|
|
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
A stove that can trigger a fuel revolution
Seeing a tiger at its own sweet will
Kishor Rithe of the Satpuda Foundation, at the wheel, switched off the engine and we waited. By about 8.20, one got the first glimpse of the radio-collared tigress as it climbed on to the embankment, strolled along before moving down towards us and away into thick, dry light brown grass. From a distance of about 80 ft. we could take some pictures as the tigress walked in and out of the skylight. Kishor refused to age the tigress while Kamalesh Maravi thought it was a full grown, six-year old female. It has three cubs and has earned a frightening reputation as some of the guides believe it had killed a human intruder into the Park some time ago. Kishor, Giri Venkatesan, this writer and his son, Ganesh, had a peaceful viewing as there was only a second Gypsy parallel to us.
Over five days, Ganesh and this writer (Kishor and Giri had to break off on work at Mandla) had five tiger sightings. Evening trips in Kanha start at 3 p.m. and end at 5.30 p.m. while the morning rides start at around 6 a.m. and end at 12 in the afternoon. There were about 30 minutes to go that evening as we were driving in second gear along Dhawajhandi fireline before touching the
It was 5.15 p.m. Yet again, we were alone on the forest track. We moved along to spot a second male, probably mightier than the first, on the right side above a nullah. A peacock was strutting in front of it calling desperately. But the tiger did not attack. For a few moments it sat on its hind legs staring at the peacock nervously pacing in front. The tiger walked down the nullah, circled a tree to smell it and moved away as a few vehicles saw the action. The peacock also made it with its life. “Chalo aaj bach
Driving along the edge of the Kanha meadow, we (along with our guide Kamalesh Maravi) thought we heard a high-toned roar and stood still at the spot. Two wild boars were feeding at a distance of about 80 ft. when Maravi took us back to the rim of the Kanha Meadows. At 8 a.m., in sparkling sunlight, a radio-collared tigress strode out across the grassless part of the Meadow towards a banyan tree. Two elephants tried to trap the lady (for the popular Tiger Show) as it crossed over into the forest beyond. For about a forever 10 minutes, one stood rooted at the easy grace of the lady as she made the distance. Panthera tigris is alone in the super league of Nature. Kamalesh Maravi had his own construct on the event. Possibly, the tigress was mating with a male and went off the scene for its own reasons. The elephants failed to trap the female but got the male for the Tiger Show. Three to four elephants surround a tiger or tigress for the public riding on the elephant’s back to have a sighting. Most wildlifers scorn the Tiger Show. This writer would ban it for the reason that the Tiger Show comes in the way of seeing a tiger at its own sweet will in the wild by the ordinary public.
On holidays (like the one starting ahead of Christmas and ending around the first week of January), more than 70 vehicles enter the Park when the carrying capacity is 55 vehicles per day (six to a vehicle). This information was given last year to this writer by Khageswar Nayak, Chief Conservator of Forests,
But one cannot understand the move of the Park management to open a third gate at Bitcha to add to the rush; currently there are two gates – Kisli and Mukki. In the bargain, the Tiger Show needs to be stopped as it is demeaning to the tigers, if not to the humans.
