BANGALORE, OCT. 2.
(The Hindu)
Encouraged by successful field trials in using oil extracted from Honge (Pongamia) tree in operating diesel engines, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, has put forth a viable strategy to phase out the import of diesel saving vital foreign exchange.
What�s more, India could also export this �alternative diesel� if its recommendations are taken seriously and implemented forthwith, according to the IISc.
Billed as eco-friendly, the strategy involves growing of millions of Honge trees or any other species of oil-seed bearing trees to extract oil to replace diesel. The oil thus extracted is known as vegetable oil.
Sooner or later, the country will have to look for such a viable alternative as diesel is a non-renewable energy source on the one hand, and its price is shooting up in the international market on the other, it has been pointed out. The price of a barrel of crude oil in the international market has gone up to over $ 20 from $ 10.5 a few months ago.
Unless the Union Government hikes subsidy on diesel, its price is likely to double.
The possibility of self-reliance in diesel should cheer the policy-makers who can now take major initiatives in this direction, says Prof. Udipi Shrinivasa, who is heading this project of the IISc.
�Honge will be the cheapest of the renewable energy sources besides being indigenous,� he said. Honge is vastly grown in the southern parts of the country. It is known as Ganaga in Telugu, Pungu in Tamil, Karanj in Hindi and Indian Beach Tree in Australia.
Experiments at the IISc have shown that the 1.1 litre of Honge oil can produce the same energy produced by one litre of diesel.
Vegetable oils can be locally extracted, filtered and used, as the experiments of the IISc in a cluster of five villages near Bangalore, have shown. When oil is used in bulk, units can be set up for filtering it.
In the villages where field trials are going on, power generation for supplying electricity and water to over 500 houses are being run mainly on Honge oil. The oil is also used to supply water through pumps to irrigate farm lands. Honge is being grown on a vast expanse of Government land to produce adequate Honge seeds to cater to the energy needs of the area in the future, including pumping water for irrigation.
This is part of a Rs. 257-lakh project funded by the Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources and the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj of the State Government.
It is estimated that 100 trees can be grown per hectare, yielding 10 tonnes to 15 tonnes of seeds per hectare on maturing. The seeds contain about 25 per cent to 30 per cent oil. Thus, every 10 million hectare of tree cover can provide 25 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes of diesel substitute. The 70 million tonnes of cake that will be produced, could substitute an equivalent quantity of Indian coal.
Prof. Shrinivasa says that the annual produce from 30-million hectare can completely replace current use of fossil fuels - both liquid and solid which is required in mining - at a cost that the country can afford (extraction of one litre of oil in villages costs Rs. 6).
The wasteland available in the country is estimated at 70 million hectares to 130 million hectares. If 30 million hectares of this can be used, the country will have used about 25 per cent to 35 per cent of the wasteland in a meaningful way.
If the country launches a large scheme for mass production of vegetable oil seeds, which can help phase out import of diesel, it may not get any positive response from the world. Many countries may oppose it, it is said. Countries which benefit from trading in oil (not being the producers) may prefer to have countries importing diesel.
All over the world, thrust is on to grow more firewood keeping in view its shortage. In fact, the Nairobi Conference had given a call for increased production of firewood.
Prof. Shrinivasa says countries such as India need not grow firewood as it is not in short supply. Rather, it can encourage growing of oil-seed bearing trees to help save vital foreign exchange.
By Alessandro RAIMONDI
LUGANO, Oct 4 (THE GLOBE)
The millennium bug, the so-called �computer nightmare�, or more technically expressed with the somewhat abstruse tag Y2K, seems to have turned into a quiet dream for companies dealing with production and distribution of power in Switzerland.
In fact, a recent survey made by the Swiss Union of Electric Power Stations, UCS, reports that a great deal of adherents to the union is ready to match the challenge, or, again in a technical way, they are �Y2K compliant�.
So the threat against Switzerland�s data processing systems and microprocessors sustained infrastructures, at least for electric companies, is part of the past. True, not all members of the union have supplied information on their actual state of art, others instead have informed being actually dealing with compliance procedures, nevertheless a little over half of the 460 Swiss electric firms interested by the phenomenon have already taken measures (95%). Of this large majority, all big companies have gained their compliance, while among the smaller ones only 6% of them has still to complete the process.
The �terrible� millennium bug is due to the choice of programmers some years ago, at dawning of data processing, to reduce to only two the figures apt to indicate the year. Later on it has been discovered that the year 2000 would have been considered as �00�, a sequence that would have not been �understood� by computers worldwide. Henceforth the necessity to correct what might have been a disaster on January 1st, 2000.
