River Cruise
A man is walking down the street when he sees a sign in the window of a travel agency that says CRUISES - $100. He goes into the agency and hands the guy $100. The travel agent then whacks him over the head with a baseball bat and throws him in the river.
Another man is walking down the street a half hour later, sees the sign and pays the guy $100. The travel agent then whacks him with the baseball bat and throws him in the river.
Sometime later, the two men are floating down the river together and the first man asks, "Do you think they'll serve any food on this cruise?"
The second man says, "I don't think so. They didn't do it last year."
Stockbroker Yachts
A long time ago, a visitor from out of town came to a tour in Manhattan. At the end of the tour they took him to the financial district. When they arrived to Battery Park the guide showed him some nice yachts anchoring there, and said, "Here are the yachts of our bankers and stockbrokers."
"And where are the yachts of the investors?" asked the naive visitor.
Violin Lessons
"Haven't I seen your face before?" a judge demanded, looking down at the defendant.
"You have, Your Honor," the man answered hopefully. "I gave your son violin lessons last winter."
"Ah, yes," recalled the judge. "Twenty years!"
Coffee
Waiter, I'd like a cup of coffee, please, with no cream.
I'm sorry, sir, but we're out of cream. How about with no milk?
Waiter, this coffee tastes like dirt!
Yes sir, thats because it was only ground this morning
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
think and enjoy
Flat Tire
A salesman, and engineer, and a technician are driving in a car when, just outside of town, they get a flat tire. The three of them get out of the car and scratch their heads.
The salesman says, "Maybe I should walk into town and get us a new tire. I know that I can bargain with the man at the parts store and get us a great deal."
The engineer stops him, saying, "No, before you do that, we'll have to do some computations, figuring the grade of the road, the asphalt temperature, and the average rate of speed we will be traveling to know what kind of tire you should buy."
The technician laughs and shakes his head. "No, no, no! What's wrong with you guys? Hell, we have a spare tire in the trunk - now all we have to do is start swapping tires until we find the flat one!"
Paying Taxes
A nervous taxpayer was unhappily conversing with the IRS auditor who had come to review his records. At one point the auditor exclaimed, "We feel it is a great privilege to be allowed to live and work in the USA. As a citizen you have an obligation to pay taxes, and we expect you to eagerly pay them with a smile."
"Thank God," returned the taxpayer. "I thought you were going to want cash."
A salesman, and engineer, and a technician are driving in a car when, just outside of town, they get a flat tire. The three of them get out of the car and scratch their heads.
The salesman says, "Maybe I should walk into town and get us a new tire. I know that I can bargain with the man at the parts store and get us a great deal."
The engineer stops him, saying, "No, before you do that, we'll have to do some computations, figuring the grade of the road, the asphalt temperature, and the average rate of speed we will be traveling to know what kind of tire you should buy."
The technician laughs and shakes his head. "No, no, no! What's wrong with you guys? Hell, we have a spare tire in the trunk - now all we have to do is start swapping tires until we find the flat one!"
Paying Taxes
A nervous taxpayer was unhappily conversing with the IRS auditor who had come to review his records. At one point the auditor exclaimed, "We feel it is a great privilege to be allowed to live and work in the USA. As a citizen you have an obligation to pay taxes, and we expect you to eagerly pay them with a smile."
"Thank God," returned the taxpayer. "I thought you were going to want cash."
Thursday, March 12, 2009
let u know
Four Linguists
Four linguists were sharing a compartment on a train on their way to an international conference on sound symbolism. One was English, one Spanish, one French and the fourth German. They got into a discussion on whose language was the most eloquent and euphonious.
The English linguist said: "Why, English is the most eloquent language. Take for instance the word "butterfly". Butterfly, butterfly... doesn't that word so beautifully express the way this delicate insect flies. It's like flutter-by, flutter-by."
"Oh, no!" said the Spanish linguist, "the word for "butterfly" in Spanish is "maripose". Now, this word expresses so beautifully the vibrant colours on the butterfly's wings. What could be a more apt name for such a brilliant creature? Spanish is the most eloquent language!"
