermal, 26.6% (33,942 MW) Hydro, 3% (3,900 MW) Nuclear and 4.8% (6, 191 MW) Renewable power by 2012. Thermal Power: India is endowed with huge coal reserves which provide a ready and economical resource. Obviously, it has been chosen as the main fuel for power generation till 2012. Out of the total thermal generation, coal-based generation has been fixed at 69,616 MW (54.1%), gas-based generation at 13,582 MW (10.6%) and oil-based generation at 1,203 MW (0.9%). Gas-based plants have the advantage that they can be commissioned within 28 months whereas the coal-based plants need at least 40 months. There is a low capital cost and commissioning cost for gas-based plants too. In a study of comparable cost, it was found that Interest during construction (IDC) and financial charges (FC) work out to only Rupees 2.75 crores ($.62 million) per MW for gas-based plants whereas it is Rupees 4.24 crores ($96 million) per MW for coal-based plants. India's preference should be for gas-based plants for their lower cost and less time taken for commissioning. The supply position of gas is also going to improve drastically and will be boosted to 250-270 mmscmd by 2012 from the current level of 90 mmscmd.
Hydro Electricity: India has vast potential of 150,000 MW but it is yet to be tapped. Generation of 33,942 MW by 2012 is envisaged which amounts to an utilisation of only 17% of the potential. Hydel power is clean energy and its generation is independent of fuel supply. It should therefore be given the priority it deserves.
Nuclear Power: Though only 3,900 MW (3%) of power generation by nuclear plants has been envisaged by 2012, there is a lot of scope to increase capacities significantly. India has got good reserves of Thorium. Public sector initiatives along with private sector partnerships will be required to expand capacity of nuclear power.
Non-conventional Energy Sources: A target of 6,191 MW (4.8%) for non-conventional energy sources by 2012 appears to be achievable. Wind, solar, bio-mass energy are showing great promises. Unfortunately, the emphasis has so far been on traditional sources chiefly coal though non-conventional energy sources can be exploited with proper support from the government. India's power position is going to improve as the mix of fuels for generation undergoes rapid changes due to cost, availability and environmental factors. Such prospects are brightening gradually.

India's Power Scenario Brightens Up

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:32:00 +0000

Power is one of the most critical components of infrastructure required for economic growth and better standard of living. Historically, the growth in the power sector has been always sluggish compared to the economic growth in India where as it should have been the other way. Now that India's GDP is growing at the rate of 8-10% and is projected to grow at 10% during the XIth Plan period (2007-2012), the desirable growth rate for the power sector ought to be at least 12%.
Despite such an apparent deficiency in its infrastructure, the famous financial analyst Golden Sachs stunned the world with their recent conclusion that India's economy would emerge as the second largest in the world - next only to China by 2050 and it would surpass Japan by 2032. It would be safe to presume that such conclusions were made definitely after taking into consideration the strategies and blueprint prepared by the Government and planners which aim to add a whopping 1,00,000 MW additional generation capacity by 2012 to bridge the gap between demand and supply of power.
It involves the capacity addition target of 45,500 MW for central Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Power, 41,800 MW for State Electricity Boards/State Utilities and private sectors. Nuclear and non-conventional energy have been given more importance to augment power. A target of 6,400 MW of nuclear power and 10,700 MW of non-conventional power has been fixed for the period upto 2012.
With such massive capacity addition, the per-capita consumption of electricity would reach 1000 KWH/year from the level of 606 KWH/year (2004 - 2005). This is still much below per-capita consumption of 10,000 KWH/year in some developed countries. The latest provisional figures show a peak demand of 100,423 MW where as the demand being 86,425 - a deficit of 13.9% (April 2006-January 2007). Taking into account the gigantic task as well as the huge potential in growth of power sector, the Government of India has set its goal - Mission 2012: Power for All. In line of its commitment, the annual budget for 2007-08 (which essentially is a statement of accounts) has increased the budgetary support for power reforms and development from Rs650 crores ($148 million) in 2006-07 to Rs800 crores ($180 million). It has also given emphasis on Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP). These projects involve huge investment in the region of Rs20,000 crores ($4.5 billion) or more with capacities of 4000 MW. Two units at Sasan and Mundra have been cleared and two more are expected to be cleared out of seven UMPPs by July,2007. For accelerated growth in the power sector, such projects hold out great promise.
So, there I see light at the end of the tunnel. Do you?

