Sterling performance of Reliance Industries

RIL (Reliance Industries Limited)’s annual report is out. As expected, a superb performance far surpassing competitors with a confident stride into another year, casting away the ill-spirit of depression which threatened to veil India in its pall of gloom. I always had sympathies with this pragmatic company and expected it to fan out to foreign lands, acquiring and managing assets in the remotest parts of the world, and becoming a behemoth, like Shell or Exxon Mobil. This year, the turnover was Rs. 2,00,400 cr ($ 44.632 bn), and net profit of Rs. 16,236 cr ($ 3.616 bn). Also, they contribute 14.5% of India’s total exports, 5.6% of India’s indirect tax revenues and 5.7% of total market capitalisation in India. RIL claims the world record for the largest refining capacity at any single location (Jamnagar refinery) and the largest producer of Polyester fibre and yarn. (The source for all these data is their annual report 2009-10).

It is mandatory for all companies in India to enumerate the steps they have taken in the financial year to achieve energy efficiency and conservation measures. RIL has implemented several schemes spanning across several pages in its various production divisions. Some of the items which confirms to a general nature can be emulated by other companies too. The following are some of those steps which is applicable to any process industry. The details show the activity, cash or energy saved and the division where it was achieved.

1. Installation of lowest diameter impeller in process cooling water pumps at utilities with a saving of Rs. 5 lakh p.a. (Barabanki)
2. Reduction in power consumption by optimising lighting load of entire manufacturing division saving Rs. 2 lakh p.a. (Barabanki)
3. Replacement of old inefficient pumps with new energy efficient pumps in Cooling tower at Utilities saving Rs. 69 lakh p.a. (Dahej)
4. Identification and replacement of faulty steam traps and minimisation of steam leakages done in CPP and its yard piping, saving Rs. 72 lakh p.a. (Dahej)
5. Replacement of all motors running below 40% loading with low rating motors or variable frequency drives in PSF plant saving Rs. 40 lakh p.a. (Hazira)
6. Reduction in power consumption by conversion of IDY godet drives on all positions from Delta to Star electrical configuration, saving Rs. 11 lakh p.a. (Hazira)
7. Reduction in contract demand from 4500 kVA to 4250 kVA to avail rebate on account of improvement in load factor, saving Rs. 30 lakh p.a. (Nagpur)
8. Replacement of screw compressors with centrifugal compressors for air-jet looms Worsted Spinning plant, saving Rs. 7 lakh p.a. (Naroda)

They also plan to replace 65 numbers of under-loaded motors with lower-rating motors with a potential to save Rs. 62 lakh p.a. and install VFD on cooling tower fans, dow circulation pumps, FD fans, HP compressor and comfort air blowers having a potential to save Rs. 89 lakh p.a. at the Hazira manufacturing division.

Congratulations to RIL on their sterling performance and expect to see more energy conservation measures in future years.

Hottest Science Blogs

The Guardian newspaper in UK is searching for the 'sharpest, funniest and most fascinating' science blogs in NetSpace. A lot of suggestions are given which the users have to promote depending on how best they like them. The following are the pick of the lot.

1. LabSpaces.Net
2. DailyGalaxy
3. DC's Improbable Science
4. Short Sharp Science
5. MindHacks
6. Life, Unbounded
and of course,
7. Pharyngula

EPRI Color Books

Just heard about Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)'s color books series. They refer to various fields of electrical power transmission and are exorbitantly priced. The Red book is listed at $4750! No wonder people go for pirated copies. Why information should be kept at a premium is hard to understand. The following are the full list of publications in this series.

1. Olive Book - HVDC Transmission Reference Book (2010)
2. Copper Book - Power Transformer Guidebook (2014)
3. Green Book - Underground Transmission Systems Reference Book
4. Red Book - AC Transmission Line Reference Book: 200 kV and Above (2005)
5. Orange Book - Transmission Line Reference Book: Wind-induced Conductor Motion
6. Yellow Book - Overhead Transmission Inspection and Assessment Guidelines
7. Blue Book - Transmission Line Reference Book: 115 - 345 kV
8. Light Blue Book - Power System Dynamics Tutorial
9. Teal Book - Best Practices and Life Extension Guidelines for Substations
10. Maroon Book - Fault Current Management Guidebook (2008)
11. Platinum Book - Increased Power Flow Reference Book (2008)
12. Bronze Book - Underground Distribution Systems Reference Book (2009)
13. Gold Book - Power Electronics based Transmission Controllers Reference Book (2009)
14. Grey Book - Overhead Transmission Grounding Guide (2009)
15. Tan Book - Live Working Reference Book (2009)

Books 10 to 15 have not been published yet.