"Papillon!" says the French linguist, "papillon! This word expresses the fragility of the butterfly's wings and body. This is the most fitting name for such a delicate and ethereal insect. French is the most eloquent language!"
At this the German linguist stands up, and demands: "Und vot is rongk mit 'SCHMETTERLING'?"
Committee Rules
- Never arrive on time, or you will be stamped a beginner. - Don't say anything until the meeting is half over; this stamps you as being wise. - Be as vague as possible; this prevents irritating the others. - When in doubt, suggest that a subcommittee be appointed. - Be the first to move for adjournment; this will make you popular - it's what everyone is waiting for. --- Harry Chapman
What is "pi"?
Mathematician: Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
Engineer: Pi is about 22/7.
Physicist: Pi is 3.14159 plus or minus 0.000005
Computer Programmer: Pi is 3.141592653589 in double precision.
Nutritionist: You one track math-minded fellows, Pie is a healthy and delicious dessert!
Polish Scientists
A bunch of Polish scientists decided to flee their repressive government by hijacking an airliner and forcing the pilot to fly them to a western country. They drove to the airport, forced their way on board a large passenger jet, and found there was no pilot on board. Terrified, they listened as the sirens got louder. Finally, one of the scientists suggested that since he was an experimentalist, he would try to fly the aircraft.
He sat down at the controls and tried to figure them out. The sirens got louder and louder. Armed men surrounded the jet. The would be pilot's friends cried out, "Please, please take off now!!! Hurry!!!"
The experimentalist calmly replied, "Have patience. I'm just a simple pole in a complex plane."
Four linguists were sharing a compartment on a train on their way to an international conference on sound symbolism. One was English, one Spanish, one French and the fourth German. They got into a discussion on whose language was the most eloquent and euphonious.
The English linguist said: "Why, English is the most eloquent language. Take for instance the word "butterfly". Butterfly, butterfly... doesn't that word so beautifully express the way this delicate insect flies. It's like flutter-by, flutter-by."
"Oh, no!" said the Spanish linguist, "the word for "butterfly" in Spanish is "maripose". Now, this word expresses so beautifully the vibrant colours on the butterfly's wings. What could be a more apt name for such a brilliant creature? Spanish is the most eloquent language!"
"Papillon!" says the French linguist, "papillon! This word expresses the fragility of the butterfly's wings and body. This is the most fitting name for such a delicate and ethereal insect. French is the most eloquent language!"
At this the German linguist stands up, and demands: "Und vot is rongk mit 'SCHMETTERLING'?"
Committee Rules
- Never arrive on time, or you will be stamped a beginner. - Don't say anything until the meeting is half over; this stamps you as being wise. - Be as vague as possible; this prevents irritating the others. - When in doubt, suggest that a subcommittee be appointed. - Be the first to move for adjournment; this will make you popular - it's what everyone is waiting for. --- Harry Chapman
What is "pi"?
Mathematician: Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
Engineer: Pi is about 22/7.
Physicist: Pi is 3.14159 plus or minus 0.000005
Computer Programmer: Pi is 3.141592653589 in double precision.
Nutritionist: You one track math-minded fellows, Pie is a healthy and delicious dessert!
Polish Scientists
A bunch of Polish scientists decided to flee their repressive government by hijacking an airliner and forcing the pilot to fly them to a western country. They drove to the airport, forced their way on board a large passenger jet, and found there was no pilot on board. Terrified, they listened as the sirens got louder. Finally, one of the scientists suggested that since he was an experimentalist, he would try to fly the aircraft.
He sat down at the controls and tried to figure them out. The sirens got louder and louder. Armed men surrounded the jet. The would be pilot's friends cried out, "Please, please take off now!!! Hurry!!!"
The experimentalist calmly replied, "Have patience. I'm just a simple pole in a complex plane."
jokes
Viola Player
A viola player was returning from a gig, and, feeling tired, decided to stop at a roadside cafe for a rest and a cup of coffee. Halfway through the cup he remembered he'd left his viola on the passenger's seat of the car.
He rushed outside... but it was too late... someone had broken the window and put two more violas on the rear seat!