As for the electric power stations network of the Confederation, 94% of the largest ones has already undertook adjustment of their data processing systems, followed by 78% of the smaller ones. However, 16% of those companies envisages some forms of inconvenience during the transition night between 1999 and 2000, without specifying what the hassle may be.
After an expenditure of some 50 million SF to get their compliance, we, as end-users, may afford few bucks to wait for New Year�s Day by candlelight!
Petr Novikov
ALMATY, Oct 4 (THE GLOBE)
An intricate exhibition named �Polish Muslims� opened doors in Almaty Central Museum. In fact the exhibition is dedicated to Polish Tatars. The theme and the style of presentation contradicts the habitual perception of Poland as a purely Christian-Catholic state. The photos of the exhibition convince that different confessions and nationalities quite peacefully coexist in the country.
Tatars have deep historical roots in Poland. In XIV century Lithuanian princes founded fist Tatar settlements in Lithuanian Principality, later on they joined the Kingdom of Poland. The first settlers were prisoners of war and those exiled from the Golden Hord. The number of the newcomers increased. They usually settled around such major political and economical centers as Vilno, Troki, Kovno, Grodno, Novogrodek, Minsk and Slomin. At that time the village Sorok Tatap near Vilno was one of the oldest major Tatar settlements. A part of today�s Ukraine which was Polish at that time was being populated by Tatars up to XVIII century.
They vigorously and bravely supported the Poles in their wars. In response, they were granted privileges and priorities from Polish nobility.
Living in close proximity with the Poles, Tatars managed to preserve (though partially) their Muslim traditions and habitudes. They identify themselves as Sunni Muslims. Nevertheless, the close linkage of Tatar, Polish, Lithuanian and Russian cultures turned into the deep rooted relationship. For example, Tatars retained first Turk names. But their second names are Polish. In 1935 a Tatar cavalry squadron was formed at the 13th Polish regiment with spiritual supervisor Ali Voronovech, Imam of the Warsaw community.
Nowadays Polish Tatars do celebrate Muslim Holidays and support old traditions. As for wedding ceremonies, they are practically the same as those of Polish people. A polish Muslim is permitted to have only one wife. In case of divorce, a Tatar ex-husband, contrary to his Oriental brothers, must provide his ex-wife a considerable sum of money.
The Tatar ethnic community traditionally enjoyed priorities. Tatars were granted princely and nobiliary titles. Every Tatar village and some cities had mosques.
From the end of XVIII century on, Tatars successfully progressed in jurisprudence, management, medicine and industry. It may seem strange, but they did not practice trade.
The exhibition will work yet one week, and you�ll have an opportunity to get acquainted with the lifestyle of Polish Tatars. Here new aspects of synthesis of Christianity and Muslim faith can be revealed.
Oct 5
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman holds the first presidential address televised from the White House. In a telecast relayed from Washington, D.C., to New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Schenectady, New York, the president speaks on the current international food crisis, and urges Americans to practice food conservation. In order to make more food available for needy nations, Truman suggests that Americans abstain from meat on Tuesdays, and from poultry and eggs on Sundays.
In 1969, In an embarrassing breack of the United States� air defense capability, a Cuban defector enters U.S. air space undetected and lands his Soviet-made MiG-17 at Homestead Air Force Base near Miami, Florida, where the presidential aircraft Air Force One is waiting to return President Richard M. Nixon to Washington. The base is subsequently put on continuous alert, and opens a new tracking facility within a few weeks in order to prevent the repetition of a similar incident in the future.
In 1974, American David Kunst completes the first round-the-world journey on foot, taking four years and twenty-one pairs of shoes to complete the 14,450-mile journey across four continents. Another American, George Shilling, boasted of a round-the-world journey nearly a hundred years before, but his feat was never verified. And finally, a third American, Arthur Blessitt, holds the record for the greatest distance walked and most countries visited, although he was propelled by a purpose other than record book fame. Since 1969, Blessitt has walked over 32,000 miles, visiting 367 countries on all seven continents, all the while carrying a twelve-foot cross and preaching Christianity.
From September 14 to October 14.
The Kosteyev State National Museum. The exhibition of private picture-galleries: �Gallery parade - �99�
The Kosteyev State National Museum. Exhibition of S. Kalmykov, I. Itkind, and V. Eifert�s works, and Rudolf Nuriev�s painting.
From 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
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