On the eve of the foundation laying of India’s first High Speed Rail (HSR or Bullet train), jointly by Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Narendra Modi, let us not forget a Railway board chairman from 1968-69 who reportedly said, ‘India does not need a Rajdhani Express. In a poor country such air conditioned trains are luxuries, best avoided.’

Thankfully he was overruled, and today we have Rajdhanis, Shatabdis, Durontos, Gatimaans and many other AC express trains. Similarly, when Maruti-Suzuki started producing cars in India, professional critics carped about how ‘poor India’ does not need more cars beyond the Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Today, after nearly three decades, Maruti has created lakhs of jobs for Indians and a thriving ecosystem of component suppliers in Gurgaon.

More recently, Delhi Metro has been attacked for being very expensive and elitist. But several studies have shown the Metro’s contribution to Delhi NCR’s job creation and development. The HSR project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is a similar paradigm shift for creating jobs for Indians. This would go on to become the first of the ‘diamond quadrilateral’ of bullet trains connecting major metro cities in India.

We’d see an entire ecosystem come up around manufacturing of locomotives and rolling stock for future bullet trains, as well as the entire component value-chain, with thousands of suppliers. ‘Make in India’ would get a fillip, and going forward India would manufacture and export bullet train technology hardware and software to other countries in the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor, being promoted jointly by India and Japan. Perhaps most significantly, human capacities would be created in training and execution of large infrastructure projects in India and abroad.

Low-cost flying has enabled many Indians to switch from train to air. This has improved connectivity and business, but is quite regressive in ‘economic rate of return’. Short-haul flights use imported aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and are large carbon emitters, hurting the environment.

As an example, Mumbai-Delhi is perhaps one of the busiest air corridors in the world. If we can replace at least half these flights with HSR, there would be significant emission reductions. Strategically, imported ATF would be replaced by electricity produced within India. Such HSR trains would run from city centre to city centre, cutting down long airport commutes and lengthy security drills. This choice would be good for the Indian traveller.
The Shinkansen HSR was launched in Japan in 1964. With improvements, it is faster and better today. Initially developed by Japanese government entities, using state finances and borrowings, only in 1987 was the system handed over for operations and maintenance to JR (Japan Rail) companies. Shinkansen trains have perhaps the best safety record in HSR, and they are a treat to ride in.

Another country with a quick HSR rollout is China, which has developed about 22,000 km of HSR since 2007-08. I flew from Shanghai to Beijing in 2 hours 40 minutes, longer than Mumbai to Delhi. HSR trains take a mere 4 hours 29 minutes for the same distance. Imagine reaching Mumbai from Delhi in less than 5 hours by train, with attendant environmental benefits.

Add to that your cellphone and data in uninterrupted roaming, and getting to HSR station in the city centre quickly. Such HSR stations would be fully linked to multi-modal transit options, reducing private cars. On the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR, cities chosen for brief stops would attain much quicker job creation.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR project will be a singular achievement for India. Japan has been our valued partner earlier, with Delhi Metro financing. Japan is now largely funding the HSR project, on extremely generous terms. It will be a technology and project execution demonstrator for Indian infrastructure professionals.

Many joint ventures between Japanese and Indian companies would emerge, as transfer of technology and training of trainers has already begun. Key learnings from HSR would translate into better execution for many other infrastructure sectors. The set of competencies created by this HSR project will contribute to a quicker and more robust process of building India.

In a few years, dear critics, we hope you will be riding the first of India’s many high speed trains, leaving your misgivings at the departure station.

Source: https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/why-the-bullet-train-project-whose-foundation-will-be-laid-by-pm-modi-and-abe-is-the-key-to-transforming-india/

Shanu Babar captures the heart of Indian railways through a melange of images of crisscrossing train tracks, travellers, food and snacks.

Shanu Babar was five when he first travelled by Indian trains  — one of the world’s largest railway networks. Two decades later, he still remembers his experience vividly like it was only yesterday. It was while he was on a trip to the religious pilgrimage site, Vaishno Devi, that he discovered the magic of the window seat. “I remember my uncle relegating me to the window seat so that I don’t run off the aisle,” he reminisces.

The lush green scenery and the neverending landscape kept Shanu entertained throughout the journey. “I was awestruck as I saw the world run past me at a breakneck speed. I remember I was so tiny that my head could fit through the window grills. I stuck it out a couple of times and my mother screamed saying that I am going to lose my hair if I kept doing that!” he laughs.

This fascination for Indian trains continued during his college years. He, however, decided to give this pet project wings when he was a student at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune. Shanu and his friends filmed their travels across the country for his dissertation at college. On a train journey from Pune to Kanyakumari, he began documenting the experience. “Spending so many days on the train, and working really hard to capture the right shots, my fascination with the Indian Railways has just grown day by day.” Thus, he started the project, ‘The Window Seat’ in June 2015.