Piano Tuner
The doorbell rang and the lady of the house discovered a workman, complete with tool chest, on the front porch. "Madam," he announced, "I'm the piano tuner."
The lady exclaimed, "Why, I didn't send for a piano tuner."
The man replied, "I know you didn't, but your neighbors did."
Debate
A mathematician, a biologist and a physicist are sitting in a street cafe watching people going in and coming out of the house on the other side of the street.
First they see two people going into the house. Time passes. After a while they notice three persons coming out of the house.
The physicist: "The measurement wasn't accurate."
The biologists: "They have reproduced".
The mathematician: "If now exactly one person enters the house then it will be empty again."
White Zebra
A biologist, a statistician, a mathematician and a computer scientist are on a photo-safari in africa. They drive out on the savannah in their jeep, stop and scout the horizon with their binoculars.
The biologist: "Look! There's a herd of zebras! And there, in the middle : A white zebra! It's fantastic! There are white zebra's! We'll be famous!"
The statistician: "It's not significant. We only know there's one white zebra."
The mathematician: "Actually, we only know there exists a zebra, which is white on one side."
The computer scientist: "Oh, no! A special case!"
Magic Lamp
A programmer was walking along the beach when he found a lamp. Upon rubbing the lamp a genie appeared who stated "I am the most powerful genie in the world. I can grant you any wish you want, but only one wish."
The programmer pulled out a map of the Mediterranean area and said "I'd like there to be a just and last peace among the people in the middle east."
The genie responded, "Gee, I don't know. Those people have been fighting since the beginning of time. I can do just about anything, but this is beyond my limits."
The programmer then said, "Well, I am a programmer and my programs have a lot of users. Please make all the users satisfied with my programs, and let them ask sensible changes"
Genie: "Uh, let me see that map again."
Metaphysics
If metaphysics is being qua being;
and if epistomology is knowing qua knowing;
then metaphilosophy must be... qua qua qua.
Take Every Four Hours
A pharmacist is going over the directions on a prescription bottle with an elderly patient. "Be sure not to take this more often than every 4 hours," the pharmacist says.
"Don't worry," replies the patient. "It takes me 4 hours to get the lid off".
Apply Locally
Customer gets a topical cream. Direction: apply locally two times a day.
Customer says to the pharmacist: "I can't apply locally, I'm going overseas."
Psychologist vs. Magician
What's the difference between a psychologist and a magician?
A psychologist pulls habits out of rats!
Insulting
A guy goes in to see a psychologist. He says, "It seems I can't make any friends. Can you help me, you fat slob?"
Language Name
"The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language."
Object Oriented
"Have you heard about the object-oriennted way to become wealthy?"
"No..."
"Inheritance."
A viola player was returning from a gig, and, feeling tired, decided to stop at a roadside cafe for a rest and a cup of coffee. Halfway through the cup he remembered he'd left his viola on the passenger's seat of the car.
He rushed outside... but it was too late... someone had broken the window and put two more violas on the rear seat!
Piano Tuner
The doorbell rang and the lady of the house discovered a workman, complete with tool chest, on the front porch. "Madam," he announced, "I'm the piano tuner."
The lady exclaimed, "Why, I didn't send for a piano tuner."
The man replied, "I know you didn't, but your neighbors did."
Debate
A mathematician, a biologist and a physicist are sitting in a street cafe watching people going in and coming out of the house on the other side of the street.
First they see two people going into the house. Time passes. After a while they notice three persons coming out of the house.
The physicist: "The measurement wasn't accurate."
The biologists: "They have reproduced".
The mathematician: "If now exactly one person enters the house then it will be empty again."
White Zebra
A biologist, a statistician, a mathematician and a computer scientist are on a photo-safari in africa. They drive out on the savannah in their jeep, stop and scout the horizon with their binoculars.
The biologist: "Look! There's a herd of zebras! And there, in the middle : A white zebra! It's fantastic! There are white zebra's! We'll be famous!"
The statistician: "It's not significant. We only know there's one white zebra."
The mathematician: "Actually, we only know there exists a zebra, which is white on one side."
The computer scientist: "Oh, no! A special case!"
