The Allahabad HC today in the Ayodhya land title case has ordered that the disputed holy site in Ayodhya be divided into three parts:
The bench decided to divide the disputed 2.7 acres of land into three parts, with each of the three parties to the suit getting a part of it.
Hindus, the Sunni Waqf Board and the Nirmohi Akhara, will each get one part of the disputed land.
(1) Ram Lala, the birthplace of Lord Ram, given to Lord Ram
(2) Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabootra to Nirmohi Akhara and
(3) The remaining part to be given to the Sunni Waqf Board.
Meanwhile, there will be a status quo in Ayodhya for three months during which a petition can be filed.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Google has emerged as the world's most attractive employer
Google has emerged as the world's most attractive employer, but four global auditing giants are posing a challenge to the technology giant, says a survey by employer branding company Universum.
According to Universum's -- The world's most attractive employers 2010 -- index, Google retains its number one position for the second consecutive year.
"We are witnessing the auditing firms and FMCG companies reconquering their talent group after a brief love affair with the IT industry," Universum chief executive officer Michal Kalinowski said.
The survey took into consideration responses of close to 130,000 career seekers with a business or engineering background. Here is a look at the world's 20 most attractive employers. Read on . . .
1. Google
In the summer of 1995, Larry Page and Sergey Brin met for the first time at Stanford. Larry, 22, a University of Michigan graduate, was considering the school, and Sergey, 21, was assigned to show him around.
According to some accounts, they disagreed on almost everything during this first meeting.
In 1996, Page and Brin, now Stanford computer science grad students, began collaborating on a search engine called BackRub. It operated on Stanford servers for more than a year -- eventually taking up too much bandwidth to suit the university.
Next year, Page and Brin decided that the BackRub search engine needed a new name. After some brainstorming, they went with Google -- a play on the word 'googol,' a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflected their mission to organise a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.
In August 1998, Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check for $100,000 to an entity that dd not exist: a company called Google Inc.
In September, Google set up workspace in a garage at 232 Santa Margarita, Menlo Park.
Google files for incorporation in California on September 4. Shortly thereafter, Page and Brin open a bank account in the newly-established company's name and deposited Andy Bechtolsheim's check.
Craig Silverstein a Stanford graduate was Google's first employee.
In December, PC Magazine recognised Google as the search engine of choice in the Top 100 Web Sites for 1998.
Google is now headquartered at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California.
According to Universum's -- The world's most attractive employers 2010 -- index, Google retains its number one position for the second consecutive year.
"We are witnessing the auditing firms and FMCG companies reconquering their talent group after a brief love affair with the IT industry," Universum chief executive officer Michal Kalinowski said.
The survey took into consideration responses of close to 130,000 career seekers with a business or engineering background. Here is a look at the world's 20 most attractive employers. Read on . . .
1. Google
In the summer of 1995, Larry Page and Sergey Brin met for the first time at Stanford. Larry, 22, a University of Michigan graduate, was considering the school, and Sergey, 21, was assigned to show him around.
According to some accounts, they disagreed on almost everything during this first meeting.
In 1996, Page and Brin, now Stanford computer science grad students, began collaborating on a search engine called BackRub. It operated on Stanford servers for more than a year -- eventually taking up too much bandwidth to suit the university.
Next year, Page and Brin decided that the BackRub search engine needed a new name. After some brainstorming, they went with Google -- a play on the word 'googol,' a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflected their mission to organise a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.
In August 1998, Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check for $100,000 to an entity that dd not exist: a company called Google Inc.
In September, Google set up workspace in a garage at 232 Santa Margarita, Menlo Park.
Google files for incorporation in California on September 4. Shortly thereafter, Page and Brin open a bank account in the newly-established company's name and deposited Andy Bechtolsheim's check.
Craig Silverstein a Stanford graduate was Google's first employee.
In December, PC Magazine recognised Google as the search engine of choice in the Top 100 Web Sites for 1998.
Google is now headquartered at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California.
Brindavanam’ film release postponed to Oct 14th
As ‘Mahesh Khaleja’ is releasing on a day before on October 7th and was already announced officially,the producer of Brindavanam Dil Raju has wisely decided to release his film a week later so that it will not damage both the movies box office collections.
But once again, we are reminding you that the official announcement on the film postponement is yet to be made.
On the other hand, NTR fans are keeping pressure on producer Dil Raju to the release the film as per the date announced before on October 8th. As they are taking it as prestige issue, they are taking the issue
Andhra Pradeshengg colleges to be served closure notices
he Council of Higher Education will issue notices to 497 engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh, asking why they should not be shut down for not having proper infrastructure and enough teachers and students.
The move comes after the K Lakshminarayana Committee that was set up to find out if the state's 672 engineering colleges had proper infrastructure and faculty reported that 497 colleges did not.
These colleges mostly employ part-time teachers and do not have the required infrastructure,the committee found. At least 200 of them "do not have enough students to make running of the colleges viable".
Secretary for Higher Education M D Christopher said these colleges will be told "to take immediate steps to recruit faculty or shut down".
"The quality of education in these colleges is really not up to the mark," he said. "The state government has taken a serious view of complaints of Vice Chancellors at the conference where Governor E S L Narasimhan was present."
The move comes after the K Lakshminarayana Committee that was set up to find out if the state's 672 engineering colleges had proper infrastructure and faculty reported that 497 colleges did not.
These colleges mostly employ part-time teachers and do not have the required infrastructure,the committee found. At least 200 of them "do not have enough students to make running of the colleges viable".
Secretary for Higher Education M D Christopher said these colleges will be told "to take immediate steps to recruit faculty or shut down".
"The quality of education in these colleges is really not up to the mark," he said. "The state government has taken a serious view of complaints of Vice Chancellors at the conference where Governor E S L Narasimhan was present."
Queen's Baton to enter Delhi today
Thu, Sep 30
The Queen's Baton Relay will enter New Delhi at 8 am on Thursday, having covered 20,000 km through all 28 Indian states and seven Union Territories. On Wednesday, the Baton reached Gurgaon with Beri MLA Dr Raghubir Singh Kadian handing it over to Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria near Farrukhnagar at 1 pm.
The excitement was evident as the Baton entered rural Gurgaon with two Shera look-alikes welcoming it at Sultanpur village. "We had seen Shera on TV," giggled 13-year-old Akaash, one of the village boys.
An hour later, the Baton was at Nehru Stadium in the city, where the DC carried the baton in an special open vehicle along with team leader Lt General Raj Kadian. Haryana Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, MoS Agriculture and Cooperatives Sukhbir Singh Kataria and DGP Ranjeev Dalal were waiting at the stadium to pose next to the Baton. The Deputy Commissioner's children, Aditi and Sauhard, had come in from Chandigarh for the event and posed for pictures holding the Baton as thousands of kids from local schools looked on from a distance. Around 4 pm, the Deputy Commissioner ran with the Baton till the nearby Chintpoorni Temple from where it went to many important spots in the city, covering 21 km in all, before being taken to Dhancheri Tourist Complex located near the Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza, where it will be kept for the night.
On Thursday, the Baton will be brought to the CWG Organising Committee headquarters at Jantar Mantar, where at an official launch in the afternoon, OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi will hand it over to Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna. The L-G will then pass on the Baton to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The OC headquarters will organise cultural programmes between 7 and 8 pm till October 2 to mark the Baton's stay there. On Friday, the baton is likely pass through Vijay Chowk, India Gate, Teen Murti Bhawan, Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple while on Saturday it will be taken to Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, St Columba's School and CWG Village. The QBR's 1.9 lakh-km journey across 71 countries will culminate on October 3 at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium before the opening ceremony.
The Queen's Baton Relay will enter New Delhi at 8 am on Thursday, having covered 20,000 km through all 28 Indian states and seven Union Territories. On Wednesday, the Baton reached Gurgaon with Beri MLA Dr Raghubir Singh Kadian handing it over to Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria near Farrukhnagar at 1 pm.
The excitement was evident as the Baton entered rural Gurgaon with two Shera look-alikes welcoming it at Sultanpur village. "We had seen Shera on TV," giggled 13-year-old Akaash, one of the village boys.
An hour later, the Baton was at Nehru Stadium in the city, where the DC carried the baton in an special open vehicle along with team leader Lt General Raj Kadian. Haryana Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, MoS Agriculture and Cooperatives Sukhbir Singh Kataria and DGP Ranjeev Dalal were waiting at the stadium to pose next to the Baton. The Deputy Commissioner's children, Aditi and Sauhard, had come in from Chandigarh for the event and posed for pictures holding the Baton as thousands of kids from local schools looked on from a distance. Around 4 pm, the Deputy Commissioner ran with the Baton till the nearby Chintpoorni Temple from where it went to many important spots in the city, covering 21 km in all, before being taken to Dhancheri Tourist Complex located near the Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza, where it will be kept for the night.
On Thursday, the Baton will be brought to the CWG Organising Committee headquarters at Jantar Mantar, where at an official launch in the afternoon, OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi will hand it over to Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna. The L-G will then pass on the Baton to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The OC headquarters will organise cultural programmes between 7 and 8 pm till October 2 to mark the Baton's stay there. On Friday, the baton is likely pass through Vijay Chowk, India Gate, Teen Murti Bhawan, Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple while on Saturday it will be taken to Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, St Columba's School and CWG Village. The QBR's 1.9 lakh-km journey across 71 countries will culminate on October 3 at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium before the opening ceremony.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Pawan Kalyan, Devi Sri Prasad will win the hearts of western audience!
Hyderabad, 29 th Sept : The Telugu film industry is filled with talented music directors and actors, who have keep creating some of the most awe-inspiring acting and tracks for Tollywood projects. Slowly the International film fraternity has become more aware of the talent pool available in Tollywood.
Recent reports suggest that the maverick Music director Devi Sri Prasad has been roped in for an international project. Devi Sri Prasad has been signed on to create the music for a multi-lingual film on the life of Jesus Christ. Singeetham Srinivasa Rao is going to direct the new movie in four languages (English, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam ).
Devi Sri Prasad is slated to produce music for all the four versions of the movie. It goes without saying that this is perhap
Recent reports suggest that the maverick Music director Devi Sri Prasad has been roped in for an international project. Devi Sri Prasad has been signed on to create the music for a multi-lingual film on the life of Jesus Christ. Singeetham Srinivasa Rao is going to direct the new movie in four languages (English, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam ).
Devi Sri Prasad is slated to produce music for all the four versions of the movie. It goes without saying that this is perhap
Pawan ,Singeetham’s new film titled ‘Traffic Jam’
Hyderabad,29th Sept:Already it was known that after Puli, Pawan Kalyan is busy shooting for a new flick which is being made under Aditya Productions. It is said to be a multi- lingual film to be made in Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and English.
It will be produced by K.Krishnam Raju and will be directed by ace director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. The latest news is that the film has been titled as ‘Traffic Jam’.
As per the sources it is heard that Pawan who was much impressed with the storyline has agreed to play the lead role in the film.
It is also heard that the film deals with the life of Jesus Christ. J.K.Bharavi will be the writer for this film while Shekhar and V.Joseph handles the cinematography.Devi Sri Prasad has composed tunes for the film.
It will be produced by K.Krishnam Raju and will be directed by ace director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. The latest news is that the film has been titled as ‘Traffic Jam’.
As per the sources it is heard that Pawan who was much impressed with the storyline has agreed to play the lead role in the film.
It is also heard that the film deals with the life of Jesus Christ. J.K.Bharavi will be the writer for this film while Shekhar and V.Joseph handles the cinematography.Devi Sri Prasad has composed tunes for the film.
The Wall’ of Indian cricket
here are a few men we hate to see fall - one such man is Rahul Sharad Dravid, ‘The Wall’ of Indian cricket for decades. Many dream to do what Dravid has done with the willow – with which he fought many a battle to bring glory to Indian cricket.
Dravid with his warrior spirit oozed confidence from the very beginning of his career and made an entire generation fall for his sturdy and no-nonsense approach to the game. Dravid may not be a Tendulkar or a Ganguly or may not be as swashbuckling as Sehwag, but he is and will go down as one of the batting greats to have ever graced the game of cricket.
Somewhere in all these years of grind, Dravid never got his due as a player but none can question his loyalty to the team, nor can one ever say that he flinched while facing hostile bowling that has been dished out to him all over the world.
Such is the prize on his wicket that legendary spinner Shane Warne wrote in his memoir:
“The fortress could also describe Rahul. Because once, Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent of a dozen cannon firing all at once to blast him down.”
Statistics say that Dravid after Allan Border faced the maximum numbers of deliveries in Test cricket – this tells us how much Indian cricket is dependent on him.
Year after year, Dravid has been consistently scoring runs and winning matches for India at home and abroad. No other Indian batsman has saved or won more Test matches than Dravid, but he has never received the accolades that he so rightfully deserved. Lack of laurels has never been a deterrent to his motivation; such is his love for cricket that Dravid like a humble servant of the game continues to labour every single day to bring honour to Indian cricket.
After Sachin Tendulkar, he is the only Indian batsman to score more than 10,000 runs in both forms of the game. But Dravid has always been the man behind the curtains and our board too hasn’t been kind to him. From being forced to keep wickets when India missed an all-rounder to being given the captaincy when it had no takers, Dravid has done all that he could do for the country.
It’s bewildering that there was no media hype and fanfare when Dravid went past 11,000 Test runs to become the fourth highest run-getter in Test cricket. Maybe we have failed to see the perfectionist in Dravid or maybe we just have a penchant for imperfection.
