Damn! My house is not clean!

Damn! My house is not clean!

I was screaming on the other day. My house is not clean! My house is not clean!

I was shouting on the street! No one cared!

Frustrated that no one was helping, I came into the house and continued to tell that my house is not clean! As though a miracle would happen and someone would clean my house for me, to my satisfaction!

No one was coming! Finally, I had to take the broom and mop to clean it up – it will take a while to finish the work because….my house is not small!

 It is the 7th largest in the world. It has more than 1 billion people living in it. India!

This may not just be a thought in H.O.T.  but would become ……

Feasibility of Sethu Project

hi srivats….. the following article elaborate the feasibility of the project. – From Muthukumar

i too oppose the canal,not for religious reason but on economic and environmental grounds. Its rationale is more political than economic. It will become one more public sector white elephant.
The Palk Straits, between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, are so shallow that only small boats can pass through. So, east-west coastal ships have to go around Sri Lanka. So do ships from Europe and Africa to the east coast.
Sethusamundaram will be a furrow dredged in the sea-bed of the Straits, deep enough to accommodate ships of 20,000 DWT. The canal will save ships both distance (saving fuel) and time (saving daily charges for chartering ships). So, it should be able to charge ships for passage, like the Suez and Panama Canals. This revenue is supposed to make the project economic.
The project is a political gift for Tamil Nadu. It will hugely help Tuticorin port, which today can receive ships only from the west, and not the east. It will improve the viability of existing and planned minor ports in the state. Hence, Tamils call the canal a 150-year dream about to come true (it was first proposed around 1850).
Dreams are costless, but canals are not. Project documents claim that the canal will save ships 36 hours of time and 570 nautical miles of distance. But a recent study by Jacob John in Economic and Political Weekly exposes these claims as highly exaggerated. Up to 70% of the traffic through the canal is projected to come from Europe and Africa. And John estimates that the time saving from Europe to Kolkata will be only eight hours, and the distance saving 215 nautical miles. From Africa to Kolkata, the time taken will actually increase by 3.5 hours (being piloted through the canal is a slow process), and distance reduced will be only 70 nautical miles.
John calculates that ships could lose up to $4,992 per passage if they are charged the tariff laid down in project documents. In which case ships will find it cheaper to go round Sri Lanka. If the government cuts the proposed tariff to attract traffic, John estimates that the project’s rate of return could fall to an uneconomic 2.5%. I expect that the project will also suffer cost overruns in capital and maintenance dredging, and hence be in the red.
The canal is supposed to be ready
by November 2008, not far off. So why has the project not been able to sign up potential users? The finance minister has appealed to private shipping companies to participate in a project that will benefit them, yet no shipping company has come forward. The economics of the canal look much too dicey.
The Suez and Panama Canals save ships thousands of miles, and that makes them profitable. Sethusamundaram is not remotely comparable. It is designed for small ships (the project documents talk of 20,000 DWT), whereas the Panama Canal takes ships of up to 65,000 DWT and Suez takes ships up to 150,000 DWT.
The Suez and Panama canals were dug through land corridors, and once dug stayed dug — they did not face sand inundation from the sea. However, Sethusamundaram will be a furrow in the sea-bed, at the constant mercy of currents bearing sand.
The government’s environmental assessment has cleared the project on ecological grounds. Yet, much of that assessment was not about sand incursion, but about fears of possible damage to coral reefs, coastal erosion, oil spills, and changes in ocean salinity and temperature. Besides, the ecological studies were done from the Indian side of the Palk Straits, and not the Sri Lankan side, and so are technically incomplete.
My own major fear is not so much that the project will ruin the environment, but that the environment will ruin the project. I fear that ocean currents will keep dumping fresh sand in the furrow of the canal. The Palk Straits are shallow not by accident but because sand-bearing currents have made them so. Combating the full force of nature is perilous, expensive and sometimes impossible.
The project envisages maintenance dredging of two million cubic metres per year, infinitely more than required by the Suez and Panama canals. Jacob suspects (and so do i) that actual maintenance dredging will far exceed project projections, rendering the canal uneconomic. An extreme event (like the 2005 tsunami) could dump enough sand to close down the canal.
Finally, global shipping is shifting to ever-larger vessels. Bulk carriers and tankers often exceed 200,000 DWT, and those under 60,000 DWT are being phased out as uneconomic. Old general cargo vessels have been replaced by container ships, which started small but now exceed 35,000 DWT, and may soon touch 75,000 DWT. Such vessels cannot use the canal.
So, Sethusamundaram will be unsuitable for the large vessels of the 21st century. It is a 150-year old idea for 150-year old ships. That may be its epitaph.

