Come summer, the "load" (demand) on the electricity usage in the city of Mumbai increases greatly. Over the years (due to the increasing urban population and maybe due to the lack of setting up of newer power generation plants), the demand outstripped supply completely. Multiple areas (mostly suburbs and Thane district) have to bear the brunt of the "load shedding". In some places, there is no power supply for more than 8 hours.
While Mumbai was largely unaffected, it might not get spared this year. As mentioned in this article, the MERC is deciding to "ration" the electricity usage. Anyone who uses more than 300 units in a month has to pay a heavy fine. Now that makes a bit of sense...in the short term, its a very good solution. Unless, people realise the situation, they are going to "use" electricity like anything. The BEST that supplies electicity to the southern parts of the city plans to implement the above scheme. It is fairly obvious that its meant to curb the usage of air-conditoners. In some homes as mentioned in this article, there are upto 3 air-conditoners installed. An air-condtioner is known to consume in 40 minutes as much power as a ceiling fan can in 24 hours.
It remains to be seen whether the fine will actually be implemented and if it is, then how effective it would be. Mumbai has got a fairly large population of people who can pay any amount (fine or no fine) for whatever they want. But, it might make some upper middle-class people sit up and take notice and work out ways to "save" electricity.
I feel this is a good short-term measure. Also, it should give a boost for research into alternative sources of energy. For example, hand wound mobile phone chargers as well as solar-powered phone chargers have made an appearance in foreign markets. However, they are a bit expensive and the hand-wound ones need a lot of winding to be useful on a daily basis. Maybe if we could reduce the cost and improve the performance of these, it would help save some electricity.
This article claims that a certain 7-storeyed "bungalow" in Juhu has been running on hybrid power (solar and wind) to reduce its dependency on the electric supply. Interestingly, the article mentions that this was the only bungalow that had power during the 26th July deluge.
Time for the appropriate engineers and scientists to start thinking and developing these things at an affordable price so that its usage becomes more common place. Instead of spending time worrying about some stupid payroll application, maybe they could concentrate in their own fields for a while and help India out of a difficult crisis.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
H. A. J. C.
HAJC is "Haji Ali Juice Centre". Ever since I recollect, I've seen this small shop just outside the way to the Haji Ali dargah. It specializes in fruit juices and milkshakes. It is run by Malayalee muslims (the same guys who also run the Cafe Noorani across the road). Though it may have begun as a "Juice Centre", it also serves some popular "fast food" snacks such as pizzas (grated cheese on top), sandwiches and burgers.
The place is fairly small and has about 8 very small tables. Most people prefer to stand outside and eat or drink. The place is almost always packed to capacity in the evenings where the people who come to visit the dargah and / or the Mahalaxmi temple drop in to have a snack and / or to quench their thirst.
The juices range from Rs. 20 (for plain lemon juice) to about Rs. 400 (for the imported pomegranate aka "Kabuli Anar").
Apart from the juices, the stall also has milkshakes and "fruit cream" (diced fruits in cream). The guy also gets orders from the "Gelf" and the "middil yeast". All items are also available as "parcel". The packing of this "fruit cream" is done very meticulously in thermocol boxes with dry ice to keep the thing cool.
I have seen the traffic police at the Haji Ali circle have tea at this stall, so I guess they might be making tea too.
It is supposed to be open until late hours in the night...maybe the shop "takes good care" of the cops.
The place is fairly small and has about 8 very small tables. Most people prefer to stand outside and eat or drink. The place is almost always packed to capacity in the evenings where the people who come to visit the dargah and / or the Mahalaxmi temple drop in to have a snack and / or to quench their thirst.
The juices range from Rs. 20 (for plain lemon juice) to about Rs. 400 (for the imported pomegranate aka "Kabuli Anar").
Apart from the juices, the stall also has milkshakes and "fruit cream" (diced fruits in cream). The guy also gets orders from the "Gelf" and the "middil yeast". All items are also available as "parcel". The packing of this "fruit cream" is done very meticulously in thermocol boxes with dry ice to keep the thing cool.
I have seen the traffic police at the Haji Ali circle have tea at this stall, so I guess they might be making tea too.
It is supposed to be open until late hours in the night...maybe the shop "takes good care" of the cops.
The Great GATE Grate
GATE 2006 was a nightmare for me. I had decided to take the exam again (after GATE 2005) in a bid to improve my score. Since the GATE scores are valid for a period of 2 years, the GATE 2005 score is still valid, but I thought I would try my luck again.
The prepraration to the exam was much below expectations (since I was busy with office work even on days that I had taken "leave" on). The exam itself was held today (12th Feb 2006) from 09:30 to 12:30. And, my performance is much below what I might have expected to be. However, not all is lost. GATE is a relative performance exam - it all depends on how poorly others fare. So, there is still hope.
Results will be out in a month...and if you do not hear about it on this site, you know that others have fared better.
The prepraration to the exam was much below expectations (since I was busy with office work even on days that I had taken "leave" on). The exam itself was held today (12th Feb 2006) from 09:30 to 12:30. And, my performance is much below what I might have expected to be. However, not all is lost. GATE is a relative performance exam - it all depends on how poorly others fare. So, there is still hope.
Results will be out in a month...and if you do not hear about it on this site, you know that others have fared better.
W/L
One of the favorite lines we often come across in English stories is this "The quiet of the valley was broken by the sharp toot of the train passing by". Most previous visits to Lonavala I could understand what the authors meant.
If one has ever stayed in Lonavala, one can hear numerous trains blowing their horns as they pass by. With small hillocks on either side of the tracks, the sound of the horn echoes throughout Lonavala and is clearly audible even in the day time (even across the busy highways).
On the last visit, the reason for this got cleared up. It so happened that a few of us (co-workers) had to stay in Lonavala to attend some sort of training programme. Since one of them was quite enthusiastic about morning walks, I would go along with the guy (it was rainy season and we had to wear some jacket to cover ourselves). On one of the days we wandered off and on our way back happened to cross the railway tracks. Right in front, there stood the board with the bold letters "W/L". Anyone (connected with the railways) knows what that means. "W/L" is an instruction to the loco pilot (drivers are called pilots in Indian Railway terminology) to "Whistle / Level crossing ahead".
That was the reason for all the trains going through Lonavala blowing their horns like mad. Since there is also a "blind curve" that leads into the railway level crossing, it is all the more important for the pilot to blow their horns. (Its a bit like the blind curve that leads into Grant Road station on the suburban local lines in Mumbai - one of the reason of multitudes of people being run over by trains near Grant Road).
This "W/L" also comes in a Hindi variant. It is pronounced "See / Pha" and is written in the Devnagiri script ("Seethi Bajao / Phatak aa raha hai").
If one has ever stayed in Lonavala, one can hear numerous trains blowing their horns as they pass by. With small hillocks on either side of the tracks, the sound of the horn echoes throughout Lonavala and is clearly audible even in the day time (even across the busy highways).
That was the reason for all the trains going through Lonavala blowing their horns like mad. Since there is also a "blind curve" that leads into the railway level crossing, it is all the more important for the pilot to blow their horns. (Its a bit like the blind curve that leads into Grant Road station on the suburban local lines in Mumbai - one of the reason of multitudes of people being run over by trains near Grant Road).
This "W/L" also comes in a Hindi variant. It is pronounced "See / Pha" and is written in the Devnagiri script ("Seethi Bajao / Phatak aa raha hai").
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