"me no big chief …

It’s been a long time and a long long journey.
How close am I to the end? I do not know.

It hasn’t been easy travelling alone
looking for the right way at
every crossroads and every bend, I had learn’t
the easy road was only for the fortunates, not for me.
Did I drift from my intended course? Oh so many times,
to pick it up again further on, lost it to pick it up again.

Never was an option to stop, or turn back.
So now I find I have reached a field
where battle lines have been drawn.
I have been advised to cut and run,
how can I? I have never done it before. So I win or I lose,
I will have no regrets. I have been pushed down, but I refused to bow or kneel.

So today, as I listen to Mr Frank Sinatra, I am glad, I could do it all in my own way.

My Way

And now, the end is near; And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full. I’ve traveled each and ev’ry highway;
But more, much more than this, I did it my way.

Regrets, I’ve had a few; But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course; Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this, I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall; And did it my way.

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried. I’ve had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that; And may I say – not in a shy way,
“No, oh no not me, I did it my way”.

For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows – And did it my way!

Writers: Revaux/Francois/Anka

I was told.

We are by the day becoming a strategic partner with the United States which is helping both our countries. So we want India to be a “Developed” nation by 2020 it is important that we get over this persecution mentality, recognize our importance and strength, be cogent in our rationale and most importantly start thinking big picture.

Yes, of course the big picture.
Perhaps believing I was incapable of such higher functions.
But by then, I had already started to see a different picture.

Like Robert Dreyfuss in July/August 2006

The Geopolitics of Oil: Next We Take Iran

President Bush may or may not order a massive aerial bombardment of Iran later this year. Or he may wait until 2007. Or he may simply escalate a risky confrontation with Iran through covert action and economic sanctions. But whatever the next act in the crisis, don’t be fooled by the assertion that the problem is Iran’s pursuit of nuclear arms.

Iran is a decade away from gaining access to the bomb, according to the administration’s own National Intelligence Estimate, and despite all the talk about the ugliness of the theocratic regime in Tehran, the likely showdown is, at bottom, driven by the geopolitics of oil.

With one-tenth of the world’s petroleum reserves and one-sixth of its natural gas reserves, Iran sits in a strategic geographical position that makes it the cockpit for control of the entire Middle East.

 

It straddles the Persian Gulf’s choke points, including the Strait of Hormuz; it has important influence among Shiites throughout Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states; and it borders highly contested real estate to the north, from the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea to Central Asia.

The logic of the Bush administration is inexorable. Its ironclad syllogism is this: The United States is and must remain the world’s preeminent power, if need be by using its superior military might. One of the two powers with the ability to emerge as a rival—China—depends vitally on the Persian Gulf and Central Asia for its future supply of oil; the other—Russia—is heavily engaged in Iran, Central Asia, and the Caucasus region. Therefore, if the United States can secure a dominant position in the Gulf, it will have an enormous advantage over its potential challengers. Call it zero-sum geopolitics: Their loss is our gain.

A SUCCESSION OF U.S. presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower to Jimmy Carter to George H.W. Bush, literally and figuratively planted the American flag at the heart of the Persian Gulf…Carter, in 1980, restated the doctrine even more forcefully: “Let our position be absolutely clear. An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States.”

From the 1950s through the 1990s, the U.S. backed up those words with muscle. Iran, in particular, was always seen as the next step after Iraq. The original idea was that if the United States toppled Saddam Hussein and installed in Baghdad a regime dominated by Kurdish and Shiite puppets, Iran would be caught between U.S. forces to its west in Iraq and to its east in Afghanistan…

Not surprisingly, Russia and China have a different perspective. Moscow and Beijing, neither of which wants Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, nevertheless do not see Tehran as a threat. To them, the country’s vast reserves of oil and natural gas make it a natural ally. Both Russian and Chinese oil companies had enormous development and supply contracts with Baghdad under Saddam Hussein, deals that are worthless in an Iraq controlled by the United States. They might be forgiven for thinking that Iran, too, would be off-limits to them if Bush succeeds.