Is Dravid destined to play the quintessential role of the supporting hero eternally? He does not seem to have a problem with donning this role as long as the team wins. But I do have a problem with this as a true player like Dravid deserves to be up there with the greats of the game.
Hopefully his lack of runs in the Sri Lankan series doesn’t force the selectors to overlook him for the Australia and New Zealand series.
It’s a pity that from now on we will get to see less and less of a legend called Rahul Dravid.
Dravid with his warrior spirit oozed confidence from the very beginning of his career and made an entire generation fall for his sturdy and no-nonsense approach to the game. Dravid may not be a Tendulkar or a Ganguly or may not be as swashbuckling as Sehwag, but he is and will go down as one of the batting greats to have ever graced the game of cricket.
Somewhere in all these years of grind, Dravid never got his due as a player but none can question his loyalty to the team, nor can one ever say that he flinched while facing hostile bowling that has been dished out to him all over the world.
Such is the prize on his wicket that legendary spinner Shane Warne wrote in his memoir:
“The fortress could also describe Rahul. Because once, Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent of a dozen cannon firing all at once to blast him down.”
Statistics say that Dravid after Allan Border faced the maximum numbers of deliveries in Test cricket – this tells us how much Indian cricket is dependent on him.
Year after year, Dravid has been consistently scoring runs and winning matches for India at home and abroad. No other Indian batsman has saved or won more Test matches than Dravid, but he has never received the accolades that he so rightfully deserved. Lack of laurels has never been a deterrent to his motivation; such is his love for cricket that Dravid like a humble servant of the game continues to labour every single day to bring honour to Indian cricket.
After Sachin Tendulkar, he is the only Indian batsman to score more than 10,000 runs in both forms of the game. But Dravid has always been the man behind the curtains and our board too hasn’t been kind to him. From being forced to keep wickets when India missed an all-rounder to being given the captaincy when it had no takers, Dravid has done all that he could do for the country.
It’s bewildering that there was no media hype and fanfare when Dravid went past 11,000 Test runs to become the fourth highest run-getter in Test cricket. Maybe we have failed to see the perfectionist in Dravid or maybe we just have a penchant for imperfection.
Is Dravid destined to play the quintessential role of the supporting hero eternally? He does not seem to have a problem with donning this role as long as the team wins. But I do have a problem with this as a true player like Dravid deserves to be up there with the greats of the game.
Hopefully his lack of runs in the Sri Lankan series doesn’t force the selectors to overlook him for the Australia and New Zealand series.
It’s a pity that from now on we will get to see less and less of a legend called Rahul Dravid.
India invites Pakistan minister for Games
India's foreign minister has invited his Pakistani counterpart to watch the Commonwealth Games, which begins on Sunday, and said he hoped it could also give them a chance to carry forward their peace dialogue.
"Foreign Minister (Shah Mehmood) Qureshi is most welcome to witness some of the Games at least, and there again give us a chance ... to continue the dialogue," S.M. Krishna told NDTV news channel in comments aired on Wednesday.The two sides are trying to improve ties that plummetted after the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people and derailed a sluggish four-year-old peace process with Pakistan.
Krishna and Qureshi's held peace talks in July and those ended in acrimony over the attacks, even though the dialogue itself is seen as a tentative step toward improving ties.
Sister Nivedita students conducted health survey on nutrition awareness
A health survey was conducted by the tenth class students of Sister Nivedita School as part of weeklong awareness programme on nutrition.
The survey has revealed that a majority of students were not following a healthy and nutritious diet plan. Students will remain healthy if they drink more water and have meals along with fruits at appropriate time. They should also participate in exercise regularly. A presentation on nutritious and balanced diet was also given to students in the morning assembly.
In connection with Ganesh and Ramzan festivals, students of CMR Model High School participated in a fancy dress competition.
Students collected money to help elderly people. Geeta High School students presented a demand draft of Rs.80,090 to the Help Age India at a function held on the school premises recently. The amount was raised by students from third to tenth classes.
Students of Sister Nivedita School mesmerised the audience with their performances during poetry recitation, songs and skit organised in connection with Hindi Diwas. The highlight of the programme was Quwwali on Hindi varnamala by secondary school children.
Principal Jayanthi Venkataraman reiterated the importance of national language and advised students to improve their proficiency in learning a language. Children of Nasr School in Khairatabad paid tributes to their teachers at a cultural extravaganza. The invitees
The survey has revealed that a majority of students were not following a healthy and nutritious diet plan. Students will remain healthy if they drink more water and have meals along with fruits at appropriate time. They should also participate in exercise regularly. A presentation on nutritious and balanced diet was also given to students in the morning assembly.
In connection with Ganesh and Ramzan festivals, students of CMR Model High School participated in a fancy dress competition.
Students collected money to help elderly people. Geeta High School students presented a demand draft of Rs.80,090 to the Help Age India at a function held on the school premises recently. The amount was raised by students from third to tenth classes.
Students of Sister Nivedita School mesmerised the audience with their performances during poetry recitation, songs and skit organised in connection with Hindi Diwas. The highlight of the programme was Quwwali on Hindi varnamala by secondary school children.
Principal Jayanthi Venkataraman reiterated the importance of national language and advised students to improve their proficiency in learning a language. Children of Nasr School in Khairatabad paid tributes to their teachers at a cultural extravaganza. The invitees
Sharing name on US watchlist, Patel is stopped at O'Hare
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was stopped and questioned by US authorities at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Monday because of a peculiar mix-up � the US has on its watchlist a man with the same name and date of birth as Patel.
While the Ministry of External Affairs usually counters this situation by informing US counterparts of Patel's itinerary well in advance, a sudden change of travel plans of the minister caught the Chicago authorities unaware, resulting in this rather embarrassing situation.Patel was questioned at O'Hare. He was not carrying a diplomatic passport but a personal one. So when he did tell the authorities there that he was a minister in the Indian government, it did not work. The Indian consulate in Chicago had to intervene and phones had to be worked before he was allowed to proceed.
Patel was on his way to Montreal via Chicago for a conference of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. He later sought to play down the incident. "I am in Montreal, nothing serious has happened...There is a person with a similar name and birth date, that is why they double-checked," Patel told The Indian Express.
This is not the first such situation for the Minister � he landed in a similar spot earlier in New York. This time, the mix-up happened because Patel's original itinerary, involving travel from Europe to Montreal via New York, changed suddenly and he personally booked a ticket to fly via Chicago. With no prior information on the Indian minister, authorities at O'Hare stopped him.
Rupee appreciates by 25 paise against dollar in early trade
The rupee appreciated by 25 paise to 44.90 against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market in the morning trade today on capital inflow into equities by foreign funds. Forex traders said that fresh capital inflow into equities by foreign funds kept the rupee sentiment firm.
They added that the dollar''s losses against other major currencies also helped the rupee gain. The rupee had ended 14 paise lower at Rs 45.15/16 against the US currency in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex rose by 129.19 points to 20,234.05 level in the opening trade. PTI RS KPS.
They added that the dollar''s losses against other major currencies also helped the rupee gain. The rupee had ended 14 paise lower at Rs 45.15/16 against the US currency in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex rose by 129.19 points to 20,234.05 level in the opening trade. PTI RS KPS.
Ayodhya ruling tomorrowAyodhya ruling tomorrow
Noting that the call for reconciliation had come 50 years too late, the Supreme Court today dismissed a plea to defer the verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits and cleared the way for the Allahabad High Court to pronounce its judgment.
The Lucknow Bench of the High Court is now free to deliver the verdict any time before or on October 1 when Justice D V Sharma, one of the three judges on the Bench which heard the case, retires.Just 24 hours before the High Court was to pronounce the judgment on September 24, petitioner Ramesh Chandra Tripathi got a divided Supreme Court Bench to stay the verdict to initiate last-minute settlement talks. He had cited apprehension of communal tension in the aftermath of the judgment.
It was at this juncture of indecision in the apex court that Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia decided to hear Tripathi's petition today at the head of a three-judge Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan.
At 2 pm, after a half-day-long hearing, the Bench dismissed Tripathi's petition without offering reasons. The order in a single paragraph put an end to the "uncertainty".
"Having considered detailed arguments, we are of the view that the special leave petition (of Tripathi) is to be dismissed. It stands dismissed," the court said.
The decision may be a result of submissions made by Attorney General G E Vahanvati, called forth to "assist" the court, that the government does not want the "uncertainty" to continue as the "law and order machinery cannot sustain this state of continued animation".
It may also be the outcome of the words of senior advocate Soli Sorabjee who said "judges have to deliver judgments according to facts, law and conscience, they shall not worry of the consequences". Then again, the arguments by various plaintiffs, including Sunni Central Board of Waqf and Hindu Mahasabha and with the exception of original plaintiff Nirmohi Akhara, who strongly supported the pronouncement of the judgment and considered Tripathi an "alarmist".
The day started with Tripathi's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi warding off criticism of his client being a "non-serious player who never attended court hearings". "He is 73 years old. An old man who lives near Ayodhya. He could not travel 120 km to attend court every day," he said.
Alleging that the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 led to the Bombay serial blasts, Rohatgi said reconciliation was a better option but his client needed time to bring "hardened" litigants together.
A judgment, he said, would see one of the parties coming to the Supreme Court in appeal, only to "remain here for long years". "The High Court should have also tried (for settlement) rather than saying you (litigants) talk and then come to us," he argued.
He blamed the Centre for "meekly sitting through the prolonged litigation" despite its powers under the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993 in which land would be "vested" with the government to propose building a temple, a mosque, tourist amenities and other public utilities like a library.
"The government was on a secular path in 1993, providing for both communities to co-exist. Why has the Central government kept quiet all these years? A proactive stand was necessary from this government," he said.
Rohatgi argued it was "wrong" on the part of the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench, in a majority judgment in 1994 on a Special Reference from the President, to construe that the Act only gave the government powers of "limited vesting", that is, the authority of a Statutory Receiver to manage the disputed land until the High Court decided the title suits. "If the 1993 Act provided the government powers, why did it keep quiet?" he asked.
To this, Justice Alam said: "Why were you quiet all these years?"
Rohatgi responded by saying "how much can one man do? And now I am running against time."
"You are running against time because you woke up late, 50 years late," Justice Alam said.
"But My Lord, a stitch in time saves nine. Consider me now," Rohatgi answered.
He said Justice Sharma's retirement was hardly an impediment as under Order 20 Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code, a judge can pronounce a judgment written by his predecessor. He said if mediations are conducted under the government or the court, the present judgment can be placed in a sealed cover and read out once the talks fail. "In extraordinary situations, the courts have also innovated," he argued.
The Nirmohi Akhara said it was against indefinite continuation of the litigation but favoured a "time-bound deferment". It said Justice Sharma's tenure could be extended by six months or a year. It even agreed to start talks with the Waqf Board, the other title contender.
Senior advocate Anoop Chaudhary for the Waqf Board said Tripathi had got it wrong when he said the 1992 demolition was connected to the Bombay blasts.
Senior advocate Ravi Shanker Prasad, appearing for Dharam Dass, said let the court decide the suits and then the Centre will see that the order is followed. "The old man came to the Supreme Court, though at the last moment," he pitched in.
Sorabjee, appearing for All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said: "We are 100 per cent for settlement, we are 100 per cent against the delay of judgment. What is this settlement, what are the terms� there should be some degree of realism."
"The possibility of a lunatic fringe fomenting trouble does not mean that the judiciary should be held at ransom. It is the Games now, later it will be Obama's visit," Sorabjee said.
Vahanvati countered Rohatgi's version that the government was "meekly sitting" all these years. He said the government was bound by the Rule of Law, by the 1994 Supreme Court decision that it should don the role of a Receiver.
"In 2010, Mr Tripathi wakes up to say that the 1994 decision is wrong. The Central government did not sit 'meekly', I repeat, 'meekly', and appoint a Receiver. What else is the government supposed to do but respect the Rule of Law?" he said.
Calling Tripathi's suggestion for an extension in service of Justice Sharma as "incredible", he said it was not up to the government to decide this issue but the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned or later the Supreme Court Collegium.
"So far settlement has not taken place, but we do not want the uncertainty that is here today to continue. The law and order machinery cannot sustain this state of continued animation for so long," the AG spoke for the government.
Monday, September 27, 2010
What our solar system would look like to aliens
don, Sep 26 (IANS) Scientists relied on a NASA supercomputer to figure out how our solar system would look like to aliens looking for other planets.
New simulations have tracked the interactions of myriads of dust grains to show that this view might have changed as our planetary system matured.
And astronomers hope that the new view could help them learn how to spot planets orbiting distant stars, the Daily Mail reported.
The dust originates in the Kuiper Belt, a cold storage zone beyond Neptune where millions of icy bodies, including Pluto, orbit the Sun, according to the Astronomical Journal.
Kuiper Belt objects occasionally crash into each other, and this relentless bump-and-grind produces a flurry of icy grains.
'Our new simulations also allow us to see how dust from the Kuiper Belt might have looked when the solar system was much younger,' said Christopher Stark, Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington D.C.
'In effect, we can go back in time and see how the distant view of the solar system may have changed,' he added.
Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre who led the study, said: 'The planets may be too dim to detect directly, but aliens studying the solar system could easily determine the presence of Neptune -- its gravity carves a little gap in the dust.'
'We're hoping our models will help us spot Neptune-sized worlds around other stars,' he added.
New simulations have tracked the interactions of myriads of dust grains to show that this view might have changed as our planetary system matured.