His job in a post-production company in Mumbai further encouraged him to take this up seriously. “I had plenty of free time and working in a small claustrophobic room suffocated me. I thought if I am not travelling, the least I can do is put pictures of it on a platform.” Soon, he decided to invite folks to share their entries. “The Instagram account started with my own pictures and stories, later people started showing interest in it, I was a little taken aback to see that there are more people like me who love train travel and thus decided to curate content on it.”

And if a picture tells a story that hasn’t been explored before, Shanu has no qualms about posting it. “Perspective needs to win over a story quality. Often, pictures can get repetitive. So I look for a purpose in these photos.” Shanu, who is currently working on an indie film Rhoya, is now planning a bigger project. Called ‘The Great Indian Rail Trip’, the cinematographer is returning to his unfinished campaign.

“I had already embarked upon this ride but unfortunately post 13 days, I developed a food-borne infection that needed to be treated clinically. So I had to return,” he sighs.  He hopes that in the future the project receives funding of sorts. “I am excited to know what lies beyond India. I want to know the stories of people. I understand that it is a little ambitious, monetarily. In fact, I am aware that it would require more than my savings to fund such a project. Let’s see, where this track leads me to,” he says.

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/sunday-chronicle/headliners/100917/tracking-the-journey.html

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Power

EESL to procure 50 lakh Smart Meters for realization of Smart Grids in India
Smart Meters are being procured for smart grid projects in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
About 100 companies participated in Pre-Bid meeting of mega tender

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), under the Ministry of Power, Government of India had put out a mega tender for procurement of 50 lakh smart meters in July, which would help in reducing AT&C losses, power theft and also help in monitoring of round the clock power supply eventually leading to greater efficiency and 24X7 power for all.

A Pre-Bid Meeting was held by EESL on 22nd August 2017 for procurement of 50 lakh smart meters which elicited a stellar response from the smart meter manufacturers, system integrators and has also excited various other stakeholders including World Bank and telecom operators etc. The interest shown by the smart meter fraternity is also evident from the participation of about 100 companies in the pre-bid meeting and is a measure of the potential which smart projects have in India.

EESL will be making the entire upfront investment as well as maintain the whole infrastructure for the next ten years. This approach has made the project feasible as most of the state utilities are not in a position for such rollouts due to their financial constraints. EESL will recover its investment from the savings accruing to the DISCOMs in subsequent years.

The meters are being procured for implementation of smart grid projects in the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. These meters will help these states in not only significantly reducing their AT&C losses way of increased billing efficiency, but will completely change the way in which electrical energy is presently being consumed and paid for by the ordinary consumers.

Installation of these smart meters along with its associated communication and IT infrastructure will enable the DISCOMs to obtain real time energy consumption data of each consumer for subsequent analysis and will pave the way for initiating various smart measures by DISCOMs like Time Of Day (TOD)/Time Of Use (TOU) billing, prediction and management of peak demand, providing real time energy consumption data to consumer, prepaid billing facility, remote connection and disconnection of load, accurate billing, etc. Installation of these meters will also obviate the need for the meter reader’s visit to each and every consumer.

In order to make the entire project feasible and affordable, EESL has unbundled the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project into two parts viz. procurement of smart meter and arranging the system integrator. EESL is also planning to issue the tender for selection of system integrator early next month, as second part of the AMI project.

Senior officials of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh DISCOMs were present in the pre-bid meeting along with representatives from DISCOMs of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, as well as senior officials from CEA, NSGM etc.

*****

RM/VM

The landmark judgement of the Supreme Court imposing penalties of an estimated Rs 25,000 crore on illegal mining merits serious reading by the entire corporate sector, and not just by those who extract mineral wealth.

Two aspects of the verdict stand out. First, the verdict takes environmental law enforcement by the Centre and the highest judicial authority to anew high, which is a very strong deterrent against such practices in the future. This strong message will protect the environment and clean up the poisonous air in cities more effectively than some outrageous, controversial and ill-conceived steps taken by various authorities in recent years.

Second, the court has ordered heavy expenditure for the welfare of tribal people in affected areas. This reinforces the GoI’s declared strategy of targeting and extracting ill-gotten wealth to help the poor, whether by demonetisation of high-value currency notes, or with the goods and services tax (GST).

A crucial aspect of the court case that needs to be highlighted is the fact that the mines ministry, after Piyush Goyal took charge of its affairs, dramatically changed the relatively lenient position that the previous government had taken in the matter of companies violating green laws applicable to the sector. In doing this, GoI showed its determination to resist strong pressures.