For China’s economic future, Iran and the region are essential. As recently as 1992, China was an oil-exporting country, but since then it has become a voracious importer of oil and gas…
In Iran, China has signed a series of gargantuan deals, including a 25-year contract reported to be worth $100 billion between Iran and the Chinese state-owned energy company Sinopec. China is also deeply engaged with Russia’s oil industry and with Central Asian oil exporters in constructing a web of gas and oil pipelines throughout the region.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Hu Jintao of China have made energy the centerpiece of Russian-Chinese relations. Russia’s Rosneft oil company and China National Petroleum Co., two state-owned conglomerates, have negotiated plans for Russia to supply about 10 percent of China’s oil, and the Russian gas giant Gazprom is talking to China about building two huge new gas pipelines with a total capacity of 80 billion cubic meters a year. Last year, the Asia Times heralded the emergence of a strategic “new triangle comprised of China, Iran, and Russia.”

Since 2001, Russia and China have watched America’s heavy-handed push into the Middle East and Central Asia with suspicion and alarm.

Together, they and four Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—have created the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security body that has emerged as a counterweight to U.S. influence in the region.

Last July, the organization issued a declaration demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Central Asia; by the end of 2005, Uzbekistan had kicked the United States out of its Karshi-Khanabad air base, and soon Kyrgyzstan may evict the U.S. from its Manas air base, both head-on challenges to the administration in countries that Washington considers essential to its influence in Central Asia. This summer, the SCO may agree to extend a membership offer to Iran…

Flynt Leverett, who worked on Middle East policy for Bush’s National Security Council before resigning in disgust, told a political salon in Washington recently that the U.S.-Iran conflict could end up pushing Russia, China, and Iran closer together. “What I see as an emerging axis of oil between Russia and China will be greatly bolstered,” he said.

SERGEY LAVROV, Russia’s foreign minister, is Moscow’s point man for the U.N. talks about Iran. After a U.N. meeting in New York earlier this year, Lavrov said bluntly: “This looks like déjà vu.” Indeed, the parallels with the year before the invasion of Iraq are startling.
In addition to exaggerating the nuclear threat, the administration has been accusing Iran of harboring Al Qaeda fugitives and supporting bin Laden’s movement, though there is little or no evidence to support these claims.
As in Iraq, Washington is sinking millions of dollars into propaganda efforts and alliances with dubious exile groups; according to a recent State Department planning document, the United States is busily setting up Iran intelligence and mobilization centers in Dubai, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London, and Azerbaijan to work with “Iranian expatriate communities.”

Elizabeth Cheney, the daughter of the vice president and a top State Department official, is overseeing a program to spend $85 million on support for dissidents in Iran and to pay for anti-Iran propaganda. She has helped create a brand-new Office of Iranian Affairs at the State Department, and she reportedly supervises an office called the Iran-Syria Operations Group.

As with Iraq, U.S. officials—realizing that U.N. support for an attack on Iran is nil — are talking openly about bypassing the world body and forging yet another “coalition of the willing” to confront Iran.
And, of course, as with Iraq, there is the escalating rhetoric, the talk of “all options” being on the table, the news of Special Forces already operating in the country to foment civil conflict.

Tongue-dripping-with-anticipated-greed “willing”; for $$$ and resident status, perhaps?
The “willing”; like a “donkey” willing for the “carrot”.

As in The Henry Hyde’s Act,

SEC. 103. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. (b) WITH RESPECT TO SOUTH ASIA.—

(4) Secure India’s full and active participation in United States efforts to dissuade, isolate, and, if necessary, sanction and contain Iran for its efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear weapons capability and the capability to enrich uranium or reprocess nuclear fuel, and the means to deliver weapons of mass destruction.

The coalition of the “willing”, indeed.

On August 21 2007, a piece of document featured in small print in some webpages.