Children Take The Lead In Fighting Global warming

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:52:00 +0000

Today global warming and its apocalyptic effect on the planet Earth is no longer viewed by the scientific world as distant scenarios but is a hard reality facing the entire human race. It is, however, shocking that masses still live in the illusion that it is not going to affect their lives even as clinching evidences like shrinking icebergs in Arctic or Antartic regions as well as other serious climatic changes are regularly reported. A recent report of Reuters said "13% Americans have never heard of global warming, even though their country is the world's top source of greenhouse gases".
If this is the state of affairs with the nation of richest economy and high literacy, the awareness among people in India having poor literacy is obviously very low. There is a ray of hope, however, to the looming crisis. It has been possible to spread the awareness unexpectedly through animated films and movies for kids. Movies produced abroad like Ice Age: The Meltdown for the children dealing with global warming was a big box-office hit.
Children in India can also play a very effective role in spreading the awareness among people. They should learn subjects such as global warming, environment and pollution compulsorily at the high school level. In all interviews and examinations for recruitment, each candidate must satisfy the selectors that he has the minimum required knowledge about global warming. Thus awareness about global warming will go up and that is how a beginning can be made to fight it. How I wish it happened yesterday!

Indian Chilli Enters Guinness Book of World Records

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:46:00 +0000

You must have found the title some what amusing and wondered what I was really up to - writing on steel. roses and now chillies. As I am committed to portray India's inner strength despite thousands of blogs still engaged in showing only its poverty, beggars, monkeys, snake-charmers et al, this post had its compelling reasons.
Coming to chillies, I have been reading reports about them in Times of India for the last two days with the last title 'How India won the chilli war'. International honours are hard to come by and when it was to be decided which chilli is the hottest, there were 3 serious contenders. The result (do not mistake in assuming that it was based on tasting them as that would lead to, who knows, terrible consequences) was given after elaborate tests were carried out by New Mexico State University's Chilli and Pepper Institute. The Indian entry known as Naga Jolokia was crowned with the honour scoring 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs) and USA's Red Savina scored 577,000 SHUs. The other entrant Dorset Naga which was developed for years scored 923,000 SHUs. Just to get an idea of hotness of chillies, any chilli having only 300,000 SHUs will bring tears. It is perhaps for the obvious reason, Naga Jolokia has a local name 'Bhoot' (ghost) as one would surely start seeing ghost when it is put in the mouth even accidentally. Records are made only to be broken.
Guinness Book of World Records have many examples of old entries giving way to new entries. In this age of globalisation, one cannot shy away from competition. Till some other chilli is found to be hotter than Naga Jolokia in some other part of the globe, let us savour its global honour (definitely not its taste though!).
To sum up, India is surely very very hot.

India's Acquisition Spree From Steel To Roses

noreply@blogger.com (Satish) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Recently, India proved that it has the nerves of steel by acquiring two steel giants of Europe - Arcelor and Corus to become the world's No. 1(Mittal-Arcelor) and No. 5(Tata-Corus) manufacturers .There might be a mistaken impression among some quarters that its most acquisitions have been made for manufacturing or services.
It all changed after I read a news report on St. Valentine's Day that a firm in Bangalore is negotiating with a Dutch flower company Sher - the biggest in the world for acquisition. Incidentally, it seems 40% of annual rose sales takes place on this occasion alone. It may be too early to speculate whether India will be catapulted to become the world's biggest grower of flowers; but already it is being reckoned as a flower power with exports touching $678 million which is expected to cross $1 billion by 2010.
Adding such feathers to India's cap would be truly admirable if one does not read daily about farmers' unabated suicides and grim struggles of tens of thousands of farmers. The stark reality is that even agriculture is not free of infrastructure weaknesses which have been impeding growth of manufacturing sector. Power has been a laggard for decades although other sectors have been scaling new heights.
Not surprisingly, the noted business school KnowledgeAtWharton and a consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group have said in a new study "India is on its way to becoming world-class manufacturer due to changing environment but poor infrastructure, bureaucratic red tape and restrictive labour laws have kept India's manufacturing a backwater while its services have become red-hot'.
'Sher' means tiger in Hindi and to capture big tigers including the Dutch one, India must firstly have power - to light homes, run factories, turn pumps and also to make roses bloom brilliantly.
Is it not?