Magic Lamp
A programmer was walking along the beach when he found a lamp. Upon rubbing the lamp a genie appeared who stated "I am the most powerful genie in the world. I can grant you any wish you want, but only one wish."
The programmer pulled out a map of the Mediterranean area and said "I'd like there to be a just and last peace among the people in the middle east."
The genie responded, "Gee, I don't know. Those people have been fighting since the beginning of time. I can do just about anything, but this is beyond my limits."
The programmer then said, "Well, I am a programmer and my programs have a lot of users. Please make all the users satisfied with my programs, and let them ask sensible changes"
Genie: "Uh, let me see that map again."
Metaphysics
If metaphysics is being qua being;
and if epistomology is knowing qua knowing;
then metaphilosophy must be... qua qua qua.
Take Every Four Hours
A pharmacist is going over the directions on a prescription bottle with an elderly patient. "Be sure not to take this more often than every 4 hours," the pharmacist says.
"Don't worry," replies the patient. "It takes me 4 hours to get the lid off".
Apply Locally
Customer gets a topical cream. Direction: apply locally two times a day.
Customer says to the pharmacist: "I can't apply locally, I'm going overseas."
Psychologist vs. Magician
What's the difference between a psychologist and a magician?
A psychologist pulls habits out of rats!
Insulting
A guy goes in to see a psychologist. He says, "It seems I can't make any friends. Can you help me, you fat slob?"
Language Name
"The most important thing in the programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name and now I am looking for a suitable language."
Object Oriented
"Have you heard about the object-oriennted way to become wealthy?"
"No..."
"Inheritance."
some jokes some fun
Viola Player
A viola player was returning from a gig, and, feeling tired, decided to stop at a roadside cafe for a rest and a cup of coffee. Halfway through the cup he remembered he'd left his viola on the passenger's seat of the car.
He rushed outside... but it was too late... someone had broken the window and put two more violas on the rear seat!
Piano Tuner
The doorbell rang and the lady of the house discovered a workman, complete with tool chest, on the front porch. "Madam," he announced, "I'm the piano tuner."
The lady exclaimed, "Why, I didn't send for a piano tuner."
The man replied, "I know you didn't, but your neighbors did."
Debate
A mathematician, a biologist and a physicist are sitting in a street cafe watching people going in and coming out of the house on the other side of the street.
First they see two people going into the house. Time passes. After a while they notice three persons coming out of the house.
The physicist: "The measurement wasn't accurate."
The biologists: "They have reproduced".
The mathematician: "If now exactly one person enters the house then it will be empty again."
White Zebra
A biologist, a statistician, a mathematician and a computer scientist are on a photo-safari in africa. They drive out on the savannah in their jeep, stop and scout the horizon with their binoculars.
The biologist: "Look! There's a herd of zebras! And there, in the middle : A white zebra! It's fantastic! There are white zebra's! We'll be famous!"
The statistician: "It's not significant. We only know there's one white zebra."
The mathematician: "Actually, we only know there exists a zebra, which is white on one side."
The computer scientist: "Oh, no! A special case!"
Magic Lamp
A programmer was walking along the beach when he found a lamp. Upon rubbing the lamp a genie appeared who stated "I am the most powerful genie in the world. I can grant you any wish you want, but only one wish."
The programmer pulled out a map of the Mediterranean area and said "I'd like there to be a just and last peace among the people in the middle east."
The genie responded, "Gee, I don't know. Those people have been fighting since the beginning of time. I can do just about anything, but this is beyond my limits."
The programmer then said, "Well, I am a programmer and my programs have a lot of users. Please make all the users satisfied with my programs, and let them ask sensible changes"
Genie: "Uh, let me see that map again."
Metaphysics
If metaphysics is being qua being;
and if epistomology is knowing qua knowing;
then metaphilosophy must be... qua qua qua.
Take Every Four Hours
A pharmacist is going over the directions on a prescription bottle with an elderly patient. "Be sure not to take this more often than every 4 hours," the pharmacist says.
"Don't worry," replies the patient. "It takes me 4 hours to get the lid off".
Apply Locally
Customer gets a topical cream. Direction: apply locally two times a day.
Customer says to the pharmacist: "I can't apply locally, I'm going overseas."