Understandings of The Islamic Republic of Iran and the IAEA
on the Modalities of Resolution of the Outstanding Issues Tehran –21 August 2007

IV General Consideraion:
4. The Agency has been able to verify the non-diversion of the declared nuclear materials at the enrichment facilities in Iran and has therefore concluded that it remains in peaceful use.

So Iran is not a nuclear threat after all.
Then should we still sign up to all the trash in the Hyde’s Act about Iran?

The media is starting to realise the picture is bigger and different after all.

And at last someone agrees, the 123 does not override the Hyde’s Act.
We have on September 5 2007,

The nuclear deal: the larger picture – Vikram Sood

…the official response to the various criticisms or doubts has been dismissive and disappointingly inadequate.
No one has bothered to sit down and explain that the various doubts and fears expressed were either incorrect or exaggerated. Instead, the response has been to depict criticism as a reflection of tunnel vision of cold war mindsets or nitpicking by ignoramuses.

In the midst of this emotional debate, it was forgotten that dissent is also a form of patriotism.

Protagonists of the deal have claimed that the 123 Agreement overrides the Hyde Act. This is incorrect because the 1954 Atomic Energy Act is the mother of all such Acts; the Hyde Act is a stringent enabling India-specific legislation for the 123 Agreement to be signed within the parameters of the Hyde Act…

As the U.S. readies for the battles of the 21st century, India must not ignore the resurgence of Russia, the rise of China and the relevance of Iran. It must manage its relations with all these powers. It needs to therefore pause and think about ways of smoothening the wrinkles in the nuclear deal.

If the sense of the House is that there are reservations about the deal then the party in power must address them adequately, in keeping with the convention that India’s foreign policy is pursued through consensus.

It should not be construed to be the handiwork of a tyranny of a minority in a minority.

In the meanwhile I can pray, can’t I?

AmericaIndiaIranShanghai Cooperation OrganisationHyde’s Act

Almost for the first time I read an article on the India-US 123 Agreement
that not only makes sense, but also has the logic that
can only come from being honest.

Being an ex-IFS Officer, an Ambassador and a Joint Secretary,
I have more faith in his statement than many politicians and armchair pundits
who are hellbent to sell away our country’s sovereign rights to become another of
America’s poodles.

Indo-US Nuclear Deal: A Curtain Raiser -III

Mr. Yogesh Tiwari is a retired IFS officer and has served as the Ambassador to Austria and Singapore besides handling various other important assignments in the MEA GoI.

Late Rajiv Gandhi had the vision to foresee the problem of scarcity of energy in India and under his leadership, the Ministry of External Affairs (I was the Joint Secretary dealing with the USSR) was able to achieve a strategic breakthrough in persuading the then USSR to put up 10 x 1000 Mw Nuclear Power Plants. Nuclear fuel was to be supplied by the USSR.

As we did not wish to have the spent fuel with its con-commitant safeguards and disposal problems, we persuaded the USSR to take it back.
The Soviet export of plant/machinery was on standard soft terms (48% – grant element), but it increased to 52% on my persuasion. Soviet Union also agreed to provide nuclear fuel on concessional terms.

There was no unilateral, bilateral or multilateral condition imposed by the USSR, except that these power plants would be under project specific safeguards and not full-scale safeguards of IAEA, which was entirely un-objectionable.

We have the agreement and the format for unlimited development of nuclear energy in cooperation with Russia. Why go for a deal, specially with the US, that it would come under severe, unreasonable, stringent and totally gratuitous conditions.

We declared a unilateral voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosions, meaning clearly that if our security & circumstances so demanded in future, we could & would undertake Nuclear Tests.

Being bound by the putative agreement with US, we would not be able to do so without violating the entire agreement. Our agreements with Nuclear Supplier Group et al and US would be revoked, even though the IAEA safeguards would continue.