Public frustration can be really sharp going by the tale told us by Phagan Singh. A frustrated visitor, having spent well over Rs. 20,000, yelled at Phagan Singh Maravi and threatened to report the non-sighting of a tiger to forest managers in
Some time in the future the public may be able to see more tigers as the Satpuda range as
P. Devarajan
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Recycling company building $50m plastic-to-fuel plant
Enviro-Hub's plant will be able to convert into fuel 30,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year |
By Jessica Cheam |
AN EXCITING new use has been found for the annoying plastic waste that often washes up on beaches and clogs rubbish dumps: fuel. It may sound too good to be true, given the soaring price of crude oil and the global hunt for alternative fuels, but mainboard-listed Enviro-Hub Holdings says it is building the world's first large-scale, commercial plastic-to-fuel plant. The waste management and recycling firm yesterday announced the construction of Its executive chairman, Mr Raymond Ng, told The Straits Times that Enviro-Hub had been researching a long-term environmental solution for plastics since 2005. Success came only last month, when a pilot plant it built proved that the technology imported from This patented technology, for which Enviro-Hub now holds an exclusive licence, heats waste plastic with a special catalyst that breaks it down into 85 per cent diesel, 10 per cent liquid petroleum gas and 5 per cent coke. 'This plant is a historic milestone for the company,' said Mr Ng, formerly the co-founder of waste recycler Citiraya Industries, now known as Centillion Environment and Recycling. 'Plastic waste has always been a big problem for the world. The commercial potential in this technology is huge,' said Mr Ng. Enviro-Hub's new 200,000 sq ft plant in Tuas, which will cost an initial $30 million to build, will be able to convert into fuel 30,000 tonnes of waste plastic a year. Mr Mohamed Gani Mohamed Ansari, business development director of Enviro-Hub unit Cimelia Resource Recovery, said the diesel produced - unlike in older technologies - would have low sulphur content and also lower carbon dioxide emissions. The heating process of converting the waste plastic into fuel would also be emissions-free, said Mr Ansari. Enviro-Hub is now looking into seeking carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These credits are savings in carbon dioxide emissions - largely blamed by scientists for global climate change - that can be traded on the carbon market. Enviro-Hub's facility - equivalent to a 24MW plant - will use about 5 per cent of the fuel it generates to power itself. The rest will either be used to power the rest of Enviro-Hub's plants nearby or sold to industries. The plant will start operations by the second quarter of next year, with its capacity expanding to 50,000 tonnes a year at an additional cost of $20 million by end-2008, said Mr Ng. Enviro-Hub yesterday incorporated a new unit - Enviro-Power - to operate the plant. Funding for the plant is internal, the firm said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange. Enviro-Hub also announced late yesterday that it would invest US$4.2 million (S$6.1 million) in a 30 per cent stake in Enviro Energy - a company incorporated in the Enviro Energy, through a unit in The setting up of Enviro-Power and the investment in Enviro Energy are not expected to have any financial impact on the company's current financial year. Enviro-Hub's shares was 0.5 cent higher at 57.5 cents at yesterday's close |
Leadership in Governance
MEN AND IDEAS
Blueline solution in
GURCHARAN DAS
To be able to kill 113 persons in less than 12 months in broad daylight is something of an accomplishment. The distinction belongs to
Closer to
What can
Another painful lesson from this tale of two cities is that it takes a bit of luck to throw up officers like Vivek Aggarwal, who have the knowledge and the will to deliver. The average IAS officer spends a lifetime pushing files and still gets promoted. Vivek Aggarwal, i fear, may actually be punished by a system that puts down achievers. But before that he would have had the moral satisfaction of bringing a smile on 20 lakh faces in
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Technology leadership in Drip irrigation
Last week I read about
BH Jain conferred Water Conserver of |
|
moneycontrol.com: December 1, 2007 |
|
Shri B H Jain, Founder-Chairman of Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, has been conferred upon the prestigious UNESCO & West-Net instituted award as the “Water Conserver of India”. This is taking into account yeomen service to the cause of water conservation. Jain Irrigation is pioneer in micro irrigation and sprinkler irrigation systems in This award has been presented by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Water Resources, Prof. Saif-Ud-Din Soz at a glittering function held in Till date, the Company has received 46 State Awards, 85 National Awards and 3 International Awards for outstanding export performance, R&D achievements and entrepreneurship, Fair Trade Practices Etc. The internationally prestigious "Crawford Reid Memorial" Award instituted by Irrigation Association, The Company employs more than 4,200 people directly and several hundreds indirectly. The company operates through branches and depots practically in all the States besides overseas subsidiaries for supporting and developing Export business. The Company has an outstanding track record in successfully developing Micro Irrigation Systems and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems as an alternative to the conventional irrigation methods. Besides, the Company makes PVC Pipes for Irrigation; PE Pipes for gas and water distribution and ducts for Optical fiber cables. PVC & Polycarbonate Sheet for exports; Fruit Pulp & Puree Dehydrated and Onion & vegetables for exports. Company has modern manufacturing facilities located in The company has recently acquired Companies in USA & Israel in its core line of business as part of strategy to become one of the top 3 global players. At present, Company has 13 plants outside The Company has an extensive Research & Development [R&D] farm and training & development center spread over nearly 1,000 acres of farm at Jalgaon & similar facility near The Company's customers included some of the top MNC's like Coco-cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Gilroy Foods etc. besides Indian large customers like HLL, Reliance, L&T, BSNL, Bharati Telecom etc. The Company had established its leadership in almost all the businesses it is engaged in and the list of satisfied customers are even increasing. |
Friday, December 07, 2007
Singapore bid to become global water hub
If we could have ‘shower’ meters, linked to the volume of water being used & a display that converts that value into rupees, I think it will go a long way in reducing personal water consumption.