Comment by R.Muthukumar — September 25, 2007 @ 7:08 am | Edit

Sethu Project!

I appreciate that every Government wants to be secular. However in the name of secularism or technology or science or logical reasoning, questioning the fundamental belief of one religious sect is not acceptable [existence of bridge built by Ram]. I am not asking them to worship the Gods but a mere courtesy to respect others belief! 

In the name of technology progress why to shatter people’s belief. Can’t they listen and act properly? There are studies which show this Sethu project may not be feasible; why can’t they act on that? What are the alternate routes they have looked into? 

 My humble request to the concerned, respect others feelings and beliefs.  This is an earnest request because ‘Veterans’ are ruling the state and they have accomplished lot of things. They have brought lot of improvements into the system. TN is growing and they take care of common man. I don’t want this project to be a black mark for them by spoiling and destroying the beliefs of the people. 

 Will they listen?

Snape’s selfless nature!

Many of us were lured by Harry Potter and the characters in the series for variety of reasons. One that stands out is the character called ‘Snape’.

All through the series Snape was portrayed as a bad guy or in Potter language a death eater. Even when Dumbledore makes Snape his confidant, we were not in a position to believe that he would live up to his expectations.

Snape not only lived upto his expectations but gave his life in the process. The quality which makes me look upon Snape with admiration was his nature of not to look for recognition, praise or reward for what he was doing.

Snape was cursed, hated and loathed for his actions and his acrimonious nature was hated even more. Though he hated Harry for some reason or other, his word to Dumbledore and his own reasons to protect Harry lead him to sacrifice his life.

For quiet some time, I have been wondering if there could be anything or anybody who is selfless and does not care about the recognition or reward for their action. Got an answer – Snape!

I guess being selfless would bring peace of mind! If not while living; at the least at the time we go other world!

Just a thought in H.O.T!

Auto 007

Some interesting facts & figures in AUTO (TUK TUK) business in Chennai!

(The absolute figures might be approximate but the % is more or less fine)

Number of autos with permit : 40,000

Actual number of autos in chennai : > 1,00,000

Then how’s the difference : Autos from other places like chengalpattu, kancheepuram, NO PERMIT (app 60,000)

 Hmm…bribes help man!

Available permits: NONE – ZERO.

What is the approximate cost of permit in BLACK: Rs 80,000 + Rs 3,250 for name transfer [app]

[Thank God service tax, sales tax, edu cess & other taxes are not applicable - some relief!]

 Ownership of Autos:

 90% not owned by drivers of auto! So, plenty of room for money lenders to play!

Financing:

Hmm…you may think that the trusted govt owned banks would come to the rescue & provide loans! Ok here is the story

Only 65% of cost of auto would be given by bank. [App cost of Auto Rs 2,00,000 and increasing]

So, because of higher initial payment, the buyers go to money lenders! Hmm…you know what is the rate of interest

Fitness Test:

Govt rate or cost for FC is app Rs 500 but the cost acually is Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,700 depending on how many hands to be greased!

Hmm…money money…!!!

So coming to share auto: App Rs 600 is the rent per day and above rules of bribe and loans apply!

Disconnect in rule for share auto:

“6 people are allowed in a share Auto” – City Commissioner

“4 people are allowed in a share Auot” – RTO

“Sorry too less to manage our business - so we take 12″ – Auto driver!

“Ha ha ha…we love these disconnects…time to make money”.. – Mamus!

How business friendly!

Just a thought in H.O.T!

007 series would continue!

Price of cheap goods!

What is the cost of buying or making the goods cheaper and cheaper, day after day?!

Do you think this question is ridiculous? Think again!

When you buy a toy for your kid sibling or buy a cool t-shirt or a frozen food at a very very cheap – what is the price you (we) are paying?!