And astronomers hope that the new view could help them learn how to spot planets orbiting distant stars, the Daily Mail reported.
The dust originates in the Kuiper Belt, a cold storage zone beyond Neptune where millions of icy bodies, including Pluto, orbit the Sun, according to the Astronomical Journal.
Kuiper Belt objects occasionally crash into each other, and this relentless bump-and-grind produces a flurry of icy grains.
'Our new simulations also allow us to see how dust from the Kuiper Belt might have looked when the solar system was much younger,' said Christopher Stark, Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington D.C.
'In effect, we can go back in time and see how the distant view of the solar system may have changed,' he added.
Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre who led the study, said: 'The planets may be too dim to detect directly, but aliens studying the solar system could easily determine the presence of Neptune -- its gravity carves a little gap in the dust.'
'We're hoping our models will help us spot Neptune-sized worlds around other stars,' he added.
How Egyptians erected their giant pyramids
ashington, Sept 26 (ANI): A researcher has the answer to an ancient, unsolved puzzle - how the Egyptians erected their giant pyramids.
searchers have been so preoccupied by the weight of the stones that they tend to overlook two major problems: How did the Egyptians know exactly where to put the enormously heavy building blocks? And how was the master architect able to communicate detailed, highly precise plans to a workforce of 10,000 illiterate men?
These were among the questions that confronted Ole J. Bryn, an architect and associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) when he began examining Khufu's Great Pyramid in Giza. Khufu's pyramid, better known as the Pyramid of Cheops, consists of 2.3 million limestone blocks weighing roughly 7 million tons. At 146.6 meters high, it held the record as the tallest structure ever built for nearly 4000 years, reports Science Daily.
What Bryn discovered was quite simple. He believes that the Egyptians invented the modern building grid, by separating the structure's measuring system from the physical building itself, thus introducing tolerance, as it is called in today's engineering and architectural professions.
Bryn has studied the plans from the thirty oldest Egyptian pyramids, and discovered a precision system that made it possible for the Egyptians to reach the pyramid's last and highest point, the apex point, with an impressive degree of accuracy.
By exploring and making a plan of the pyramid it is possible to prepare modern project documentation of not just one, but all pyramids from any given period.
As long as the architect knows the main dimensions of a pyramid, he can project the building as he would have done it with a modern building, but with building methods and measurements known from the ancient Egypt, Bryn says.
In a scientific article published May 2010 in the Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, Bryn discusses aspects that can explain the construction of a multitude of the Egyptian pyramids by taking the building grid, and not the physical building itself, as the starting point for the analysis.
If the principles behind Bryn's drawings are correct, then archaeologists will have a new "map" that demonstrates that the pyramids are not a "bunch of heavy rocks with unknown structures" but, rather, incredibly precise structures.
searchers have been so preoccupied by the weight of the stones that they tend to overlook two major problems: How did the Egyptians know exactly where to put the enormously heavy building blocks? And how was the master architect able to communicate detailed, highly precise plans to a workforce of 10,000 illiterate men?
These were among the questions that confronted Ole J. Bryn, an architect and associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) when he began examining Khufu's Great Pyramid in Giza. Khufu's pyramid, better known as the Pyramid of Cheops, consists of 2.3 million limestone blocks weighing roughly 7 million tons. At 146.6 meters high, it held the record as the tallest structure ever built for nearly 4000 years, reports Science Daily.
What Bryn discovered was quite simple. He believes that the Egyptians invented the modern building grid, by separating the structure's measuring system from the physical building itself, thus introducing tolerance, as it is called in today's engineering and architectural professions.
Bryn has studied the plans from the thirty oldest Egyptian pyramids, and discovered a precision system that made it possible for the Egyptians to reach the pyramid's last and highest point, the apex point, with an impressive degree of accuracy.
By exploring and making a plan of the pyramid it is possible to prepare modern project documentation of not just one, but all pyramids from any given period.
As long as the architect knows the main dimensions of a pyramid, he can project the building as he would have done it with a modern building, but with building methods and measurements known from the ancient Egypt, Bryn says.
In a scientific article published May 2010 in the Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, Bryn discusses aspects that can explain the construction of a multitude of the Egyptian pyramids by taking the building grid, and not the physical building itself, as the starting point for the analysis.
If the principles behind Bryn's drawings are correct, then archaeologists will have a new "map" that demonstrates that the pyramids are not a "bunch of heavy rocks with unknown structures" but, rather, incredibly precise structures.
Bihar poll exercise to be set in motion tomorrow
New Delhi, Sept 26 (PTI) The month-long Bihar Assembly poll exercise, which is expected to be a triangular affair among the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)-BJP ruling alliance, RJD-LJP combine and the Congress, will be set in motion tomorrow. This is the first Assembly election during the current year and the Election Commission is leaving nothing to chance keeping in view the fact that majority of the districts in the state were hit by Naxal menace.
State Governor Devanand Konwar will tomorrow issue the notification for the first phase of Assembly polls. Over 5.50 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect a new 243-member House.
The term of the Assembly will end on November 27. The polls will be held in six phases on October 21, 24, 28, November one, 9 and 20 for the 243 seats.
47 of the seats are in 33 Maoist-hit districts and the EC has decided to deploy central para-military forces to ensure a free and fair polling. There are a total of 38 districts in the state.
Counting of votes will take place on November 24. The bye-elections for Banka Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant following the death of sitting MP Digvijay Singh, will be held on November one.
The election is expected to be a triangular affair with the ruling JD(U) and BJP continuing their poll alliance and Lalu Prasad''s RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan''s LJP joining hands to oust it from power. The Congress has announced that it will go it alone in the state, unlike in the past when it played a second fiddle to RJD. RJD and LJP overcame last-minute hiccups and clinched an alliance, deciding to contest 168 and 75 seats, respectively.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has already made it clear that that he would not contest the elections as he is already a member of the Legislative Council. Lalu Prasad, who is being projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the RJD-LJP alliance, is also not contesting the polls.
Congress has not projected anyone as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Hectic activity is on in all the three rival camps for selection of candidates.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, who recently reviewed the poll preparations in the state, has expressed satisfaction over the arrangements for the conduct of the assembly elections in Bihar in a free, fair and transparent manner.
State Governor Devanand Konwar will tomorrow issue the notification for the first phase of Assembly polls. Over 5.50 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect a new 243-member House.
The term of the Assembly will end on November 27. The polls will be held in six phases on October 21, 24, 28, November one, 9 and 20 for the 243 seats.
47 of the seats are in 33 Maoist-hit districts and the EC has decided to deploy central para-military forces to ensure a free and fair polling. There are a total of 38 districts in the state.
Counting of votes will take place on November 24. The bye-elections for Banka Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant following the death of sitting MP Digvijay Singh, will be held on November one.
The election is expected to be a triangular affair with the ruling JD(U) and BJP continuing their poll alliance and Lalu Prasad''s RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan''s LJP joining hands to oust it from power. The Congress has announced that it will go it alone in the state, unlike in the past when it played a second fiddle to RJD. RJD and LJP overcame last-minute hiccups and clinched an alliance, deciding to contest 168 and 75 seats, respectively.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has already made it clear that that he would not contest the elections as he is already a member of the Legislative Council. Lalu Prasad, who is being projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the RJD-LJP alliance, is also not contesting the polls.
Congress has not projected anyone as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Hectic activity is on in all the three rival camps for selection of candidates.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, who recently reviewed the poll preparations in the state, has expressed satisfaction over the arrangements for the conduct of the assembly elections in Bihar in a free, fair and transparent manner.
Chennai Super Kings win Champions League
Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey cracked a sparkling half-century each as Chennai Super Kings were crowned the Champions League Twenty20 winners with their eight-wicket victory over Warriors in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Vijay (58 off 53 balls), who was let off when on 34, cracked his third half century of the tournament while the other opener Hussey played sheet anchor and remained not out on 51 as Chennai chased down the small target of 129 with one over to spare.
Earlier, spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (3/16) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/16) shared five wickets as Chennai restricted Warriors to 128 for seven after the South African champion side elected to bat at the New Wanderers Stadium.
Vijay underlined his emergence as a fine Twenty20 batsman by becoming the highest run getter of the tournament with 294 runs from six matches, eight more than Warriors captain Davy Jacobs.
Vijay's 53-ball innings was studded with six fours and two sixes while Hussey hit only three fours from 46 balls in his unbeaten knock.
Chennai were richer by $2.5 millions for winning the second edition of the tournament, their second crown in five months after their IPL triumph in April. Warriors received $1.3 million for finishing runners-up
Chennai players with the trophyThe grand finale of the multi-dollar tournament, however, turned out to be a lopsided match with the Warriors bowlers failing to make any impact on the batsmen of the opposition who have beaten them in their last Group A league fixture four days ago.
The total of 128 was too small to defend and Chennai was always in control of the run chase though it got a bit tight with Suresh Raina , who was mainly responsible for Chennai's semi-final win against Royal Challengers Bangalore with an aggressive 94, out cheaply for just two.
Hussey and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17 n.o.), however, held on their nerves to pull off the win with a 25-run partnership for the unbroken third wicket.
Dhoni hit the winning runs -- a four off Juan Theron -- as Chennai scored 132 for two in 19 overs to lift the title.
Vijay and Hussey did not need to take too much risk as they ran mostly in singles in their 103-run opening wicket stand in front of a capacity crowd.
Vijay lived dangerously on a couple of occasions with an edge from his bat flying past wicket-kepeer Mark Boucher and Justin Kreusch for a four. He was also lucky to survive in the ninth over with wicket-keeper Mark Boucher missing a simple stumping chance off the bowling of Nicky Boje when on 34.
But he made amends of these lapses later as he struck some fine shots, including two sixes off Nicky Boje.
Vijay fell to Boje in the 15th over after taking his side to the threshold of victory. Earlier, Muralitharan snapped three wickets as Chennai restricted Warriors to 128 for seven.
Muralitharan, who took three for 16, got able support from his spin colleague Ashwin (2/16) as Chennai restricted the Warriors to a meager total.
Pacers Dough Bollinger and Albie Morkel bagged a wicket each while Laxmipathy Balaji was unsuccessful.
Ashwin ended as tournament highest wicket taker with 13 from six matches, one more from Muralitharan. He also was named as man of the tournament.
Jacobs (34) continued with his terrific form in the tournament with some lusty strokes and his side looked like to post a big total by racing to 39 runs at the end of the fourth over before they lost way later.
Jacobs treated Chennai opening bowler Dough Bollinger with disdain hitting him for two consecutive fours and another two boundaries in the second over of the same bowler to give their innings to a flier.
Jacobs also gave the same treatment to the other bowler Albie Morkel hitting him for three fours.
The other opening batsman Ashwell Prince however, continued his struggling form as he was out to Bollinger for a mere six and Warriors score of 39 for one.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's shrewd move to introduce off-spinner Ashwin also paid dividends as he removed the dangerous-looking Jacobs in the sixth over as the IPL side put brakes on the South African champion team.
Jacobs' aggressive 34 came from 21 balls and was studded with eight fours.
Run rate slowed down with the introduction of Balaji, who got a bit of swing from the Wanderers pitch, and spin wizard Muralitharan as Warriors scored just 19 runs from the four overs from seventh to 10th.
Colin Ingram (16) fell victim to Morkel in the 11th over while trying to push up the run rate before Muralitharan put the Warriors in trouble by claiming two wickets in the 14th over.
Veteran Mark Boucher (5) was deceived by a beautiful Muralitharan delivery which got the turn to beat the batsman's bat before crashing into the stumps.
Four balls later, Justin Kreusch (17) charged out to hit a Muralitharan delivery only to chip it to Suresh Raina at mid-wicket and Warriors were 82 for five then.
In the 17th over, Craig Thyssen took 18 runs from Balaji with the help of a six and a four but any threat of death over run riot was cut short with Ashwin snapping Johan Botha's wicket.
Thyssen was the only other Warriors batsman besides Jacobs to give some resistance to the CSK bowlers with a 18-ball 25 which he made with the help of three fours and a six before being out in the last over.
Vijay (58 off 53 balls), who was let off when on 34, cracked his third half century of the tournament while the other opener Hussey played sheet anchor and remained not out on 51 as Chennai chased down the small target of 129 with one over to spare.
Earlier, spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (3/16) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/16) shared five wickets as Chennai restricted Warriors to 128 for seven after the South African champion side elected to bat at the New Wanderers Stadium.
Vijay underlined his emergence as a fine Twenty20 batsman by becoming the highest run getter of the tournament with 294 runs from six matches, eight more than Warriors captain Davy Jacobs.
Vijay's 53-ball innings was studded with six fours and two sixes while Hussey hit only three fours from 46 balls in his unbeaten knock.
Chennai were richer by $2.5 millions for winning the second edition of the tournament, their second crown in five months after their IPL triumph in April. Warriors received $1.3 million for finishing runners-up
Chennai players with the trophyThe grand finale of the multi-dollar tournament, however, turned out to be a lopsided match with the Warriors bowlers failing to make any impact on the batsmen of the opposition who have beaten them in their last Group A league fixture four days ago.
The total of 128 was too small to defend and Chennai was always in control of the run chase though it got a bit tight with Suresh Raina , who was mainly responsible for Chennai's semi-final win against Royal Challengers Bangalore with an aggressive 94, out cheaply for just two.
Hussey and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17 n.o.), however, held on their nerves to pull off the win with a 25-run partnership for the unbroken third wicket.