Turning a crisis into an opportunity |
K.V. Kurmanath
This, however, is not news. The success story has been written many times over in the last few years.
But what is new is the city-nation refuses to live on the laurels. It now wants to become a global hydro hub, offering technologies and skills in project implementations in the water sector.
It has already begun taking up desalination projects in West Asia and project management assignments in
“The Government has set up a $500-million fund for research and development in the water and related issues,” he said.
Mr Mazumdar was here to showcase the
The city is taking up a S$2-billion project that envisages laying 40-60 metre deep tunnel sewerage system to collect all of its used water and, using the gravity pull, channelise it to Changi Water Reclamation system.
It will also help the City-State free 90 hectares of precious land.
The 10-litre challenge
As a part of its bid to become a global water hub,
As it strived to save and use every drop of water, the Singapore Government launched the 10-litre challenge, asking its people to reduce the per capita daily consumption of water to 155 litres by 2012.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
A businessman`s crusade against darkness
A businessman`s crusade against darkness |
|
PROFILE/ Harish Hande, CEO, Selco |
|
BS Reporter / |
|
|
|
Harish Hande, who has been honoured recently with a prize for social entrepreneurship, has made it his business to take solar power to every un-lit home. |
|
Harish hande, CEO, Selco, who has been selected social entrepreneur of the year by the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation this year, has been in the business of solar electrification since the past 12 years. At last count, his clients numbered 85,000 in 220 villages in Karnataka and 2,000 clients in |
|
Hande says he is into business only because that is the only way he can take solar power to the largest number of people. That has been his dream and main occupation for the last 12 years when he started doing his Masters and PhD in Massachusets Institute of Technology. His subject was rural electrification and whether solar power makes sense. |
|
He says he came upon the idea during a brief visit to the |
|
His strategy for making solar energy succeed has been two fold: doorstep service and doorstep financing. He first started creating solar service centres in all the places he was setting up solar panels. |
|
In addition, he got the centres to identify more potential technicians in nearby villages which were beyond the centre's reach, train them and then help them set up shop. |
|
The second task was to persuade the existing financial network of Regional Rural Banks, cooperative banks to finance the solar panels he set up. “Once that was done, I have been piggy-riding on this network to spread the reach of solar power into the interiors of Karnataka villages,” he says. |
|
In |
|
Hande admits that solar electrification programmes have been criticised for providing just a single bulb and thus keeping the poor sections from being on a par with other beneficiaries of electricity. |
|
He says that his technicians go with a clean slate to the customer's house. It is not a pre-planned one-bulb scheme being offered. People can opt for one or two or three bulbs and even run an electric sewing machine,. The installations can be done in phases depending on the payment capability of the buyer, he says. |
|
He has the story of a customer who ran away when he was told that three bulbs would cost him Rs 12000. The technician of SELCO did not give up, says Hande. He went back to the customer, climbed on his roof and put a single bulb in such a way that it lit up three of his rooms cutting the cost by third. |
|
The costs of lighting up houses come between Rs 5,000 and Rs 18,000 he says. “Of course, solar lighting cannot solve irrigation problems of villagers. That needs so much energy that the costs would be unbearable for the villagers,” says Hande. |
|
He also is not in favour of a single transmission system catering to a number of customers. “It is so much easier to be modular,” Hande says. |
|
He says the idea that drives his business proposition is the Gandhian principle of “production by masses rather than mass production''. And the fact that in Karnataka alone 44 per cent of people have no electricity |