Conventionally, mining was deemed illegal only if ores were extracted without a mining lease. Under the mining law, the penalty was equal to the entire output from such an operation. However, once the lease was obtained, even if the mining operation ravaged forests, made the air unbreathable and degraded the environment to make thousands of crores, the penalty under the environment law was a laughable Rs 50,000. This built a very strong business case to start mining without waiting for green clearances.

The government argued before the Supreme Court in January that extracting minerals without the necessary green clearance should be deemed illegal not just under the environmental law but also under the mining law that imposes back-breaking penalties for default. The Supreme Court has upheld this view.

It’s Mine, Not Yours
This means that even if you have a mining lease, any extraction without forest and environment clearance is illegal and the state must recover the value of the entire output from the defaulter.

Further, the court has ordered that the hefty penalty must be used very transparently for the development of tribal areas where the mines are located. It has ordered that the “very large amounts” that will flow to Odisha after the verdict must be kept in a special purpose vehicle (SPV). To ensure that the funds are used for the benefits of tribal people in affected areas, it has asked the state’s chief secretary to file an affidavit stating the work done and audited accounts of the SPV.

For those who think they can make millions without caring for the environment, the court did not mince words. It delivered the message in the first paragraph of the judgement, “Lessees… in Odisha have rapaciously mined iron ore and manganese ore, apparently destroyed the environment and forests and perhaps caused untold misery to the tribals in the area.” Some steps taken to help the local people, the court said, seemed “not more than a drop in the ocean —also too little, too late”.

The stern words from the highest judicial authority in the country are abreath of fresh air in the otherwise polluted approach toward green issues some authorities have demonstrated in recent years.

On top of the hall of shame is the Delhi government’s ill-conceived oddeven scheme that banned half the cars in the city on alternate days, but had no problems with smoky and noisy diesel generators or smoke-spewing, overloaded trucks.

Then there was the ban on 10-yearold diesel cars, which were sold in full compliance of the prevailing emission norms and a declaration to customers that these cars will be legally allowed for 15 years. It didn’t matter to the authorities that a newer car that is not properly maintained will pollute the air much more. Or that the actual emission is more important than the age.

The problem with such steps is that it creates mass public ill-will towards the noble cause of environmental protection simply because some authority has caused severe hardship with steps that scientists know wouldn’t clean the air. Such orders actually damage the environment because they make it difficult for political authorities to protect the environment when the common man thinks he is being short-changed.

Green and Bear It
In contrast, the Supreme Court’s latest verdict on mining, and GoI’s submission early this year, is a concrete step that will help the environment, even as some mining companies have genuine grievances.

The mining industry fears the verdict will disrupt business and that some mines may shut down. There are some legitimate grouses. It takes ages to get environmental clearances. Often, land is not available for compensatory afforestation. At times, clearances are not renewed even if there is no change in mining operations or output.

Legitimate concerns must be addressed. But for the crooks who ravage the environment, the message from the Supreme Court and the government is clear: if abiding by the law means shutting down your business, so be it.

Source: http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-commentary/at-last-india-gets-genuinely-serious-about-companies-flouting-mining-and-environment-laws/

स्मार्टफोन आज के समय में जिस तरह लोगों के लिए जरुरी हो गया है। उसी तरह एप्स भी रोजाना के काम पूरे करने में अहम् भूमिका निभाती हैं| इसी बाबत केंद्रीय ऊर्जा मंत्री पियूष गोयल ने बताया की अच्छी गुणवत्ता और 24×7 किफायती सप्लाई के सरकार के लक्ष्य को पूरा करने में भी एप्स का बड़ा हाथ है।साथ ही उन्होंने बताया की जनता का काम आसानी से हो इसलिए मेरिट, विद्यूत प्रवाह, गर्व, ऊर्जा मित्र और सूर्य मित्र एप्स फ्री हैं। इन एप्स का क्या काम है यह आपको बताएं तो इसमें आप शिकायत करने से लेकर बिजली की कितनी यूनिट्स खर्च हुई हैं, बिजली कब जाने वाली है, राज्यों के हिसाब से बिजली की कीमतों में तुलना, पावर सप्लाई चेक करना आदि जैसी सभी सुविधाएं मिलती हैं।

बताएगा बिजली की असल कीमत:

1. क्या राज्य उपभोक्ताओं से उचित मूल्य चार्ज कर रहे हैं कि नहीं इस बात का भी पता लगा सकते हैं।
2. मेरिट एप यूजर्स को जानकारी देता है कि क्या राज्य वास्तव में पावर के सस्ते स्रोतों को वरियता दे रहे हैं। अक्सर देखा गया है कि वे ऐसा नहीं करते हैं।
3. उपभोक्ता उन कीमतों की तुलना कर सकते हैं जो राज्य बिजली और स्पलाइ खरीदते हैं।
4. विद्युत प्रवाह एप पर प्रत्येक राज्य के लिए स्पॉट मार्किट में बिजली की कीमतें रियल टाइम के आधार पर अपडेट की जाती हैं।