By hesitating to pay a couple of dollars or few hundred rupees more to a product we are actually paying a greater price either in the form of personal health issues or destroying our ecosystem – polluting our environment.

To know more, read about how Chinese industries operate – recent product recalls etc! There are issues with Indian industries too (textile and dye industries especially)!

It is chicken and egg case, wherein when you ask the company why they give products which are cheap (lesser quality) to customers they put it on customers and vice versa.

Soon, there may be a day, when even if we are willing to pay more to an environmental and ‘living being’ (not only human) friendly product – suppliers may not be able to provide it! Reason – very resource would have been polluted by then!

Do we want this scenario? What can we do as customers or vendors to avoid this situation?

It is said in B-schools that QUALITY as a distinguishing factor is long gone – now it is taken for granted by customers; I don’t think so! Quality & environment friendliness will capture the mind of a customer even today and definitely tomorrow!

Just a thought in H.O.T!

The AutoJunky!

Introducing THE AUTOJUNKY! 

I would like to introduce you all to THE AUTOJUNKY – Sriram (a) Srinath.

I have noticed that kids carry lot of passion or say they want to become a pilot, doctor etc etc., and later forget about it. However this guys interest never got abated.

He has channeled his passion in the correct directions and to start with has been regularly contributing to top automobile magazines in the form of letters giving his opinions.

His latest letter or idea about Tata 1 lakh car was awarded the Star letter status by overdrive. I can keep writing about his passion but it would be great if you can get a take of his ideas at http://rumblingv8.wordpress.com & http://wheelsofram.blogspot.com 

Cheers!

New found passion!

Nanbargaley (Friends)

My new found passion: Tamizh (Tamil)

As any language Tamizh has got its own specialties and sweetness. Though I did Tamizh as a language in my school, I did not carry the passion to learn it better. To improve my language quotient, started to read tamil books and literature and started listening to discourses. The experience was / is fantastic!!! Truly, the experience is revitalizing. For example when the orator talks about Ram and Seetha’s first encounter; When Ravanan is about to be killed; Ravanan’s good qualities; Ram’s Patabhishekam and how Krishna talks Karnan – the list goes on and on!!! I was just enthralled by the sweetness and the depth of Tamizh! So to begin with, I have started reading Thirukural, Thirupavai and Kandasan poems. I am sure the journey would be interesting.One learning I would like to share – there are always new things available at our disposal to keep our day interesting and relevant! For me I found an interesting thing called Tamizh! Hope my friends will also finds things which interests them! With a sweet tamizh song in my mind – Kuthu song in fact,

Rishikesh & Hathipaon

 

My recent trip had been to Rishikesh and Musouriee in Uttarakand (Uttaranchal – depending on which faction you belong too!). I went with my team mates and had a blast of time. This blog is about my experience!

Day1:

Our team assembled in Noida and we used four buses as transport. It took almost 8 hours for us to reach rishikesh. The section in which we were to do rafting had a rating of 3/6 in toughness scale – for first timer it was exciting! I wanted to keep my stomach light, so had couple of bananas and some chai – man for that weather, the chai was GREAT! (I prefer coffee over chai but here the chai was superb). I guess the weather should have been around 22′c – which is cool!

 

The guide told us that we have to go further up the mountain to do the rafting and it was 30mt drive. There we go again on a slow but marvelous drive; it was just like doing a River Trail. All the way up we saw Ganga following down stream towards Haridwar. All along the trail, one could see myriad temples and houses. Man – one should see that place to absorb the beauty! We had another excitement in waiting for us – there had been a landslide and I had the opportunity to see how the clearing happens! BRO people were very quick in clearing road and the traffic was back to near normal. After this minor trouble; slowly, we reached the camp point and we were asked to take rafting gear!

We could hear the roar of Ganga flowing near by; the whole team was excited to get into the action! We had roughly 8 rafts for us and each raft had 8 people on it. After the safety and operational instruction from our guide, we jumped into action! I took position in the front and people that’s the best place to be in – especially in rapids! Pure adrenaline rush! There were brief plains and we were allowed to jump into Ganga – do I need another invitation! I just jumped from the raft into the river - praying that life jacket works! – the water was cold and the experience was awesome! PEOPLE, I WAS OUT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF GANGES SWIMMING!!! Thank god, I got into the raft on time, we were approaching a rapid – oooshhh!!!