Dhoni hit the winning runs -- a four off Juan Theron -- as Chennai scored 132 for two in 19 overs to lift the title.
Vijay and Hussey did not need to take too much risk as they ran mostly in singles in their 103-run opening wicket stand in front of a capacity crowd.
Vijay lived dangerously on a couple of occasions with an edge from his bat flying past wicket-kepeer Mark Boucher and Justin Kreusch for a four. He was also lucky to survive in the ninth over with wicket-keeper Mark Boucher missing a simple stumping chance off the bowling of Nicky Boje when on 34.
But he made amends of these lapses later as he struck some fine shots, including two sixes off Nicky Boje.
Vijay fell to Boje in the 15th over after taking his side to the threshold of victory. Earlier, Muralitharan snapped three wickets as Chennai restricted Warriors to 128 for seven.
Muralitharan, who took three for 16, got able support from his spin colleague Ashwin (2/16) as Chennai restricted the Warriors to a meager total.
Pacers Dough Bollinger and Albie Morkel bagged a wicket each while Laxmipathy Balaji was unsuccessful.
Ashwin ended as tournament highest wicket taker with 13 from six matches, one more from Muralitharan. He also was named as man of the tournament.
Jacobs (34) continued with his terrific form in the tournament with some lusty strokes and his side looked like to post a big total by racing to 39 runs at the end of the fourth over before they lost way later.
Jacobs treated Chennai opening bowler Dough Bollinger with disdain hitting him for two consecutive fours and another two boundaries in the second over of the same bowler to give their innings to a flier.
Jacobs also gave the same treatment to the other bowler Albie Morkel hitting him for three fours.
The other opening batsman Ashwell Prince however, continued his struggling form as he was out to Bollinger for a mere six and Warriors score of 39 for one.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's shrewd move to introduce off-spinner Ashwin also paid dividends as he removed the dangerous-looking Jacobs in the sixth over as the IPL side put brakes on the South African champion team.
Jacobs' aggressive 34 came from 21 balls and was studded with eight fours.
Run rate slowed down with the introduction of Balaji, who got a bit of swing from the Wanderers pitch, and spin wizard Muralitharan as Warriors scored just 19 runs from the four overs from seventh to 10th.
Colin Ingram (16) fell victim to Morkel in the 11th over while trying to push up the run rate before Muralitharan put the Warriors in trouble by claiming two wickets in the 14th over.
Veteran Mark Boucher (5) was deceived by a beautiful Muralitharan delivery which got the turn to beat the batsman's bat before crashing into the stumps.
Four balls later, Justin Kreusch (17) charged out to hit a Muralitharan delivery only to chip it to Suresh Raina at mid-wicket and Warriors were 82 for five then.
In the 17th over, Craig Thyssen took 18 runs from Balaji with the help of a six and a four but any threat of death over run riot was cut short with Ashwin snapping Johan Botha's wicket.
Thyssen was the only other Warriors batsman besides Jacobs to give some resistance to the CSK bowlers with a 18-ball 25 which he made with the help of three fours and a six before being out in the last over.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on October 4
ew Delhi, Sept 26 The Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on October 4 to discuss issues related to use of money and muscle power in elections and criminalisation of politics. Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said the commission has invited leaders of all the political parties for the meeting on October 4.
The meeting will be held in two parts. In the morning, discussion will be done with leaders of national parties and in the evening, state level leaders will come for the meeting.
The meeting is likely to discuss issues related to use of money power during elections, criminalisation of politics and paid news. Matters related to use of EVMs will also be discussed.
Quraishi had said while announcing the schedule of programmes of Bihar Assembly Elections that "We are preparing to call an all party meeting.
it will be held soon.
The use of money and muscle power during elections, criminalisation of politics and paid news will be discussed among other issues. "The issue of paid news should be seen in the context of use of money power in the elections.
The commission has formed certain guidelines which will be applied in upcoming elections in Bihar." According to the survey done by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, the cases of murder, kidnapping among others have been registered against more than 100 MLAs of Bihar Assembly.
The meeting will be held in two parts. In the morning, discussion will be done with leaders of national parties and in the evening, state level leaders will come for the meeting.
The meeting is likely to discuss issues related to use of money power during elections, criminalisation of politics and paid news. Matters related to use of EVMs will also be discussed.
Quraishi had said while announcing the schedule of programmes of Bihar Assembly Elections that "We are preparing to call an all party meeting.
it will be held soon.
The use of money and muscle power during elections, criminalisation of politics and paid news will be discussed among other issues. "The issue of paid news should be seen in the context of use of money power in the elections.
The commission has formed certain guidelines which will be applied in upcoming elections in Bihar." According to the survey done by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, the cases of murder, kidnapping among others have been registered against more than 100 MLAs of Bihar Assembly.
Varun Gandhi to get married, Maneka says Sonia will be invited
Badaun (UP), Sep 26 Rahul Gandhi may be ducking queries on his marriage plans but wedding bells are all set to ring for his cousin and BJP''s young turk Varun Gandhi. Varun''s mother and BJP MP from Aonla parliamentary constituency Maneka Gandhi today said that the 30-year-old leader will tie the nuptial knot with a Bengali girl this year itself.
"Varun will get married with Yamini, who hails from Bengal, this year," Maneka, the estranged daughter-in-law of late prime minister Indira Gandhi, told reporters in reply to a question. "All members of the Gandhi family including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul will be invited to attend the marriage function," she added.
Varun had attended the marriage of his cousin Priyanka in 1997 as a teenager despite strained ties between the families though Maneka had stayed away. Varun represents Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency and was appointed national secretary by the BJP in March this year.
"Varun will get married with Yamini, who hails from Bengal, this year," Maneka, the estranged daughter-in-law of late prime minister Indira Gandhi, told reporters in reply to a question. "All members of the Gandhi family including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul will be invited to attend the marriage function," she added.
Varun had attended the marriage of his cousin Priyanka in 1997 as a teenager despite strained ties between the families though Maneka had stayed away. Varun represents Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency and was appointed national secretary by the BJP in March this year.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
More than 3 million affected by Indian floodsMore than 3 million affected by Indian floods
More than 3 million people in northern India have been affected by floods that have washed away homes, swept through holy sites and damaged crops as the authorities step up efforts to contain the damage.
Heavy monsoon rains have swelled mighty Himalayan rivers, which broke their banks in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand.
The waters have ravaged 500,000 hectares of farmland in Uttar Pradesh, the top cane growing state, prompting the government to cut by around a tenth its sugar output projections for the harvest season beginning in October.
People waded through chest deep water, travelled on bullock carts or on boats to reach safer areas, carrying children and household belongings in their hands and on their heads. In relief camps, they complained of a lack of food and medicines.
In Uttarakhand, where the army was called in after the Hindu holy river Ganges rose to near the danger level by the sacred town of Haridwar, 500,000 people were affected by the floods, said Mahendra Negi, a disaster management centre official.
"They (army) are actively providing medicines, shifting people to safer grounds and conducting repairs of small stretches of roads," said Colonel S. Om Singh, the army spokesman.
On Tuesday Sonia Gandhi, the powerful chief of the ruling Congress party, flew over the submerged districts and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to offer liberal financial aid to the affected states, the party said in a statement.
DOGS, SNAKES AND SCORPIONS
UNICEF said 1.7 million people have been affected in Uttar Pradesh and 1 million in Bihar. Both are poor states and Uttar Pradesh is also the most populous with 190 million citizens. More than 300,000 people were forced out of their homes.
"It is quite concerning. The number of affected people (in Uttar Pradesh) could rise to 2 million. This flood is worse than 2007 floods," Amit Mehrotra, UNICEF Emergency Programmes Officer in the state, told Reuters.
Sugar industry officials said the floods would not alter the supply scene in India, the world's top consumer and second-largest producer of the sweetener, as the production loss would be made up by other states and by stocks in warehouses.
In Bihar, where the Gandak river burst through its embankments in various places and flooded villages, houses were invaded by stray dogs, snakes and scorpions.
"They are perched atop almirahs, in closets, in the kitchens and even in mud utensils. It's hell," 45-year-old Rupdeo Mahto told reporters in the flood-hit Gopalganj district.
Floods in India affect more than 40 million people each year on average, causing losses of $575 million and damaging crops in 3.7 million hectares. But the June-September monsoon is also vital to the country's farm output and economic growth.
The Ganges, a dip in which Hindus believe washes away sins, and its tributary rivers have risen to close to their record-high levels and weather officials have forecast more heavy rain.
As floods remain a matter of concern in Bihar, which goes to the polls next month to elect a new assembly, the election commission of India is considering relocating some polling stations or setting up mobile ones for voters.
Monsoon may not start withdrawing this week and with the weather department predicting more rain, state governments have been asked to gear up to cope with risk of heavy flooding.
Heavy monsoon rains have swelled mighty Himalayan rivers, which broke their banks in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand.
The waters have ravaged 500,000 hectares of farmland in Uttar Pradesh, the top cane growing state, prompting the government to cut by around a tenth its sugar output projections for the harvest season beginning in October.
People waded through chest deep water, travelled on bullock carts or on boats to reach safer areas, carrying children and household belongings in their hands and on their heads. In relief camps, they complained of a lack of food and medicines.
In Uttarakhand, where the army was called in after the Hindu holy river Ganges rose to near the danger level by the sacred town of Haridwar, 500,000 people were affected by the floods, said Mahendra Negi, a disaster management centre official.
"They (army) are actively providing medicines, shifting people to safer grounds and conducting repairs of small stretches of roads," said Colonel S. Om Singh, the army spokesman.
On Tuesday Sonia Gandhi, the powerful chief of the ruling Congress party, flew over the submerged districts and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to offer liberal financial aid to the affected states, the party said in a statement.
DOGS, SNAKES AND SCORPIONS
UNICEF said 1.7 million people have been affected in Uttar Pradesh and 1 million in Bihar. Both are poor states and Uttar Pradesh is also the most populous with 190 million citizens. More than 300,000 people were forced out of their homes.
"It is quite concerning. The number of affected people (in Uttar Pradesh) could rise to 2 million. This flood is worse than 2007 floods," Amit Mehrotra, UNICEF Emergency Programmes Officer in the state, told Reuters.
Sugar industry officials said the floods would not alter the supply scene in India, the world's top consumer and second-largest producer of the sweetener, as the production loss would be made up by other states and by stocks in warehouses.
In Bihar, where the Gandak river burst through its embankments in various places and flooded villages, houses were invaded by stray dogs, snakes and scorpions.
"They are perched atop almirahs, in closets, in the kitchens and even in mud utensils. It's hell," 45-year-old Rupdeo Mahto told reporters in the flood-hit Gopalganj district.
Floods in India affect more than 40 million people each year on average, causing losses of $575 million and damaging crops in 3.7 million hectares. But the June-September monsoon is also vital to the country's farm output and economic growth.
The Ganges, a dip in which Hindus believe washes away sins, and its tributary rivers have risen to close to their record-high levels and weather officials have forecast more heavy rain.
As floods remain a matter of concern in Bihar, which goes to the polls next month to elect a new assembly, the election commission of India is considering relocating some polling stations or setting up mobile ones for voters.
Monsoon may not start withdrawing this week and with the weather department predicting more rain, state governments have been asked to gear up to cope with risk of heavy flooding.
White coffee: Malaysia starts new trend in beverages
poh, Sep 25 (IANS) Coffee drinkers from across the world are now flocking to Malaysia's Ipoh city to taste a beverage created there for the first time - white coffee.
Ipoh, the capital city of Perak state, has been one of the pioneers of white coffee in the world. It is more than just coffee to the locals; it is a part of Ipoh's history. In the 19th and early 20th century during the British colonial era, Perak was a booming tin-mining state. Many British tin-mining companies set up bases in Ipoh, making it a prominent city in the country.
The Ipoh Old Town area is where white coffee originated. The town used to be a meeting hub for Chinese migrants, whose special preference inspired the making of white coffee.
The name white coffee has nothing to do with the colour of the coffee. The word actually means 'without' and 'nothing added' in the roasting process.
Regular coffee is normally made by roasting the beans with sugar, margarine and wheat, but white coffee is produced with only margarine - without sugar, giving it a lighter shade.
'You will taste the different layers of flavour in the (white) coffee. It is thick and aromatic,' Ho Seong Hoey, a producer of white coffee, told Xinhua news agency. Ho is managing director of Home's Cafe, one of the oldest white coffee makers in Ipoh.
Ho said what made Ipoh's white coffee stand out among the rest are the low temperature, slow-roasting formulas that were created and perfected in the city.
According to him, the coffee makers in Ipoh do not use the high-heat, quick-roast methods that most roasters adopt, which usually give coffee the burnt and bitter taste.
As the coffee drinking trend changes across the world, with more fashionable flavours being introduced in cafes, Ipoh's coffee producers are still maintaining the old tradition, serving their signature white coffee like the old times.
Ipoh, the capital city of Perak state, has been one of the pioneers of white coffee in the world. It is more than just coffee to the locals; it is a part of Ipoh's history. In the 19th and early 20th century during the British colonial era, Perak was a booming tin-mining state. Many British tin-mining companies set up bases in Ipoh, making it a prominent city in the country.
The Ipoh Old Town area is where white coffee originated. The town used to be a meeting hub for Chinese migrants, whose special preference inspired the making of white coffee.
The name white coffee has nothing to do with the colour of the coffee. The word actually means 'without' and 'nothing added' in the roasting process.
Regular coffee is normally made by roasting the beans with sugar, margarine and wheat, but white coffee is produced with only margarine - without sugar, giving it a lighter shade.