We are not going to get any special treatment from IAEA for safeguards. IAEA has only two kinds of safeguards – one for non-nuclear NPT signatory states and the other for 5 NWS (Nuclear Weapon States – USA, USSR, China, UK, and France).

In fact, when we are a declared Nuclear Weapons Power, for us to sign safeguards akin to those applicable to non-nuclear weapon NPT countries would be politically humiliating and strategically disastrous, canceling in one swoop all our cumulative and hard fought gains over the past forty years in attacking the unjust and discriminatory NPT and our carving out a highly respectable place in the global nuclear community.

It reminded of this news article I had read a while back.
And things logically fall into place.

Russia, India Cement Nuclear Ties

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
The Associated Press, Thursday, January 25, 2007; 10:24 PM

NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Thursday to build four nuclear reactors for India and give it broader access to Moscow’s energy riches, as the old Cold War allies sought to reinvigorate their friendship.

Putin, who will be the guest of honor at India’s Republic Day celebrations on Friday during his two-day visit, met Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and officials from the two nations signed several deals on energy, scientific and space cooperation. “Although there has been a sea change in the international situation during the last decade, Russia remains indispensable to India’s foreign policy interests,” Singh said afterward.

“We hope the high level of political trust should be converted into economic opportunity. We hope to harmonize the political and economic aspects of our relationship,” Putin said. Singh said energy cooperation was at the center of the new “strategic partnership.“

Russia has been eager to reassert its traditional role as the chief supplier of nuclear technology and know-how to India in the wake of a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal between New Delhi and Washington last year that opened the door to U.S. companies’ prospective expansion in India’s nuclear market.

Russia is building two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors in the southern town of Kudankulam, and a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday said that the four new reactors would be built, but did not outline a timetable or other specifics.

My comments and opinions have been criticised
by some who claim politics based on ideology is out dated.
But I cannot shrug aside feelings of loyalty, fairness or trust, even in politics.
Where would we stand in the world’s stage if we have lost our loyalty and honesty.

We had signed an 123 Agreement with the US before, for Tarapur.
Arun Shourie tells us how the US treated us.

The US signed that Agreement with us in 1963.
It was to be effective for 30 years, till 1993.

That Agreement provided that the US would give fuel for Tarapur as needed by India.
It provided that the US would have the first right to spent fuel in excess of India’s needs for peaceful nuclear energy. And even for this part, just the first right. If it did not take back the fuel, we would have the right to reprocess it. There were no conditions.

In testimony to the US Congress, US officials have themselves acknowledged that the US is not to this day sure that India violated any term of the 1963 Agreement.
Yet, the US terminated all fuel supplies in 1974, saying that India had violated domestic US laws. Pressed about the laws, the US maintained that India had violated the intent of US domestic laws! For decades, it has consistently refused to either take back spent fuel or let us reprocess it.

All this happened, even when there was no Hyde Act — no India-specific law — to govern that Agreement.

Last three decades, when we had China and Pakistan howling at our doors,
America was on Pakistan’s side, even let China help Pakistan to get their N-fuel.

So why are we selling the sovereign soul of our country?
To buy American uranium to create nuclear energy capacity
of 6 per cent of the total energy demand of India by the year 2035.
Those of us who believe, american uranium will solve all our energy problems,
dream your lovely dreams, to wake up to realise it has turned into an eternal nightmare.

Russia, India Cement Nuclear Ties – continued

In the past, Russia has stood by India, supplying it with reactors and fuel even as it was denied Western technology for its refusal to sign the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Putin also promised to give India a broader access to Russia’s vast hydrocarbon wealth.

On the sidelines of Putin’s visit, India’s state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. signed a deal with Russia’ state-controlled OAO Rosneft to jointly bid for exploration and refining projects, ONCG said in a statement.

“We will strongly support that, as well as cooperation with other Russian oil companies,” Putin told a Russian-Indian business forum.

India is already a shareholder via the state-run ONGC Videsh Ltd. in the Sakhalin-1 oilfields, which have started production, and Putin said it could be offered a share in the prospective Sakhalin-3 project.