Ode to an Antenna

The 6m-long antenna pole for television was finally brought down today at home. Though it was inoperational for a long time due to the advent of satellite TV, it was a relic of the past, a vibrant reminder of several years of entertainment, which is totally new to the children of today. How we enjoyed the Hobson’s choice of Doordarshan (India’s state-owned telecasting organisation) with relish even though not a soul would care to switch to any of their numerous Hindi-language programmes now!

More than the entertainment aspect, the antenna-pole marked a phase of my life. It was installed in August 1986 and after nearly a quarter-century, it is finally removed. As in history where the middle ages are considered to begin with the burning of the library at Alexandria in 415 CE and that of the modern era with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE, the installation of the pole marked my transition from adolescence to youth while its removal today might signify the transition from youth to middle ages! Abhorrent is the thought of aging, but there is no way out!

Thinking of the antenna-pole, I am pulled back to nostalgic reveries of those times. TV transmission in Kerala was still in its infancy and we had decided to buy a colour TV set in 1986. Even though it was very costly by today’s standards, our family decided not to look at black-and-white sets, but a decent colour set seemed to be unaffordable. Enquiries were made at Coimbatore and a firm, M/s Vimal Videos agreed to sell a set for Rs. 11,900 at an EMI of Rs. 515 for 36 months. The instalment amount was straining our resources when I was in the 10^th standard, but we made up our mind to purchase it to fulfill our long felt desire. When the money was collected and we reached the shop, there was some last minute bargain resulting in coughing up the last rupee we had. Hiring a taxi or vehicle was out of the question and we chose a late-night train running from Trichy to Ernakulam. The TV set reached home early next morning. The real problem cropped up then. There was no antenna and we had no cash to spare. Borrowing from some friends, a quick run to a hardware shop brought the 6m long pole and antenna kit which was immediately assembled and hoisted. Even though I don’t remember the first program we watched on this set, the euphoria and the waiting for 6’o clock (that was the time when the daily transmission started) unexplainably fills a feeling of sadness in me. The set was Teltronix make, a startup company at Thrissur which manufactured sets in collaboration with Toshiba. The company doesn’t exist now. This was in 1986 when I was 14 years old and now, this pole is brought down and removed.

In a sense, the diminishing role of the antenna can be compared to that of Doordarshan also. In an era when it reigned supreme over the Indian skies, the choice and quality of the coverage was poorest among the poor. Doordarshan began its operations in 1959, which became a daily black-and-white service in 1962 in Delhi. By 1965, it was extended to Mumbai and Amritsar (why Amritsar is anybody’s guess!). The transmission changed to colour along with 1982 Asian Games held at New Delhi. Towers and production studios also multiplied, with Malayalam service commencing in 1984 from Thiruvananthapuram.

The smooth sailing of the national airwaves monopoly faced rough weather in 1991 when Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s economic liberalisation movements catapulted the nation along a trajectory of steep economic growth along with inevitable changes in all aspects of public life. Private companies were allowed to broadcast and the age of satellite television arrived. The number of channels burgeoned and we found the original eight channels in the Teltronix set too few to receive the numerous channels, most of which didn’t make any relevance to us. But since they are broadcast, it would be too bad on our part not to be able to receive it! Hence, the sets were changed and the new era arrived. By recent estimates, it is known that there are 417 private TV channels operating in India at the end of 2009.

It was not just a length of galvanized-iron pipe that we removed today, but a whole lot of memories and experiences that shaped and highlighted my youth!

Trip to Bangalore (Apr 2010)

Since my routine is more or less sedentary, any travel out of the ordinary is noted and remembered for a long time. A trip to Bangalore is nothing to write home about, since thousands do it on an almost weekly basis. This was an official visit – inspection of an electric panel in a prominent firm in Peenya Industrial Area, and I was reluctant to go at the very outset. The matter was informed to me by my boss on April 16, and upon enquiry it was seen that there is not much chance of getting a seat in train for almost two weeks. All I could manage was a third AC ticket on Garib Rath Express which was running at a very inconvenient time, reaching Aluva at 00.45 hrs! There was not much choice, so the ticket was reserved online. At Rs. 449, the cost is only 70% of the normal fare. However hard I tried, there was no possibility of getting an AC ticket for the return journey, so I contented with a sleeper ticket on the Intercity Express to Ernakulam leaving Bangalore at 6.15 hrs.