'You will taste the different layers of flavour in the (white) coffee. It is thick and aromatic,' Ho Seong Hoey, a producer of white coffee, told Xinhua news agency. Ho is managing director of Home's Cafe, one of the oldest white coffee makers in Ipoh.
Ho said what made Ipoh's white coffee stand out among the rest are the low temperature, slow-roasting formulas that were created and perfected in the city.
According to him, the coffee makers in Ipoh do not use the high-heat, quick-roast methods that most roasters adopt, which usually give coffee the burnt and bitter taste.
As the coffee drinking trend changes across the world, with more fashionable flavours being introduced in cafes, Ipoh's coffee producers are still maintaining the old tradition, serving their signature white coffee like the old times.
Shootout in Mexican city leaves 7 dead
Sat, Sep 25 10:11 AM
Chilpancingo (Mexico), Sep 25 (IANS/EFE) Seven suspected cartel gunmen were killed in a shootout between rival gangs in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, Mexican officials said.
Spokespersons for the Attorney General's Office in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, said the clash occurred Thursday on the outskirts of that tourist hub.
According to the report, several assailants riding in an SUV engaged in a 30-minute clash with another group of gunmen inside a house. Four people died inside the house and three others perished in the street, the spokespersons said.
Soldiers deployed to the site of the clash took control of the situation and arrested five municipal police who apparently were accompanying the aggressors in the SUV.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the clash but they say it may have been sparked by a battle for a lucrative drug-smuggling corridor.
Chilpancingo (Mexico), Sep 25 (IANS/EFE) Seven suspected cartel gunmen were killed in a shootout between rival gangs in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, Mexican officials said.
Spokespersons for the Attorney General's Office in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, said the clash occurred Thursday on the outskirts of that tourist hub.
According to the report, several assailants riding in an SUV engaged in a 30-minute clash with another group of gunmen inside a house. Four people died inside the house and three others perished in the street, the spokespersons said.
Soldiers deployed to the site of the clash took control of the situation and arrested five municipal police who apparently were accompanying the aggressors in the SUV.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the clash but they say it may have been sparked by a battle for a lucrative drug-smuggling corridor.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thermal power station
A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which either drives an electrical generator or does some other work, like ship propulsion. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of thermal power stations is due to the different fuel sources. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Introductory overview
• 2 History
• 3 Efficiency
• 4 Cost of electricity
• 5 Diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power station
• 6 Steam generator
o 6.1 Boiler furnace and steam drum
o 6.2 Superheater
o 6.3 Reheater
o 6.4 Fuel preparation system
o 6.5 Air path
o 6.6 Auxiliary systems
6.6.1 Fly ash collection
6.6.2 Bottom ash collection and disposal
6.6.3 Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage
• 7 Steam turbine-driven electric generator
o 7.1 Barring gear
o 7.2 Condenser
o 7.3 Feedwater heater
o 7.4 Superheater
o 7.5 Deaerator
o 7.6 Auxiliary systems
7.6.1 Oil system
7.6.2 Generator heat dissipation
7.6.3 Generator high voltage system
• 8 Other systems
o 8.1 Monitoring and alarm system
o 8.2 Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication
• 9 Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 External links
Introductory overview
Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incineration plants, as well as many natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequently combusted in gas turbines as well as boilers. The waste heat from a gas turbine can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power plants burning coal, oil, or natural gas are often referred to collectively as fossil-fuel power plants. Some biomass-fueled thermal power plants have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal power plants, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use cogeneration are sometimes referred to as conventional power plants.
Commercial electric utility power stations are most usually constructed on a very large scale and designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically use three-phase or individual-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz (hertz, which is an AC sine wave per second) depending on its location in the world. Other large companies or institutions may have their own usually smaller power plants to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if heat or steam is created anyway for other purposes. Shipboard steam-driven power plants have been used in various large ships in the past, but these days are used most often in large naval ships. Such shipboard power plants are general lower power capacity than full-size electric company plants, but otherwise have many similarities except that typically the main steam turbines mechanically turn the propulsion propellers, either through reduction gears or directly by the same shaft. The steam power plants in such ships also provide steam to separate smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply electricity in the ship. Shipboard steam power plants can be either conventional or nuclear; the shipboard nuclear plants are mostly in the navy. There have been perhaps about a dozen turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion.
In some industrial, large institutional facilities, or other populated areas, there are combined heat and power (CHP) plants, often called cogeneration plants, which produce both power and heat for facility or district heating or industrial applications. AC electrical power can be stepped up to very high voltages for long distance transmission with minimal loss of power. Steam and hot water lose energy when piped over substantial distance, so carrying heat energy by steam or hot water is often only worthwhile within a local area or facility, such as steam distribution for a ship or industrial facility or hot water distribution in a local municipality.
[edit] History
Reciprocating steam engines have been used for mechanical power sources since the 18th Century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt. The very first commercial central electrical generating stations in New York and London, in 1882, also used reciprocating steam engines. As generator sizes increased, eventually turbines took over.
[edit] Efficiency
Power is energy per unit time. The power output or capacity of an electric plant can be expressed in units of megawatts electric (MWe). The electric efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered as saleable energy (in MWe) produced at the plant busbars as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed, is typically 33% to 48% efficient. This efficiency is limited as all heat engines are governed by the laws of thermodynamics (See: Carnot cycle). The rest of the energy must leave the plant in the form of heat. This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of with cooling water or in cooling towers. If the waste heat is instead utilized for district heating, it is called cogeneration. An important class of thermal power station are associated with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products.
Since the efficiency of the plant is fundamentally limited by the ratio of the absolute temperatures of the steam at turbine input and output, efficiency improvements require use of higher temperature, and therefore higher pressure, steam. Historically, other working fluids such as mercury have been experimentally used in a mercury vapour turbine power plant, since these can attain higher temperatures than water at lower working pressures. However, the obvious hazards of toxicity, and poor heat transfer properties, have ruled out mercury as a working fluid.
Cost of electricity
See: Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
of a typical coal-fired thermal power station
Typical diagram of a coal-fired thermal power station
1. Cooling tower
10. Steam Control valve
19. Superheater
2. Cooling water pump
11. High pressure steam turbine
20. Forced draught (draft) fan
3. transmission line (3-phase)
12. Deaerator
21. Reheater
4. Step-up transformer (3-phase)
13. Feedwater heater
22. Combustion air intake
5. Electrical generator (3-phase)
14. Coal conveyor
23. Economiser
6. Low pressure steam turbine
15. Coal hopper
24. Air preheater
7. Condensate pump
16. Coal pulverizer
25. Precipitator
8. Surface condenser
17. Boiler steam drum
26. Induced draught (draft) fan
9. Intermediate pressure steam turbine
18. Bottom ash hopper
27. Flue gas stack
Steam generator
In fossil-fueled power plants, steam generator refers to a furnace that burns the fossil fuel to boil water to generate steam. In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to a specific type of large heat exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary (reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which of course is used to generate steam. In a nuclear reactor called a boiling water reactor (BWR), water is boiled to generate steam directly in the reactor itself and there are no units called steam generators. In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer, a steam drum, and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, air preheater (APH), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator or baghouse) and the flue gas stack.[1][2][3]
Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. Nuclear plants also boil water to raise steam, either directly generating steam from the reactor (BWR) or else using an intermediate heat exchanger (PWR).
For units over about 200 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by installing duplicates of the FD fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID fan with isolating dampers. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided.
Boiler furnace and steam drum
Once water inside the boiler or steam generator, the process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel.
The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer. From the economizer it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the steam drum it goes down the downcomers to the lower inlet waterwall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the waterwalls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear waterwalls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the waterwalls, the steam/vapor once again enters the steam drum. The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and water separators and then dryers inside the steam drum. The steam separators and dryers remove water droplets from the steam and the cycle through the waterwalls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation.
The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers, water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal.
The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial startup. The steam drum has internal devices that removes moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils.
Superheater
Fossil fuel power plants can have a superheater and/or reheater section in the steam generating furnace. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. In a fossil fuel plant, after the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the steam drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into tubes inside an area of the furnace known as the superheater, which has an elaborate set up of tubing where the steam vapor picks up more energy from hot flue gases outside the tubing and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high pressure turbine.
Reheater
Power plant furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine is rerouted to go inside the reheater tubes to pickup more energy to go drive intermediate or lower pressure turbines. This is what is called as thermal power.
Fuel preparation system
In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers may be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of grinders.
Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100 °C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles.
Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces.
Air path
External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draft fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion, injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall.
The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through any opening
Auxiliary systems
Fly ash collection
Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars.
Bottom ash collection and disposal
At the bottom of the furnace, there is a hopper for collection of bottom ash. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling down from the furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage site.asa
Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage
Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the boiler, losses due to blowdown and leakages have to be made up to maintain a desired water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water system. Impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist of calcium and magnesium salts which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces which will lead to overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water, and that is done by a water demineralising treatment plant (DM). A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion, and mixed bed exchangers. Any ions in the final water from this process consist essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions, which recombine to form pure water. Very pure DM water becomes highly corrosive once it absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen.
The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping and valves are generally of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with air. DM water make-up is generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the dissolved gases being removed by an air ejector attached to the condenser.
Steam turbine-driven electric generator
Rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power station
Main article: Turbo generator
The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work satisfactorily and safely. The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large diameter shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while running. To minimise the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to further reduce the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated.
Barring gear
Barring gear (or "turning gear") is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine generator shaft at a very low speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the steam inlet valve is closed), the turbine coasts down towards standstill. When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one position too long. This is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom half. The shaft therefore could warp or bend by millionths of inches.
This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be enough to cause damaging vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. The shaft is therefore automatically turned at low speed (about one percent rated speed) by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop.
Condenser
Main article: Surface condenser
Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser.[2][3][4][5]
The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes.[2][6][7][8] The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor-driven exhausters for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum.
For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 °C where the vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum. Thus leaks of non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning.
The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to the atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean.
Feedwater heater
Main article: Feedwater heater
A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feedwater heater.
In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler, the surface condenser removes the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour to liquid. The heat content (joules or Btu) in the steam is referred to as enthalpy. The condensate pump then pumps the condensate water through a feedwater heater. The feedwater heating equipment then raises the temperature of the water by utilizing extraction steam from various stages of the turbine.[2][3]
Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system.[9] This reduces plant operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam cycle.
Superheater
As the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into an elaborate set up of tubing in different areas of the boiler. The areas known as superheater and reheater. The steam vapor picks up energy and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves of the high pressure turbine.
Deaerator
Main article: Deaerator
Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section and horizontal water storage section
A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the metal.
Generally, power stations use a deaerator to provide for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank.[2][3][10]
There are many different designs for a deaerator and the designs will vary from one manufacturer to another. The adjacent diagram depicts a typical conventional trayed deaerator.[10][11] If operated properly, most deaerator manufacturers will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated water will not exceed 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm³/L).[10][12]
Auxiliary systems
Oil system
An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbine's main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms.
At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft takes over the functions of the auxiliary system.
Generator heat dissipation
The electricity generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat that it generates. While small units may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during start-up, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix with oxygen in the air.
The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere.
The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potential of about 22 kV and water is conductive, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the generator high voltage windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used.
Generator high voltage system
The generator voltage ranges from 11 kV in smaller units to 22 kV in larger units. The generator high voltage leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are supported on suitable insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high voltage electrical substation (of the order of 115 kV to 520 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid.
The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage leads. Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 11 kV, a breaker is provided to connect it to a common 11 kV bus system.
Other systems
Monitoring and alarm system
Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range.
Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication
A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation.
Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage
Main article: Fossil fuel power plant
Most thermal stations use coal as the main fuel. Raw coal is transported from coal mines to a power station site by trucks, barges, bulk cargo ships or railway cars. Generally, when shipped by railways, the coal cars are sent as a full train of cars. The coal received at site may be of different sizes. The railway cars are unloaded at site by rotary dumpers or side tilt dumpers to tip over onto conveyor belts below. The coal is generally conveyed to crushers which crush the coal to about ¾ inch (6 mm) size. The crushed coal is then sent by belt conveyors to a storage pile. Normally, the crushed coal is compacted by bulldozers, as compacting of highly volatile coal avoids spontaneous ignition.
The crushed coal is conveyed from the storage pile to silos or hoppers at the boilers by another belt conveyor system.
See also
• Boiler
• Combined heat and power
• Cooling tower system
• Flue gas stacks
• Fossil fuel power plant
• Geothermal power
Energy portal
• Nuclear power
• Power station
• Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
• Levelised energy cost
• Water-tube boiler
• Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Introductory overview
• 2 History
• 3 Efficiency
• 4 Cost of electricity
• 5 Diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power station
• 6 Steam generator
o 6.1 Boiler furnace and steam drum
o 6.2 Superheater
o 6.3 Reheater
o 6.4 Fuel preparation system
o 6.5 Air path
o 6.6 Auxiliary systems
6.6.1 Fly ash collection
6.6.2 Bottom ash collection and disposal
6.6.3 Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage
• 7 Steam turbine-driven electric generator
o 7.1 Barring gear
o 7.2 Condenser
o 7.3 Feedwater heater
o 7.4 Superheater
o 7.5 Deaerator
o 7.6 Auxiliary systems
7.6.1 Oil system
7.6.2 Generator heat dissipation
7.6.3 Generator high voltage system
• 8 Other systems
o 8.1 Monitoring and alarm system
o 8.2 Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication
• 9 Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 External links
Introductory overview
Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incineration plants, as well as many natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequently combusted in gas turbines as well as boilers. The waste heat from a gas turbine can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power plants burning coal, oil, or natural gas are often referred to collectively as fossil-fuel power plants. Some biomass-fueled thermal power plants have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal power plants, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use cogeneration are sometimes referred to as conventional power plants.