बिजली जाने की जानकारी:

1. पावर मंत्रालय के एप के माध्यम से उपभोक्ताओं बिजली जाने की जानकारी को प्राप्त कर सकते हैं।
2. ऊर्जा मित्र आपको बिजली जाने के बारे में रियल टाइम जानकारी प्रदान करता है।
3. इसके अलावा ऊर्जा मित्र श्यूडल और चल रहे बिजली की कटौती के बारे में जानकारी भी देता है।
4. उपभोक्ता श्यूडल कटौती के कारणों पर अलर्ट प्राप्त कर सकते हैं।
5. उर्जा मित्र के लॉन्च के बाद से पावर कटौती से जुड़े 110 मिलियन से अधिक मैसेज उपभोक्ता को भेजे गए हैं।

बिजली की वास्तविक उपलब्धता:

1. उपभोक्ता राज्यों में बिजली की कमी, बिजली की ज्यादा कीमतों की शिकायत कर सकते हैं।
2. अगर अतिरिक्त बिजली उपलब्ध होने पर भी उपभोक्ता विद्युत आउटेज का सामना करते हैं तो विद्युत प्रवाह उपभोक्ताओं के सवालों को राज्यों तक पहुंचाता है।
3. उपभोक्ता गर्व के माध्यम से अपने क्षेत्र में बिजली की आपूर्ति को भी देख सकते हैं।
4. मेरिट रोज अलग-अलग राज्यों के पोर्टफोलियो पर डाटा मुहैया कराता है।

शिकायतें भी कर सकते हैं दर्ज:

1. गर्व के माध्यम से उपभोक्ता बिजली वितरण कंपनियों की शिकायत को दर्ज कर सकते हैं, जिसका उद्देश्य ग्रामीण और घरेलू विद्युतीकरण पर नजर रखना है।
2. ऊर्जा मित्र आपको पावर कटौती, समय पर कनेक्शन जारी करने और शिकायतों को दर्ज करने के बारे में जानकारी मुहैया कराता है।
3. इस साल जून तक 1.4 करोड़ उपभोक्ताओं में से 10.1 प्रतिशत उपभोक्ताओं के आवेदन को हल नहीं किया गया।

सनशाइन:

1. पावर मंत्रालय सूर्य मित्रा के माध्यम से सौर ऊर्जा के अंत तक पहुंचता है।
2. विभाग उपभोक्ताओं को सौर उत्पादों की स्थापना, मरम्मत और प्रबंधन सेवाएं प्रदान करने के लिए कर्मियों को प्रशिक्षित करता है।
3. पिछले दो वर्षों में लगभग 11,000 व्यक्तियों को इसके लिए प्रशिक्षित किया गया है।

Source: http://www.jagran.com/technology/apps-empowering-the-consumer-through-power-apps-16554992.html

केंद्रीय बिजली एवं कोयला मंत्री पीयूष गोयल ने गुरूवार को कहा कि प्रांतीय बिजली बोर्डों एवं डिस्कॉम तथा उपभोक्ताओं की सहूलियत के लिए कम मूल्य के स्मार्ट मीटर उपलब्ध कराए जाने की कोशिश की जा रही हैं और जल्द ही 1000 रुपए से कम में स्मार्ट मीटर मिल सकेगा.  गोयल ने गुरूवार को प्रश्नकाल के दौरान सदस्यों के पूरक प्रश्नों के उत्तर में कहा, ‘‘स्मार्ट मीटर अभी 10,000 रुपए से लेकर 15,000 रुपए तक की कीमत में हैं. ऐसे में हम समझ सकते हैं कि राज्यों के लिए इसकी लागत वसूलना मुश्किल होगा.

स्मार्ट मीटर में किए गए हैं कुछ बदलाव

उन्होंने कहा, ‘ऐसे में स्मार्ट मीटर में कुछ बदलाव किए गए हैं और इसे सरल बनाया गया है. इसमें बहुत सारी चीजें ऐसी थीं जिनकी भारतीय परिप्रेक्ष्य में जरूरत नहीं थी. ऐसे में इसमें सुधार किया गया है और अब कई जगहों पर यह 1500 से 2000 रूपये की कीमत पर उपलब्ध हो रहा है.’’ मंत्री ने कहा कि कहा कि सरकार का प्रयास है कि आने वाले समय में 1000 रूपये से कम कीमत पर स्मार्ट मीटर उपलब्ध कराया जाए.’ गोयल ने कहा कि उत्तर प्रदेश की योगी सरकार ने 40 लाख और हरियाणा सरकार ने 10 लाख स्मार्ट मीटर के लिए निविदा निकाली है.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/hindi/business/smart-meters-will-be-made-available-in-less-than-rs-1000-power-minister/336195