First day (Apr 27, 2010)

The Garib Rath was right on time, though the number of passengers to board from the station was meagre, owing to the call for a hartal on that day by the ruling party in Kerala. The communists’ farcical strikes on the flimsiest of reasons and the arrogance and violence-filled way in which they enforce them is to be noted by Amnesty International for the way in which they hold the populace to ransom. The all-India strike call was by the Marxists, so after leaving Kerala, there were no signs of any protest either in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. The journey was not good, in the company of some Keralites settled in Bangalore who had lost all touch with Kerala and who seemed to have even forgotten their mother tongue! Irritating these skunks really were, and it wa nauseating to listen to their conversations and chit-chats in English. Each one had a huge luggage with them which caused them great hardships while alighting. Travelling light doesn’t occur to them and the baggages were as strong as their heads. Reached Yeshwantpura station at 12.00 hrs, 30 minutes behind schedule. Hired an auto to hotel and the first pangs of the unruly autorickshaw drivers in Bangalore became apparent. This hoodlum exacted Rs. 80 from me, whereas the meter showed only Rs. 65. All visitors should be beware of these nasty lot and as far as possible should avoid them. Checked in to Hotel Lucky Inn in Cottonpet Main Road near Majestic bus stand. Ordered a plate of vegetable fried rice in room and a pathetic sample of the dish arrived which was an ordeal to finish. Never in my life I have experienced a worse plate of fried rice. Thus refreshed, I set out to Peenya Industrial Area for the inspection.

At about 6.30 pm, the day’s work was over and returned to city centre by public transport. There was a heavy gale and rain at that time and I was almost drenched. Several trees were uprooted and the traffic jam was unbearable. It took 1 hr 45 min to travel a distance of 12 km! At 8.45 pm, reached Majestic and it was already uncomfortable. Went straight away to hotel room and went to bed after ingesting a cup of sugarcane juice and a packet of orange cream biscuits.

Second day (Apr 28, 2010)

Early next morning visited the company again to complete the official formalities and returned at 4.30 pm back to city. This time, the travel was smoother even though it crawled at a number of places. More than the number of vehicles, the narrow passage ways caused by construction work of elevated metro rail and elevated highways was the main source of traffic congestion. We may hope that once these megaprojects are over, the journey would be smoother. Took a sumptuous dinner from a nearby restaurant and retired for the day, with all official business over.

Third day (Apr 29, 2010)

Vacated the hotel at 5.30 am and walked to City railway station for the Intercity Express to Ernakulam which was scheduled to leave at 6.15 am. But the train was not in the platform even at 6.05 am and there was a large crowd there. As the train was coming into the platform, a person hurriedly came to me and asked whether that train would go to Ernakulam. When I said yes, he enquired whether I am a Malayalee and introduced himself as ‘Clever Thomas’ and presented a photo ID to prove the claim. One quick look at the ID was enough to convince anybody that it was a hoax and the man didn’t seem to be so clever! He said that his baggage, including money was on a bus to Ernakulam which left station as he alighted it for relieving himself. As he had no money, he wanted Rs. 98 to purchase a ticket so as to reach Ernakulam to get his baggage back. As I had fallen victim to such a hoax in Vijayawada 16 years earlier, and the memory of the incident still fresh in my mind, I at once refused to pay him anything. Having thus despatched him off, I boarded the train which left Bangalore at 7 am, 45 minutes late.

It was so hot and the journey was not at all comfortable. When it reached Coimbatore, the crowd was eased and reached Aluva at 5.10 pm after an eventless journey.

Shashi Tharoor Quits

Shashi Tharoor stepped down, at last, when it was apparent that the Congress core committee wouldn’t take him at face value again. A brief stint, which lasted only 11 months, has ended, rather ignominously for a famed former international civil servant.

He was one of the under-Secretaries-General and an able guy in Kofi Annan’s team. His track record at the U.N was impeccable and the nation’s hopes rested on him when he unsuccessfully tried to be in the race for U.N Secretary General when Annan retired. Tharoor’s chances were dim, right from the start in a skewed scenario where China exercised the power of veto. It soon became clear that China will fulfill the wishes of its bosom-friend, Pakistan to oppose Tharoor and he backed down and left the U.N.

Every one thought that Tharoor will go back to the one activity he cherishes, which is literature. We expected more novels from him and was surprised (shocked, rather) when he lobbied and obtained a seat to contest from Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency in the 2009 General Elections. Congress appealed to vote for the future Foreign Minister of India while the opponents wanted to reject the ‘new guy’ who was not in touch with the common man and the way the politics was handled in the country. Tharoor got elected by a thumping majority of nearly one-lakh votes. He was in for a little disappointment when the Prime Minister appointed Mr. S M Krishna, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka as the boss of Tharoor who was made only a Minister-of-State for External Affairs. From the attitudes of both stalwarts, it was clear that Krishna didn’t give Tharoor any leeway in conducting the business of foreign relations.