Commercial electric utility power stations are most usually constructed on a very large scale and designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically use three-phase or individual-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz (hertz, which is an AC sine wave per second) depending on its location in the world. Other large companies or institutions may have their own usually smaller power plants to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if heat or steam is created anyway for other purposes. Shipboard steam-driven power plants have been used in various large ships in the past, but these days are used most often in large naval ships. Such shipboard power plants are general lower power capacity than full-size electric company plants, but otherwise have many similarities except that typically the main steam turbines mechanically turn the propulsion propellers, either through reduction gears or directly by the same shaft. The steam power plants in such ships also provide steam to separate smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply electricity in the ship. Shipboard steam power plants can be either conventional or nuclear; the shipboard nuclear plants are mostly in the navy. There have been perhaps about a dozen turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion.
In some industrial, large institutional facilities, or other populated areas, there are combined heat and power (CHP) plants, often called cogeneration plants, which produce both power and heat for facility or district heating or industrial applications. AC electrical power can be stepped up to very high voltages for long distance transmission with minimal loss of power. Steam and hot water lose energy when piped over substantial distance, so carrying heat energy by steam or hot water is often only worthwhile within a local area or facility, such as steam distribution for a ship or industrial facility or hot water distribution in a local municipality.
[edit] History
Reciprocating steam engines have been used for mechanical power sources since the 18th Century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt. The very first commercial central electrical generating stations in New York and London, in 1882, also used reciprocating steam engines. As generator sizes increased, eventually turbines took over.
[edit] Efficiency
Power is energy per unit time. The power output or capacity of an electric plant can be expressed in units of megawatts electric (MWe). The electric efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered as saleable energy (in MWe) produced at the plant busbars as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed, is typically 33% to 48% efficient. This efficiency is limited as all heat engines are governed by the laws of thermodynamics (See: Carnot cycle). The rest of the energy must leave the plant in the form of heat. This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of with cooling water or in cooling towers. If the waste heat is instead utilized for district heating, it is called cogeneration. An important class of thermal power station are associated with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products.
Since the efficiency of the plant is fundamentally limited by the ratio of the absolute temperatures of the steam at turbine input and output, efficiency improvements require use of higher temperature, and therefore higher pressure, steam. Historically, other working fluids such as mercury have been experimentally used in a mercury vapour turbine power plant, since these can attain higher temperatures than water at lower working pressures. However, the obvious hazards of toxicity, and poor heat transfer properties, have ruled out mercury as a working fluid.
Cost of electricity
See: Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
of a typical coal-fired thermal power station
Typical diagram of a coal-fired thermal power station
1. Cooling tower
10. Steam Control valve
19. Superheater
2. Cooling water pump
11. High pressure steam turbine
20. Forced draught (draft) fan
3. transmission line (3-phase)
12. Deaerator
21. Reheater
4. Step-up transformer (3-phase)
13. Feedwater heater
22. Combustion air intake
5. Electrical generator (3-phase)
14. Coal conveyor
23. Economiser
6. Low pressure steam turbine
15. Coal hopper
24. Air preheater
7. Condensate pump
16. Coal pulverizer
25. Precipitator
8. Surface condenser
17. Boiler steam drum
26. Induced draught (draft) fan
9. Intermediate pressure steam turbine
18. Bottom ash hopper
27. Flue gas stack
Steam generator
In fossil-fueled power plants, steam generator refers to a furnace that burns the fossil fuel to boil water to generate steam. In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to a specific type of large heat exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary (reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which of course is used to generate steam. In a nuclear reactor called a boiling water reactor (BWR), water is boiled to generate steam directly in the reactor itself and there are no units called steam generators. In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer, a steam drum, and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, air preheater (APH), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator or baghouse) and the flue gas stack.[1][2][3]
Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. Nuclear plants also boil water to raise steam, either directly generating steam from the reactor (BWR) or else using an intermediate heat exchanger (PWR).
For units over about 200 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by installing duplicates of the FD fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID fan with isolating dampers. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided.
Boiler furnace and steam drum
Once water inside the boiler or steam generator, the process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel.
The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer. From the economizer it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the steam drum it goes down the downcomers to the lower inlet waterwall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the waterwalls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear waterwalls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the waterwalls, the steam/vapor once again enters the steam drum. The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and water separators and then dryers inside the steam drum. The steam separators and dryers remove water droplets from the steam and the cycle through the waterwalls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation.
The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers, water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal.
The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial startup. The steam drum has internal devices that removes moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils.
Superheater
Fossil fuel power plants can have a superheater and/or reheater section in the steam generating furnace. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. In a fossil fuel plant, after the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the steam drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into tubes inside an area of the furnace known as the superheater, which has an elaborate set up of tubing where the steam vapor picks up more energy from hot flue gases outside the tubing and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high pressure turbine.
Reheater
Power plant furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine is rerouted to go inside the reheater tubes to pickup more energy to go drive intermediate or lower pressure turbines. This is what is called as thermal power.
Fuel preparation system
In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers may be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of grinders.
Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100 °C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles.
Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces.
Air path
External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draft fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion, injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall.
The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through any opening
Auxiliary systems
Fly ash collection
Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars.
Bottom ash collection and disposal
At the bottom of the furnace, there is a hopper for collection of bottom ash. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling down from the furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage site.asa
Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage
Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the boiler, losses due to blowdown and leakages have to be made up to maintain a desired water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water system. Impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist of calcium and magnesium salts which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces which will lead to overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water, and that is done by a water demineralising treatment plant (DM). A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion, and mixed bed exchangers. Any ions in the final water from this process consist essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions, which recombine to form pure water. Very pure DM water becomes highly corrosive once it absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen.
The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping and valves are generally of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with air. DM water make-up is generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the dissolved gases being removed by an air ejector attached to the condenser.
Steam turbine-driven electric generator
Rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power station
Main article: Turbo generator
The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work satisfactorily and safely. The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large diameter shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while running. To minimise the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to further reduce the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated.
Barring gear
Barring gear (or "turning gear") is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine generator shaft at a very low speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the steam inlet valve is closed), the turbine coasts down towards standstill. When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one position too long. This is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom half. The shaft therefore could warp or bend by millionths of inches.
This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be enough to cause damaging vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. The shaft is therefore automatically turned at low speed (about one percent rated speed) by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop.
Condenser
Main article: Surface condenser
Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser.[2][3][4][5]
The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes.[2][6][7][8] The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor-driven exhausters for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum.
For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 °C where the vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum. Thus leaks of non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning.
The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to the atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean.
Feedwater heater
Main article: Feedwater heater
A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feedwater heater.
In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler, the surface condenser removes the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour to liquid. The heat content (joules or Btu) in the steam is referred to as enthalpy. The condensate pump then pumps the condensate water through a feedwater heater. The feedwater heating equipment then raises the temperature of the water by utilizing extraction steam from various stages of the turbine.[2][3]
Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system.[9] This reduces plant operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam cycle.
Superheater
As the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into an elaborate set up of tubing in different areas of the boiler. The areas known as superheater and reheater. The steam vapor picks up energy and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves of the high pressure turbine.
Deaerator
Main article: Deaerator
Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section and horizontal water storage section
A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the metal.
Generally, power stations use a deaerator to provide for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank.[2][3][10]
There are many different designs for a deaerator and the designs will vary from one manufacturer to another. The adjacent diagram depicts a typical conventional trayed deaerator.[10][11] If operated properly, most deaerator manufacturers will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated water will not exceed 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm³/L).[10][12]
Auxiliary systems
Oil system
An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbine's main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms.
At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft takes over the functions of the auxiliary system.
Generator heat dissipation
The electricity generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat that it generates. While small units may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during start-up, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix with oxygen in the air.
The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere.
The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potential of about 22 kV and water is conductive, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the generator high voltage windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used.
Generator high voltage system
The generator voltage ranges from 11 kV in smaller units to 22 kV in larger units. The generator high voltage leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are supported on suitable insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high voltage electrical substation (of the order of 115 kV to 520 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid.
The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage leads. Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 11 kV, a breaker is provided to connect it to a common 11 kV bus system.
Other systems
Monitoring and alarm system
Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range.
Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication
A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation.
Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage
Main article: Fossil fuel power plant
Most thermal stations use coal as the main fuel. Raw coal is transported from coal mines to a power station site by trucks, barges, bulk cargo ships or railway cars. Generally, when shipped by railways, the coal cars are sent as a full train of cars. The coal received at site may be of different sizes. The railway cars are unloaded at site by rotary dumpers or side tilt dumpers to tip over onto conveyor belts below. The coal is generally conveyed to crushers which crush the coal to about ¾ inch (6 mm) size. The crushed coal is then sent by belt conveyors to a storage pile. Normally, the crushed coal is compacted by bulldozers, as compacting of highly volatile coal avoids spontaneous ignition.
The crushed coal is conveyed from the storage pile to silos or hoppers at the boilers by another belt conveyor system.
See also
• Boiler
• Combined heat and power
• Cooling tower system
• Flue gas stacks
• Fossil fuel power plant
• Geothermal power
Energy portal
• Nuclear power
• Power station
• Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
• Levelised energy cost
• Water-tube boiler
• Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
Allu Arjun’s ‘Badrinath’ back to Hyderabad
It is well known that Allu Arjun and Tamannaah starrer ‘Badrinath’ has been shooting in Kulu Manali from long time and now the latest news is that the team has completed its shooting schedule there and is back to Hyderabad.
The film unit says that till now the shooting was done in Kulu Manali in a costly set erected for canning three songs and talkie part and now the remaining part of shooting will be progressing in Hyderabad.
Badrinath is being directed by V V Vinayak and produced by Allu Aravind under Geetha Arts. M Keeravani is composing the music, while Ravi Varman takes the charge of camera.
The film unit says that till now the shooting was done in Kulu Manali in a costly set erected for canning three songs and talkie part and now the remaining part of shooting will be progressing in Hyderabad.
Badrinath is being directed by V V Vinayak and produced by Allu Aravind under Geetha Arts. M Keeravani is composing the music, while Ravi Varman takes the charge of camera.
Obama looking forward to India trip
US President Barack Obama is looking forward to visiting India in early November and first lady Michelle is excited about the trip. Earlier, in his speech to the UN general assembly too he made a reference to his upcoming trip to India.
Ban on bulk SMS extended till Sept Ban on bulk SMS extended till Sept 29
With the Supreme Court deciding to defer the High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land title suit by five days, the Centre on Thursday decided to extend the ban on bulk SMS and MMS services across the country till September 29.
Government sources, meanwhile, were candid enough to admit that deferring of the verdict had "created a week of uncertainty" and "will raise anxiety levels related to the security of the (Commonwealth) Games".
Suspecting that "mischievous elements" could create tension and stoke passions in several "vulnerable areas" in the run-up to and after the verdict, the Centre reiterated that states must maintain a heightened state of security preparedness.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Komaram Puli : Pawan Kalyan Puli ends up being Powerless !!!
It has been almost three years since Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Jalsa’ released. After innumerable delays, court cases and technical glitches his ‘Komaram Puli’ is said to be releasing with 480 prints across 1000 theaters worldwide. It’s got director S.J.Suryaah, whose earlier film with Pawan Kalyan – ‘Khushi’ set the box office on fire.
It’s got A.R.Rahman’s music, Binod Pradhan’s cinematography, a new heroine and a producer who is said to have spent Rs. 42 crore. Will the tiger roar? Komaran Puli is all about how these ingredients were mixed to finally dish out a powerless and tasteless dish!!!
Komaram Puli (Pawan Kalyan) is born in extreme conditions. However, his mom (Saranya), whose police officer husband has been killed by Al Saleem, brings him up to be as fearless as a tiger. Puli becomes a special police officer in Prime Minister’s security and manages to save the PM’s life. He is granted permission to take on crime directly in the state with his personal team.
Here he happens to have a tiff with Al Saleem, though both are unaware of who the other is and what ‘connection’ they have. Puli hurts the ego of Al Saleem, getting him to do mistakes and more mistakes. But Al Saleem is clever too. What he does, how Komaram Puli overcomes Al Saleem, and what he speaks to the world forms the rest of the story.
Pawan Kalyan looks like he is in the character, though he got a bit chubby (Never mind because the girls will like him!) Saranya acts well in the mother’s role. Nikesha Patel has a nice entry into films in India. There are certain scenes that connect to the audiences thoroughly. Master Bharath, who has got a very small role, got the most number of claps for his act.
is role conveys that even a child knows who the villains in a state or a country are. But on the whole the entire film is Pawan Kalyan’s one man show. He talks, entertains, fights, does comedy and everything that is there to be done! There are certain interesting points that Pawan Kalyan brings up in his dialogues.
It is the way the dialogues are delivered that spoils the gist of what is being said. The characters are too vocal and their dialogues are too loud. The story is clichéd, running mostly on contrived scenes. Visual Effects or graphics should have been dealt better. While the fight scenes are interesting in certain situations, they are not as consistently entertaining as one would expect.