A viola player was returning from a gig, and, feeling tired, decided to stop at a roadside cafe for a rest and a cup of coffee. Halfway through the cup he remembered he'd left his viola on the passenger's seat of the car.
He rushed outside... but it was too late... someone had broken the window and put two more violas on the rear seat!
Piano Tuner
The doorbell rang and the lady of the house discovered a workman, complete with tool chest, on the front porch. "Madam," he announced, "I'm the piano tuner."
The lady exclaimed, "Why, I didn't send for a piano tuner."
The man replied, "I know you didn't, but your neighbors did."
Debate
A mathematician, a biologist and a physicist are sitting in a street cafe watching people going in and coming out of the house on the other side of the street.
First they see two people going into the house. Time passes. After a while they notice three persons coming out of the house.
The physicist: "The measurement wasn't accurate."
The biologists: "They have reproduced".
The mathematician: "If now exactly one person enters the house then it will be empty again."
White Zebra
A biologist, a statistician, a mathematician and a computer scientist are on a photo-safari in africa. They drive out on the savannah in their jeep, stop and scout the horizon with their binoculars.
The biologist: "Look! There's a herd of zebras! And there, in the middle : A white zebra! It's fantastic! There are white zebra's! We'll be famous!"
The statistician: "It's not significant. We only know there's one white zebra."
The mathematician: "Actually, we only know there exists a zebra, which is white on one side."
The computer scientist: "Oh, no! A special case!"
Magic Lamp
A programmer was walking along the beach when he found a lamp. Upon rubbing the lamp a genie appeared who stated "I am the most powerful genie in the world. I can grant you any wish you want, but only one wish."
The programmer pulled out a map of the Mediterranean area and said "I'd like there to be a just and last peace among the people in the middle east."
The genie responded, "Gee, I don't know. Those people have been fighting since the beginning of time. I can do just about anything, but this is beyond my limits."
The programmer then said, "Well, I am a programmer and my programs have a lot of users. Please make all the users satisfied with my programs, and let them ask sensible changes"
Genie: "Uh, let me see that map again."
Metaphysics
If metaphysics is being qua being;
and if epistomology is knowing qua knowing;
then metaphilosophy must be... qua qua qua.
Take Every Four Hours
A pharmacist is going over the directions on a prescription bottle with an elderly patient. "Be sure not to take this more often than every 4 hours," the pharmacist says.
"Don't worry," replies the patient. "It takes me 4 hours to get the lid off".
Apply Locally
Customer gets a topical cream. Direction: apply locally two times a day.
Customer says to the pharmacist: "I can't apply locally, I'm going overseas."
what do u thing about ur current states
1. You currently have a job
2. You lost your job/no job/retired
3. You have your own business
I would like to share with you some ideas that can help
you in each of these situations.
1. You currently have a job.
First, if you still have a job and want to make yourself
more valuable and not only keep your job but possibly get
a raise or a promotion, you need to show the company how
you can grow the business using the Internet. If
you take just a few of the ideas that I am sharing with
you in our 21 part series on our blog, that should be
more than enough to do the trick. You will be the hero,
and I am sure that would make you feel incredible!
2. You lost your job/no job/retired
If you are in the second situation, you've lost your job,
or you're retired and you are looking to make more money-
here is an idea...
You can earn money by giving away Stephen Pierce's new
book Make Real Money on the Internet!
3. You have your own business
If you are in the last situation, and you have your
own business, and learn how to grow your business with tons step
by step audios and videos.
2. You lost your job/no job/retired
3. You have your own business
I would like to share with you some ideas that can help
you in each of these situations.
1. You currently have a job.
First, if you still have a job and want to make yourself
more valuable and not only keep your job but possibly get
a raise or a promotion, you need to show the company how
you can grow the business using the Internet. If
you take just a few of the ideas that I am sharing with
you in our 21 part series on our blog, that should be
more than enough to do the trick. You will be the hero,
and I am sure that would make you feel incredible!
2. You lost your job/no job/retired
If you are in the second situation, you've lost your job,
or you're retired and you are looking to make more money-
here is an idea...