The first strike came when the media projected the news that Tharoor and his boss was staying in five-star hotels at government cost, when it was calling for austerity measures in the wake of the global economic crisis. Tharoor responded that he was paying his own money for the stay, but it didn’t sink in well with the public. Tharoor was very fond of publishing tweets in Twitter. It could be seen that he was tweeting even while on the move. There were two or three unfortunate incidents when his tweets were construed to be against the government’s stated policy and caused much embarrassment to the party bosses. As part of the government’s cost cutting procedures, every minister was expected to travel in economy class, which he likened to ‘Cattle class’ in one of the tweets. This caused an uproar and even his followers got the first hint that he’s not identifying himself with the ‘common man’ which was Congress’ mantra for the elections. He properly apologised.

Tharoor’s tweets again created PR nightmares when he offered Saudi Arabia the status of an interlocutor for the vexed Kashmir issue with Pakistan. At the ministerial level, it was becoming evident that this former U.N heavyweight was underperforming as he miserably failed to make any impression at all as a Minister-of-State!

Tharoor met his Waterloo in the IPL auction. The managing committee of the Indian Premier League had decided to add two more teams to the lineup and many states campaigned actively to form a team. It is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals like us to know what was happening behind the screens of these ‘deliberations’. Tharoor virtually pulled a rabbit of the hat when a startup firm ‘Rendezvous Consortium’ was awarded the opportunity to form a team at Kochi, Kerala. Many of the directors were not even acquainted with each other and suspicions were aroused at every level regarding the role of the minister in these murky deals and who was behind the assemblage of this motley crowd. Matters suddenly gained momentum when it was known that Sunanda Pushkar, a business-woman from the Middle East would be allotted equities worth Rs. 70 crores for her efforts in inking the deal. Rumours appeared that Tharoor was going to marry her after divorcing his second wife who was an American.

Even though Tharoor bravely rejected all accusations against him and denied the rumours connecting him with Ms Pushkar, the Congress was finding it difficult to accommodate such a man who was proving to be a magnet for controversies. When the opposition put up a combined protest against the Minister, his fate was sealed. As the government was anxious to prevent any tie-up among the prominent opposition parties, it had no choice, but to ask him to put in his papers, which he did on Sunday, April 18, 2010 ending the ministerial career which lasted a little less than 11 months.

The people are waiting for new gambits from him, as he has declared that he won’t give up the position of the Member of Parliament. Tharoor, being Tharoor can’t stay idle for long and we can rightfully surmise that he’d soon appear again with another card up his sleeve!

Silence of our friends!

On the Monday morning of March 29, 2010 at 7.56 am local time, the commuters on the busy Moscow metrorail service were in for a nasty shock. A female suicide bomber exploded a bomb tied to her body. 40 minutes later, another suicide attack on the same line in the same fashion woke Moscow to a terrible day of shock and dismay. Estimates confirm that 38 people died and more than 60 badly injured, to say nothing of the mentally injured, those innocents who’ll carry the memories of that fateful day to the rest of their lives. In exactly 42 minutes, another crime against humanity was committed adding another page to the thick and growing book of Islamic terror. Muslim Chechen rebels claimed responsibility which was anyway suspected by Russian authorities. What shocked the people with conscience all over the world was the photograph released by Russia portraying the innocent looking female suicide bomber. Jannat Abdurahmanova, aged 17 was already a widow of another Chechen terrorist. What prompted this baby faced girl to commit such an atrocity on the scores of women and children against whom she presumably didn’t have a grudge? What ideology, what religious principle, what social pressure made her do it? The world must sit and take notice.

Victims of terror










Proponents of terror

It is totally unacceptable and erratic to accuse the entire Islamic community as the cause of terror. Some people do, and they are as much misguided as the terrorists themselves. The silent majority of Muslims are against terror which disgraces their religion as well as themselves. But, we are struck by their silence. Practically no outrage against such violence is raised from that community, making people suspect that they too are in connivance with the extremists. Remember what Martin Luther King once said – “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. Yes, why our friends are silent? The Muslim clergy, which is notorious for issuing Fatwahs for the elimination of people who insulted the religion (whether true or imagined) are breathtakingly silent on this issue. There is death warrant in the form of fatwah against Salman Rushdie (for writing a novel), Taslima Nasreen (for writing a novel), Kurt Westergaard (Danish cartoonist) and several others, but none against Osama bin Laden, Aiman al Zawahiri (Second in command in Al Qaeda), Doku Umarov (Chechen terrorist leader) and hundreds of others. Failure to oppose may be construed as condoning by the unsuspecting public.

Silence of the moderates are indeed alarming. Why are they so?