The biggest problem with the film is that Pawan Kalyan has got five or six long monologues, there is one for Saranya, and another one for Manoj Bajpai too. Manoj Bajpai ends up being a caricature as he reminds us of Ashish Vidyarthi, and sometimes Subbarju from ‘Pokiri’! His silent expressions and sarcastic laughs are good though.
First lesson for Suryaah – don’t tell a cop story if you don’t know how. Second. Don’t use graphics if they don’t integrate into your story. And most importantly use star power to make the character stronger not the other way around. Suryaah’s story has so many holes that you could drive a truck through it.
The most gaping hole is the romance track. NikishaPatel is annoying. And that has got nothing to do with her poor dubbing or her baby fat. And then he wastes talents of the likes of Nassar and Manoj Bajpai. If you can’t make them act, what defense do you have to wield a megaphone for a Pawan starrer.
The next disappointment is A.R. Rahman’s musical track. He has to get over his Vandemataram and Maa Tuhe salaam hangover. Sippy’s punch dialogues are another big let down – something that should never happen in a Pawan film. Puli fails in a couple of areas with the main culprit being the lack of focus on the cop angle.
Director Surya tries hard to make a story of an idealist cop but falters by bringing in the one-sided romantic track which dilutes most of the first half. The other main culprit is villain’s character which is poorly sketched out by Manoj Bajpai. Saleem’s character that should have had cunning & aggression to counter Puli’s intensity & passion instead ends up being comical in most parts.
Nikisha Patel makes a forgettable debut in her bimbette act while Ali & Bhramaji are wasted in miniscule roles. Shriya’s item number alongwith her two minute role seems to be forced into the screenplay. The other laughable and unbelievable part is the Puli Team who despite their hi-fi fancy equipment and special powers is unable to identify the terrorist who is a part of their core team.
The songs look extremely rich, Sriya’s ‘Dochey’ being the best. Editing is sloppy. One wonders if there were issues with certain frames, because the pictures (only in few frames) appear too dotted for one’s comfort. Only the film makers should know if it was intentional! Music by A.R.Rahman has been declared a hit.
He and the cinematographer Binod Pradhan help elevate Pawan Kalyan. S.J.Suryaah had an inconsistent run through out his career, dotted with hits and failures. He should learn to balance it, the sooner the better. Tinu Varma and Vijayan’s stunts are good in patches. Graphics by Pixelloid could have been better. The editing though is a big let down.
The rest of the technical team go through the motions of capturing content. One thing is for sure. The enormous budgets spoken off are not reflected in the end product and that is something that the Telugu film industry itself should note. Loudness works but not all the time. Romance has naughty side to it but not all the time.
A villain can be egoistic, but he wouldn’t become a villain if he was a fool in the first place. Komaram Puli’ has its good moments, but it is the bad moments that out number the good ones by a huge margin. The film will survive only if the fans want it to. Even die-hard fans of Pawan will find it difficult to sit through the film.
The director should have stuck to making a realistic film about the cop and his quest for justice instead of bringing in unnecessary sub-plots & dragging it to a predictable climax. Suryaah’s inept handling has sunk it. He spent more money on Pawan’s image than Puli’s character. ‘Komaram Puli’ could have been a great film.
But Suryaah wanted the easy way out. He thought that allhe had to do was rope in a big star and spend big money to ensure success. The foreign locations, expensive sets and weak villainy don’t just add to an entertaining experience. Unfortunately that’s not the route that leads you to success.
Numerous references are made to the Power Star tag throughout the film with the best analogy being the “Simha” & “Star” symbols on a cop’s uniform being equated to the Power Star!!!CEO forum
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday asked the industry not to nurse fears of lack of peace in separate Telangana and said his party would take all steps to promote and protect industrialisation.
Asked to spell out his industrial policy for Telangana in the present scenario of uncertainty, Mr. Rao assured the India CEO forum of research body International Market Assessment (IMA) that peace was permanent in Telangana though the State was passing through a phase of uncertainty.
The situation arose only on account of integrated State, he said in his interaction with participants after making a presentation to them. Emphasising that peace had never been a casualty, Mr. Rao said the State witnessed a volatile situation since his hunger strike in December last which was the result of a counter agitation in coastal districts.
This was stated by TRS leaders who accompanied Mr. Rao to the meeting, which was out of bounds for the media. The TRS chief expressed his resolve to welcome investments but warned that there should be transparency in all transactions. The party would extend all concessions as per the law of land but expected the industry to cooperate in developing the area.
This was missing in the last five years when the industry claimed huge chunks of land and other benefits. Answering a question on the impact of naxalism on industry, he said the problem was a consequence of backwardness which had roots in neglect of Telangana in the integrated State. The problem would die down like in Jagtial, once a disturbed area, where canal water made all the difference.
The answer to naxalism was development which was bound to be faster in Telangana which had rich natural resources. In this context, he referred to Planning Commission reports suggesting higher rate of growth in Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand than their parent States. Smaller the unit, greater the growth, he added.
Mr. Rao dismissed the proposal of Hyderabad as a Union Territory saying it was thoughtless and would not be accepted at any cost. After all, Mumbai did not go to Gujarat when that State was carved out. To a question on the likely developments after December 31, he said the New Year would herald the emergence of separate Telangana as the Srikrishna Committee would submit a positive report on Statehood.
His interaction was followed by a power point presentation by his son and Sircilla MLA K.T. Rama Rao. Prof. K. Jayashankar and Mr. Rao later answered questions from the participants.
Asked to spell out his industrial policy for Telangana in the present scenario of uncertainty, Mr. Rao assured the India CEO forum of research body International Market Assessment (IMA) that peace was permanent in Telangana though the State was passing through a phase of uncertainty.
The situation arose only on account of integrated State, he said in his interaction with participants after making a presentation to them. Emphasising that peace had never been a casualty, Mr. Rao said the State witnessed a volatile situation since his hunger strike in December last which was the result of a counter agitation in coastal districts.
This was stated by TRS leaders who accompanied Mr. Rao to the meeting, which was out of bounds for the media. The TRS chief expressed his resolve to welcome investments but warned that there should be transparency in all transactions. The party would extend all concessions as per the law of land but expected the industry to cooperate in developing the area.
This was missing in the last five years when the industry claimed huge chunks of land and other benefits. Answering a question on the impact of naxalism on industry, he said the problem was a consequence of backwardness which had roots in neglect of Telangana in the integrated State. The problem would die down like in Jagtial, once a disturbed area, where canal water made all the difference.
The answer to naxalism was development which was bound to be faster in Telangana which had rich natural resources. In this context, he referred to Planning Commission reports suggesting higher rate of growth in Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand than their parent States. Smaller the unit, greater the growth, he added.
Mr. Rao dismissed the proposal of Hyderabad as a Union Territory saying it was thoughtless and would not be accepted at any cost. After all, Mumbai did not go to Gujarat when that State was carved out. To a question on the likely developments after December 31, he said the New Year would herald the emergence of separate Telangana as the Srikrishna Committee would submit a positive report on Statehood.
His interaction was followed by a power point presentation by his son and Sircilla MLA K.T. Rama Rao. Prof. K. Jayashankar and Mr. Rao later answered questions from the participants.
The top 10 reasons why you and everyone else needs to take breaks from time to time.
1. Your body needs to relax
As simple as it may sound, everybody needs to slow down once in a while. As much as some of us want to believe we can work through anything, we are human and our bodies and minds do need to rest. You can only keep going on fumes for so long. It’s even harder if you quit caffeine!
The other thing to remember is that it takes a bit of time to unwind. Weekends aren’t really enough to catch your breath. Even a one week holiday barely gives you enough time to unwind. Most people find that they finally really start to relax after a few to several days of rest, which means by the end of a week you’re finally starting to truly relax. It’s generally not until the second week of holidays that you really relax and benefit from your holidays. Unfortunately for a lot of us, it’s very difficult to take more than a week at a time of holidays.
And just taking a day off here and there is definitely not enough, sometimes you truly need to take some time to slow down your pace. It’s amazing the difference it can make. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that one day off is enough to fully recharge, it’s not. It’s a good start, but that’s all it really is. I view it as more of someone drowning and being able to get a grasp of air. It’s not enough to save you, but it sure does feel great!
2. Get new perspectives
If you never take a step back, you’re always going to be looking at it from the same angle. Taking a break or a holiday gives you the opportunity to take a step back and look at what your doing from a different perspective.
It’s amazing what a little difference in perspective can make. The theory of relativity is really just looking at the world from a different viewpoint. Instead of everything being absolute, Einstein basically realized that everything is relative. In other words we move relative to others, not from an absolute point in space. A simple little difference in perspective lead to a massive improvement in physics. That simple change in perspective completely changed how we view the world and lead to incredible discoveries.
While you probably won’t make the same level of groundbreaking discoveries as Einstein did, it may be enough to give you a significant boost in whatever it is you’re doing. I know being an entrepreneur sometimes I have to look at how I run my business from the outside, otherwise I would just keep doing more and more of the same. Looking from the outside allows me the opportunity to grow when and how I least expect.
3. Appreciate what you have
Like anything, if you do it too much, you start to lose your appreciation for it. For example, imagine if everyday someone did your laundry, cooked all your meals, and so on. After a while you would start to lose your appreciation for everything that’s done for you, it would almost become an expectation. Many hilarious Hollywood movies are based on this single idea.
It’s not until you stop getting the benefits that you really appreciate what you had and lost. For me blogging had become somewhat of a chore and I was no longer appreciating the benefits. And after writing for many years on a regular basis, I kinda got use to it. Once I stopped, about a few weeks into it, I started to want to write again. And the more I wanted it, the more I appreciated that I had the opportunity. And so instead of blogging being a chore as it had eventually become, it’s now something I really look forward to!
4. Improve the quality of your work
Generally if you do something a lot, you start to get lazy with it. A good example is a business manager or entrepreneur that’s had a nice growth and success history. After a few years of getting lots of good results, they may start to slack off a bit on their work because everything is going well. They have the midas touch. That or they’re getting so busy they start to take shortcuts. And unfortunately they may be able to get away with it for some time, riding on their previous successes. The bad news is that eventually it will catch up, and that’s when bad things happen. We’ve all heard stories of people who had it but then road the wave until they crashed.
For whatever reason, I find that when I take a good break, I have a tendency to ramp back up my quality of work. When you come back, you want everything to be done as best as you can. Things that you’d let slide you now address. Of course we always have to be careful about doing busy work just to be busy (like making sure your email inbox is completely clean). It’s just that in many cases you feel refreshed enough to address some of those bigger issues head on rather than deferring them where before you would defer them as much as you can. You’re up to dealing with the hard issues.
5. Disconnect to relearn how to focus
It’s amazing how good it can be to disconnect. Turn off your cell phone. Step away from your emails. Instead of always being on, multitasking like a mad person, it’s great to be able to relearn to focus.
We’re so used to constant distractions in our day and age that we forget how intrusive they can really be. After you’re disconnected for a while, you start to realize how many of those distractions are really just disruptions. You don’t need to receive all your emails right away. You don’t need to address every issue right now. You don’t need to respond to every email this minute. The world doesn’t come to a grinding halt! It’s good to remember that once in a while.
6. Discover and learn new things
How often can we just take the time to learn new things which will in turn make us that much more productive? To be quite frank, most people just keep doing things the same way because of two reasons.
The first is because they’ve always done it that way and they always will. It’s easy and they’re comfortable with the way they are doing things.
The second reason is that they just don’t have the time to learn anything new. That, or in my opinion, they don’t take the time. That is to say they don’t really understand the value of learning.
For example in software development I believe it’s crucial that you investigate your possible solutions before jumping on what you know. Sometimes the difference can be an order of magnitude increase in productivity. Not always, but often the difference in productivity is staggering. This of course doesn’t mean research everything to death, but do take the time to look at alternative options. You might be surprised more often than you think.
This is also partially where you can get the sunk cost effect. Basically the sunk cost effect is where you keep going the same path because that’s what you’ve always done and have invested large amounts of effort and/or money to get it working. In technology, this may be where you create a framework and stick to it regardless of where the programming world is going, or even how badly it’s working out. At some point alternatives and much better solutions come around, but forcing your people to stay to a specific solution because it’s worked in the past and because you have a large system built on it isn’t always the best solution.
As a quick tip, this is why I strongly believe all companies have limited lifespans. Eventually companies get stuck in some way or other due to the sunk cost effect, and they either collapse under their own weight or another new company eclipses them by leveraging a better and more productive way of doing things. As the cliche goes, out with the old in with the new.
7. Create a strategy for the future
When we’re in the thick of it we rarely take the time to create strategies for what we’re doing. We’re mostly just acting and reacting. Rarely do we plan and strategize. It’s generally only when we take a break that we can really do this.
My favorite example for this is video gaming. Before you start a video game, especially multiplayer games, you prepare your strategy. Then you try to execute it. Rarely do you adjust your strategy in the middle of a game. You’ll sometimes make tweaks to it between games, but often they won’t be very significant. It’s not really until the time between when you end your gaming session and you restart your next gaming session that you really take the time to plan what you’re going to do. That’s when you think about what you’ve done, and what you can do to improve your gameplay.
The same is true for almost everything in life. When you’re in the thick of it you’re too busy dealing with the situation. It’s generally only after the fires have been squelched that you figure out what happened, and look at how you can prevent it for the future.
8. Spend more time with family and friends
As though it wasn’t obvious enough, we’re probably all guilty of working too much. As much as I try to balance work and play, I’m sure I work too much. So taking a break is a good time to improve that balance.