 

The rafting went on for 1.30 to 2 hrs. We came back to hotel – all dead tired but full of excitement – and lunch was ready for us. I devoured the food and took siesta!

 

We started to musouriee in the afternoon and reached in the evening!

 

Day2:

 

We reached musouriee and from there we had go further up (around 14km) to a place called Hathipaon. We had omnis waiting for us and we went to the camp place. This is my first experience with a nature camp – no creature comforts!!! More than any inconvenience, the beauty and joy of being in sync with nature was the best part.

 

We spent couple of nights in Hathipaon and the time was fabulous. During the day – we would go for trek, rappelling and rock climbing. During a short trek, I happened to see the observatory used by Mr George Everest (the person who measure the heights of almost all the peaks in Himalayas). Valley after Valley..and complete silence!!! Around of 10 our team had decided that they wanted to stay away from leeches and play cricket all day long (yes, they did play cricket all day long)…the leeches scared the heck out off them!!!

 

The second night was more eventful than the first one, we had plenty of people singing old soft English rock and some Hindi songs. The going was good and all on a sudden the rain started pouring – it was a literal down pour! I had never been so close to a cloud like this before! It was 4.30am and I woke up with a jolt, jeez the booming sound of thunder over my tent, damn loud it was. I wanted to see how heavy the rain was, since it was pitch black, I could only feel it!

Day 3: We started early in the morning and reached Noida around 430pm. It was very long drive but once again it was a memorable one, ‘coz of dum-charades! It was pure fun!!!

 

Day 4 and 5 – Meeting!!! Boss back to job again!!!

Who will guard the guards – Part 2 – Hit & Run case!

People were taken aback a couple of days back when NDTV revealed what’s happening behind the scene in the BMW Hit & Run Case! People involved were Mr I U Khan (the PP), Mr R K Anand (the defense & sitting MP of Upper house), Mr Sanjeev Nanda (the main accused) and Mr Kulkarni (witness).

It was very shocking that the Public Prosecutor & the Defense lawyer were colluding against the victims! Of course they are denying their wrong doing and as per the law of the land, THEY ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!

What could be the reason (the main thing)? Unreasonable delay is the main one. For nearly 8 years this case has been under hearing in the court. This is in spite of the fact that sufficient SCIENTIFIC evidence was presented by the prosecution side. Why the accused cannot be prosecuted based on this evidence? May be the court doesn’t want to! A million dollar question!

When there is enough forensic evidence, the court asks for witnesses. When there are enough witnesses they ask for forensic evidence.

Mr Kapil Sibhal, in his response to the telecast says that “This is not surprising for me. Everybody in this field knows what is happening” (Para phrased). If people in power, know about this, why appropriate action is not being taken? Are we sending you to the parliament to chit-chat and do walk outs. Instead of talking over the television that JUSTICE IS CRUMBLED, why cannot people in power take action? May be there is no incentive for them to spend their time here – yeah, what return do they get on the invested time!

Just to through some numbers on the pending cases in India (source:Hindustan times)

Over three million cases are pending in India’s 21 high courts, and an astounding 26.3 million cases are pending in subordinate courts across the country.At the same time, there are almost a quarter million under-trials languishing in jails across the country. Of these, some 2,069 have been in jail for more than five years, even as their guilt or innocence is yet to be ascertained.This has been revealed by official figures emerging from the home ministry’s department of justice, under a Right to Information Act application placed by a citizen.

I hope the readers gather what is the gravity of the situation. A citizen (rather a poor citizen) cannot approach his constituency’s MP or MLA (‘coz of the attitude they have), cannot take legal course (‘coz of the time it takes to get justice!) and cannot approach civic bodies because they are equally corrupt or inefficient to handle the person’s grievance. What to do in this situation? Who will come to the citizen’s rescue? What happened to RIGHT TO RECALL the candidate? Should the citizen be empowered to SACK a corrupt employee of government?

[I am being cheesed off by these elected representatives attitude. Example Mr RK Anand, he is an MP and the lawyer representing the accused! It is not wrong in representing the accused but colluding to get him acquitted is the appalling thing.]

My last thought on this: What do school teachers do when the students don’t behave properly? …………. you know the answer!