You can earn money by giving away Stephen Pierce's new
book Make Real Money on the Internet!
3. You have your own business
If you are in the last situation, and you have your
own business, and learn how to grow your business with tons step
by step audios and videos.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
For an Indian, Electricity outage is not a big thing, but across the world, it is non-extinct. I have been living in US for few years now, and I would say that I have not witnessed it more than a couple of times and that too due to circumstances like storm or whirlwinds.
India has to take drastic steps in this area rapidly. It has a serious shortage, and India’s fast paced growth is not helping it either. India must build hundreds of new power plants over the next five years to end the massive electricity shortages. Infact, India’s economic growth is under threat, if India is not able to overcome this problem.
Currently, the Electricity shortage is around 25% during peak hours, causing frequent outages and forcing shutdowns at factories and businesses.
There are couple of important reasons why India’s electric generation capacity has not improved, even though this sector has been privatized by Indian Government for more than 10 years now.
1) Very few companies have invested in India due to regulatory bottlenecks.
2) India has to cater to huge amount of Electricity theft.
Most of India’s electricity is currently generated by coal-fired power plants, but the country also has some hydroelectric and nuclear generating capacity.
Provide urban amenities in rural areas”— this was the former President, Mr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s challenging vision for rural India. Road connectivity and electricity to all of the country’s six lakh villages denote the starting point for turning Mr Kalam’s vision into reality.
Two large national programmes are currently underway — the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Programme (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) and the Rural Electrification Programme (Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana) named after Rajiv Gandhi. Also, the current Plan for the power sector is structured around the aim of “Electricity for all by 2012”.
The money invested in the roads programme could make an immediate impact on rural lives, but the case of electricity is complex. The scepticism springs from three factors.
Shocking trends
First, power shortages are worsening, hardly an encouraging sign for a country aiming to take electricity within reach of over 80 million more households (40 per cent of total) within the next four years. The all-India energy and ‘peak power’ shortages increased by a percentage point each in April-May this year compared to the corresponding period in 2007.
Second, the capacity-addition programme, already behind by about two years as of March 2007, is trailing the targets in the current Eleventh Plan as well. On latest indications, just around 25 per cent of the meticulously calculated five-year target of 78,577 MW will be added in the first two years of the Plan . Barring a miracle, electricity shortages will, therefore, continue beyond 2012. Compounding these two negatives is the positive trend of rising urban incomes. Why this should impact rural electricity adversely will need some elaboration, but first a look at the current status of village electrification.
Village electrification
About 105,000 villages of the total 593,732 (17.8 per cent) remained to be electrified as of March 2008. The Rural Electrification Corporation, a central undertaking, is co-ordinating the Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana and as most target-driven, adequately-funded programmes gain added momentum nearing the deadline, the remaining gap can be substantially bridged by 2012.
However, connecting villages to the grid is quite distinct from actually delivering electricity to the rural population. For this, average hours of supply to villages already connected provide a reliable index. Sample data collected for a study on rural infrastructure by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in 2001 — a period when electricity shortages were at much the same levels as now — placed the average electricity ‘outages’ across states in rural areas round the year at almost 14 hours per day.
Bad enough as they are, such average numbers conceal the highly undependable and erratic nature of the supply which discourages rural households, short on purchasing power, from taking power connections.
Barring a few States that are better off electricity-wise (Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) conditions remain much the same today in most others. Maharashtra, now under severe power shortage, provides an illustration. The ‘load shedding schedule’ in force provides for daily power cuts of 10-12 hous in agriculture-dominated regions compared to three to six-and-a-half hours in other regions. In better-off States, rural areas suffer other forms of neglect. Tamil Nadu, normally free from power cuts, is carrying waiting lists of more than four lakh applications for rural power connections, some pending for over 20 years.
CII-Pune Model
Rural electricity supply will not improve until overall shortages are eliminated. The growing affluence in select urban centres is a factor to be considered. In a deficient supply environment, there is demonstrated willingness on the part of urban consumers to bear additional charges if they are provided with ‘round the clock’ supply.
The entry of competitive forces into the sector and the electricity trading facility now in place make this increasingly feasible.