And if you think you aren’t working too much, let me ask you this: On your death bed, will you ever tell yourself you should’ve worked more? Never have I heard of an instance of someone regretting not working enough. All you hear are stories of people regretting they worked too much and didn’t spend enough time with their families. Ask yourself right now, if you only had one week left to live, what would you do? I doubt your answer would be to work 24/7 for that week. Most likely you would completely skip working. That says it all right there!
9. Catch up on much needed sleep
A really weird thing I found is that when I take a holiday, I always get a lot more sleep. Suddenly instead of sleeping 4-6 hours a day, I start sleeping 8-10 hours a day, sometimes more. Why is that? I would assume because my body naturally needs more sleep than I allow it to take. I make no mistake about it, I am in no way hiding the fact that I’m fooling myself into thinking I can do this and get away with it. No one can. Eventually something has to give.
10. Improve your health
And last but not least, it’s a good chance to improve your health. Go outside and get some sun. Exercise. Ride a bike. Take a walk. Swim. Go for a hike. Whatever activity you prefer, it’s a good time to do it. We’re almost all guilty of not exercising enough. And although exercising during a holiday is not enough, it’s better than nothing. Plus, if you’re lucky you’ll continue doing it for a long time after you come back from your holiday.
As simple as it may sound, everybody needs to slow down once in a while. As much as some of us want to believe we can work through anything, we are human and our bodies and minds do need to rest. You can only keep going on fumes for so long. It’s even harder if you quit caffeine!
The other thing to remember is that it takes a bit of time to unwind. Weekends aren’t really enough to catch your breath. Even a one week holiday barely gives you enough time to unwind. Most people find that they finally really start to relax after a few to several days of rest, which means by the end of a week you’re finally starting to truly relax. It’s generally not until the second week of holidays that you really relax and benefit from your holidays. Unfortunately for a lot of us, it’s very difficult to take more than a week at a time of holidays.
And just taking a day off here and there is definitely not enough, sometimes you truly need to take some time to slow down your pace. It’s amazing the difference it can make. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that one day off is enough to fully recharge, it’s not. It’s a good start, but that’s all it really is. I view it as more of someone drowning and being able to get a grasp of air. It’s not enough to save you, but it sure does feel great!
2. Get new perspectives
If you never take a step back, you’re always going to be looking at it from the same angle. Taking a break or a holiday gives you the opportunity to take a step back and look at what your doing from a different perspective.
It’s amazing what a little difference in perspective can make. The theory of relativity is really just looking at the world from a different viewpoint. Instead of everything being absolute, Einstein basically realized that everything is relative. In other words we move relative to others, not from an absolute point in space. A simple little difference in perspective lead to a massive improvement in physics. That simple change in perspective completely changed how we view the world and lead to incredible discoveries.
While you probably won’t make the same level of groundbreaking discoveries as Einstein did, it may be enough to give you a significant boost in whatever it is you’re doing. I know being an entrepreneur sometimes I have to look at how I run my business from the outside, otherwise I would just keep doing more and more of the same. Looking from the outside allows me the opportunity to grow when and how I least expect.
3. Appreciate what you have
Like anything, if you do it too much, you start to lose your appreciation for it. For example, imagine if everyday someone did your laundry, cooked all your meals, and so on. After a while you would start to lose your appreciation for everything that’s done for you, it would almost become an expectation. Many hilarious Hollywood movies are based on this single idea.
It’s not until you stop getting the benefits that you really appreciate what you had and lost. For me blogging had become somewhat of a chore and I was no longer appreciating the benefits. And after writing for many years on a regular basis, I kinda got use to it. Once I stopped, about a few weeks into it, I started to want to write again. And the more I wanted it, the more I appreciated that I had the opportunity. And so instead of blogging being a chore as it had eventually become, it’s now something I really look forward to!
4. Improve the quality of your work
Generally if you do something a lot, you start to get lazy with it. A good example is a business manager or entrepreneur that’s had a nice growth and success history. After a few years of getting lots of good results, they may start to slack off a bit on their work because everything is going well. They have the midas touch. That or they’re getting so busy they start to take shortcuts. And unfortunately they may be able to get away with it for some time, riding on their previous successes. The bad news is that eventually it will catch up, and that’s when bad things happen. We’ve all heard stories of people who had it but then road the wave until they crashed.
For whatever reason, I find that when I take a good break, I have a tendency to ramp back up my quality of work. When you come back, you want everything to be done as best as you can. Things that you’d let slide you now address. Of course we always have to be careful about doing busy work just to be busy (like making sure your email inbox is completely clean). It’s just that in many cases you feel refreshed enough to address some of those bigger issues head on rather than deferring them where before you would defer them as much as you can. You’re up to dealing with the hard issues.
5. Disconnect to relearn how to focus
It’s amazing how good it can be to disconnect. Turn off your cell phone. Step away from your emails. Instead of always being on, multitasking like a mad person, it’s great to be able to relearn to focus.
We’re so used to constant distractions in our day and age that we forget how intrusive they can really be. After you’re disconnected for a while, you start to realize how many of those distractions are really just disruptions. You don’t need to receive all your emails right away. You don’t need to address every issue right now. You don’t need to respond to every email this minute. The world doesn’t come to a grinding halt! It’s good to remember that once in a while.
6. Discover and learn new things
How often can we just take the time to learn new things which will in turn make us that much more productive? To be quite frank, most people just keep doing things the same way because of two reasons.
The first is because they’ve always done it that way and they always will. It’s easy and they’re comfortable with the way they are doing things.
The second reason is that they just don’t have the time to learn anything new. That, or in my opinion, they don’t take the time. That is to say they don’t really understand the value of learning.
For example in software development I believe it’s crucial that you investigate your possible solutions before jumping on what you know. Sometimes the difference can be an order of magnitude increase in productivity. Not always, but often the difference in productivity is staggering. This of course doesn’t mean research everything to death, but do take the time to look at alternative options. You might be surprised more often than you think.
This is also partially where you can get the sunk cost effect. Basically the sunk cost effect is where you keep going the same path because that’s what you’ve always done and have invested large amounts of effort and/or money to get it working. In technology, this may be where you create a framework and stick to it regardless of where the programming world is going, or even how badly it’s working out. At some point alternatives and much better solutions come around, but forcing your people to stay to a specific solution because it’s worked in the past and because you have a large system built on it isn’t always the best solution.
As a quick tip, this is why I strongly believe all companies have limited lifespans. Eventually companies get stuck in some way or other due to the sunk cost effect, and they either collapse under their own weight or another new company eclipses them by leveraging a better and more productive way of doing things. As the cliche goes, out with the old in with the new.
7. Create a strategy for the future
When we’re in the thick of it we rarely take the time to create strategies for what we’re doing. We’re mostly just acting and reacting. Rarely do we plan and strategize. It’s generally only when we take a break that we can really do this.
My favorite example for this is video gaming. Before you start a video game, especially multiplayer games, you prepare your strategy. Then you try to execute it. Rarely do you adjust your strategy in the middle of a game. You’ll sometimes make tweaks to it between games, but often they won’t be very significant. It’s not really until the time between when you end your gaming session and you restart your next gaming session that you really take the time to plan what you’re going to do. That’s when you think about what you’ve done, and what you can do to improve your gameplay.
The same is true for almost everything in life. When you’re in the thick of it you’re too busy dealing with the situation. It’s generally only after the fires have been squelched that you figure out what happened, and look at how you can prevent it for the future.
8. Spend more time with family and friends
As though it wasn’t obvious enough, we’re probably all guilty of working too much. As much as I try to balance work and play, I’m sure I work too much. So taking a break is a good time to improve that balance.
And if you think you aren’t working too much, let me ask you this: On your death bed, will you ever tell yourself you should’ve worked more? Never have I heard of an instance of someone regretting not working enough. All you hear are stories of people regretting they worked too much and didn’t spend enough time with their families. Ask yourself right now, if you only had one week left to live, what would you do? I doubt your answer would be to work 24/7 for that week. Most likely you would completely skip working. That says it all right there!
9. Catch up on much needed sleep
A really weird thing I found is that when I take a holiday, I always get a lot more sleep. Suddenly instead of sleeping 4-6 hours a day, I start sleeping 8-10 hours a day, sometimes more. Why is that? I would assume because my body naturally needs more sleep than I allow it to take. I make no mistake about it, I am in no way hiding the fact that I’m fooling myself into thinking I can do this and get away with it. No one can. Eventually something has to give.
10. Improve your health
And last but not least, it’s a good chance to improve your health. Go outside and get some sun. Exercise. Ride a bike. Take a walk. Swim. Go for a hike. Whatever activity you prefer, it’s a good time to do it. We’re almost all guilty of not exercising enough. And although exercising during a holiday is not enough, it’s better than nothing. Plus, if you’re lucky you’ll continue doing it for a long time after you come back from your holiday.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Vacant MBA seats: Management colleges allow to admit students directlyVacant MBA seats: Management colleges allow to admit students directly
To fill up the 13,500 vacant MBA seats in the state, the higher and technical education department has allowed colleges to admit students who didn’t take the common entrance test (MBA-CET).
Of the 35,000 seats, only 21,500 have been filled. Colleges can admit graduates from any stream based on their final-year marks, according to a Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) circular. Admissions will be done at the individual college level.
The vacancies include seats in the open category as well as management and reservation seats. Besides allowing the state to start second shifts for management, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) this year allowed new colleges to have 120 students in their first batch, instead of the earlier 60.
Of the 35,000 seats, only 21,500 have been filled. Colleges can admit graduates from any stream based on their final-year marks, according to a Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) circular. Admissions will be done at the individual college level.
The vacancies include seats in the open category as well as management and reservation seats. Besides allowing the state to start second shifts for management, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) this year allowed new colleges to have 120 students in their first batch, instead of the earlier 60.
India with spurring economic growth, may change business education worldwide
business leaders try to navigate and rebuild economies savaged by the global meltdown, business schools around the world are rethinking leadership and how to train the next generation of managers in the midst of unprecedented challenges. It is not time to tweak what has been done before.
It is a time for reinvention of management education. The reinvention may well be led by India, where explosive growth in demand for management training has opened the door to massive growth and innovation in the business school sector. I heard firsthand many of the newest ideas and opportunities being discussed by the elite of Indian business schools, government officials, and corporate leaders in August in Delhi at a global conference called Rethinking & Rebooting Indian Management Education.
And also had a chance to visit with individual deans and faculty from a diverse array of institutions. India has a one-of-a-kind combination of location, culture, and demographics. Like a developing nation that skips the messy stage of telephone poles and patchworks of wires and goes straight to high-speed wireless, India has the opportunity and motivation to leverage the lessons learned by the Western world's business schools.
When you create a management education system that will spur economic growth-and become the ultimate state-of-the-art laboratory for global business education innovation. Following are six opportunities India has to reinvent management education in a way that can catapult it to the forefront of leadership and management training worldwide.
1. Skip the academic silos phase.
The world-class Indian engineering education system, the business education sector, and private enterprise can join forces as part of a national initiative to mine the rich intellectual capital of India—and harness the palpable entrepreneurial energy of the massive Indian population. Cross-disciplinary educational programs will foster new levels of innovation and opportunity.
2. Serve locally but train globally.
Leaders of Indian management education are quickly realizing that they must look outward as they train business leaders. They can't be provincial. It will not be enough to focus on educating Indians for India. Business schools in India can design themselves as global institutions, building globally distributed educational programs and deep partnerships around the world right from the start.
3. Establish deep partnership with business.
India's corporations must become true partners in building the management education programs by supplying ideas, knowledge, capital, financial investment, and on-site experience for students, enabling them to learn in real-world situations. They must also understand that to build truly world-class institutions, academic institutions must have the independence to "speak truth to power" (or funders) to unlock the deep value they are able to bring to Indian society.
4. The world is the campus.
Distributed, online, distance, hybrid learning—whatever term you choose—India has the opportunity to use technology to reach massive numbers of people over incredible distances and to bring together new ideas, cultures, and thought-leaders like never before. The Western world is struggling with this approach and many schools discount its effectiveness and credibility. Building on its world-class IT knowledge, India has the opportunity to show the world the true potential of technology-based learning.
5. Ignore the rankings.
The business school establishment in the West has been hamstrung by the popular rankings—forcing institutions to look and act the same to fit the established concepts of what it means to be "top-tier," stifling innovation. Institutions should be encouraged and incentivized to focus on their strengths, to represent themselves accurately to students and employers, and to let a diverse and vital system of institutions emerge. Government policy, rankings, and accrediting systems that inevitably will emerge should reflect and support this approach.
6. Embrace all forms of management training.
The innovation, energy, and desire to serve the market shown by private-sector of Indian enterprises is truly breathtaking.
While the "for-profit" sector in the U.S. in particular is getting a black eye, India can be smart about ways in which the entrepreneurial energy and focus on innovation brought by all educational institutions can ultimately benefit students, employers, and a society that needs new models to meet its enormous need for business education.
There are quality challenges here, no doubt, but my recent experience suggests these shortcomings are being addressed by business school and government leaders. There is a big push in the West to reinvent its business schools, converting a system that has been vilified for promoting selfishness, greed, and lack of ethics to one that recognizes the value of sustainability and social responsibility as a moral and strategic imperative.
India is in the remarkable position of skipping over the mistakes of the past and building a management training system that will incorporate these values and strategies from the start. Schools in the West would do well to watch and participate in what is happening in the subcontinent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)