Not surprisingly, Maharashtra set the trend three years ago with the so-called “CII-Pune model” that insulated consumers in that city from ‘load-shedding’ by using industrial captive power to support the grid when needed. In addition to the normal tariff applicable, consumers benefiting from the arrangement bear a ‘reliability charge’ at a rate set by the regulator.
In a significant recent change occasioned by rising demand that made the captive power support inadequate, the regulator has now authorised procuring of 100 MW (twice the quantum that captive power offered) for 12 hours daily from a private generating company in Maharashtra itself. This arrangement will continue till May 2009 ensuring that Pune remains free of ‘load-shedding’.
Paying more for assured supply
Three more circles in Maharashtra have followed suit. To ensure ‘zero load-shedding’, Thane and Vashi (the latter covering the Navi Mumbai area) will purchase additional power of 175 MW through an ‘electricity trader’ by import from outside the State. The third case is of Baramati town which will adopt the original Pune model, of saving consumers from ‘load-shedding’ by drawing on industrial captive power. In all these cases, the ‘reliability charge’ would increase the average domestic tariff by around 10 per cent which the consumers find affordable. (Low-end domestic consumers are exempted from the charge).
Gurgaon, Haryana is likely to be the next to join this league and several other cities will be sure to follow. Consumers’ paying more for assured supply fits in with economic theory. The market signals will steadily encourage new investments in capacity until equilibrium is reached. Judging by the flurry of activity in promoting new private power plants, this seems to be happening already.
The point is this: The gap between supply and demand is too wide and the gestation period of new projects is too long, so in the interim period till capacity draws level with demand, the additional power drawn will mean that much less supply to some other category.
About 10,700 MW of the Eleventh Plan target capacity-addition (14 per cent of total) is to come from the private sector, several of them wholly of the ‘merchant power’ variety or plants that earmark a share of their capacity for lucrative ‘trading’ purposes. An increasing proportion of the added capacity will thus be siphoned off by cities seeking uninterrupted supply.
Chances, therefore, are that the village electrification programme will take the wires to the villages, but energy flows will remain meagre. This makes it a matter of utmost urgency for rural households that overall electricity shortages are overcome fastest. But, given the scale of shortages to be overcome, even the ‘fastest’ route will stretch beyond the short term.
This urgency got hardly any notice in the controversy and debate over the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement with which the issue has a linkage. In “Reflections on the power mix”, Business Line, July 19), this writer had argued that in order to bridge the demand-supply gap in a reasonable time-frame, the shelf of projects under execution needed to be significantly enlarged and further that increased nuclear power would fit into this scheme.
This was because coal-based plants, the mainstay for base-load power supply, were particularly prone to delays in implementation and nuclear plants could provide the needed additional volumes.
Shut out the nuclear option and the base-load supply would need to come almost wholly from coal. With all the problems in the coal sector (and port congestion if coal imports are to be increased substantially) this would mean that the shortage regime will prolong. So will Rural India’s wait for reliable electricity supply.
“Electricity for all by 2012” is no longer a realistic aim. For reaching electricity to rural homes, the hard choice now is between the medium term and the long term. As the country’s nuclear isolation could be ending soon, an opportunity opens up to ensure that the better
Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. It is a secondary energy source which means that we get it from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources, which are called primary sources. The energy sources we use to make electricity can be renewable or non-renewable, but electricity itself is neither renewable or non-renewable.
Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. Many cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls (a primary source of mechanical energy) that turned water wheels to perform work. Before electricity generation began over 100 years ago, houses were lit with kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood. Thomas Edison helped change everyone's life -- he perfected his invention -- the electric light bulb. Prior to 1879, direct current (DC) electricity had been used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. In the late-1800s, Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity, which can be transmitted over much greater distances than direct current. Tesla's inventions used electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes and to power industrial machines.
Despite its great importance in our daily lives, most of us rarely stop to think what life would be like without electricity. Yet like air and water, we tend to take electricity for granted. Everyday, we use electricity to do many jobs for us -- from lighting and heating/cooling our homes, to powering our televisions and computers. Electricity is a controllable and convenient form of energy used in the applications of heat, light and power.
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