Energy cooperation is vital for India, which has struggled to supply adequate power to its burgeoning economy that has been growing at more than 8 percent in recent years. Despite India’s rapid recent development, power cuts remain frequent across the country.

“This has been a significant visit both for its symbolism and for its substantive content,” said C. Uday Bhaskar of the Institute for Defense and Strategic Analyses, a New Delhi-based think tank. “A resurgent Russia and a more confident India are reiterating their decades-old relationship.”

Our new “American masters” will like that.
Not.

AmericaRussiaIndiaHyde’s Act123 Agreement

…for siberian cranes against the rising sun

We were talking over cups of tea one December morning
backwhen in the winter of ’85 “Fatty, do you want to go birdwatchin?” asked Tilak.
He had completed his medical training and had joined the Indian Army.
I was still in University, scraping a living, poor in perpetuity,
with bottomless-pits for pockets.

Tilak, the compulsive traveller, was on annual leave from his regiment.
Pockets tinkling with modest first months’ pay, feet itching to go somewhere new.
A flash of desperate magnanimity he said, “expenses are on me”.
“Where to?” I was instantly interested.
“Bharatpur, the Bird Sanctuary”.

But that was miles away, in Rajasthan, we were in my college canteen in Calcutta.
It would be a 20 hour train and bus journey; he had looked up the train times.

Was he good at spotting birds?
No, but he had some books.
What about binoculars?
We would try and do without.
He had a camera with a telephoto, besides it was said
in Bharatpur one can walk right up to the birds, he added.

He wanted photographs of the Siberian Cranes, silhoutted against a rising sun;
and I could safely distinguish the crows from the sparrows. I was ready to twitch.

I decided to skip classes, it was coming upto Christmas anyway. Within hours
we packed our bags, raced to the railway station and before long were on a train,
the Toofan Mail, chugging our way out of Calcutta, bound for Tundla near Delhi.

The Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary

Photograph of Siberian Cranes (from www.trackingcranes.org)

The Bird Sanctuary
is known to birdwatchers and ornithologists the world over.
Outside Bharatpur, a small town in Rajasthan 40 miles west of Agra.
A marshy tract of land, once the hunting ground of local Maharajas,
it became a sancturay in 1956, and a National Park in 1981,
it is now declared as an UNESCO World Heritage site.
Some 380 specis of birds have been seen on the site,
it also is a host to many winter migratory birds.

We rented bikes, bought simple provisions to prepare packed lunches.
We had ‘channachur‘ sandwiches for lunch, washed down with water from a well.

Tilak and I (with hat) having chanachur sandwiches

We cycled around the narrow tracks, spotting birds and identifying them in the books.
Cycling off again to try and spot some more varieties, to add them to the list.
On near 0°C december mornings, our fingers frozen stuck to handlebars,
with our teeth chattering and selves shivering we would in the reserve
well before the sunrise, Tilak hoping to photo the Siberian cranes.

In the end we could spot 105 or so of different varieties.
It was three days of amazing learning.
Unregrettable experience.

Its been twenty years since,
Tilak has since scoured the widths of India, documenting and photographing.
He is now a leading naturalist and travel journalist and has authored many books.

No we didn’t get the desired photographs of the Cranes silhoutted against the sunrise.
I got much more, I had seen some lovely birds, I had found the joys of birdwatching
and I had seen a beautiful India, like I had never seen her before.

RajasthanBirdsnaturetravel

Do we have to sign a deal with America,
do we have to buy American uranium to survive, let alone grow?

Not if you believe Mr Abdul Kalam’s speech of 2006.
It was not in his vision of Energy Independance of India by 2030,
it did not even feature as a part of his speech, at the inauguration of
The South Asian Conference on Renewable Energy in New Delhi 18 April 2006.

On the day, Mr Kalam is reported to have said,

“It’s unique, what he has done,” Mr. Kalam said on NDTV’s ‘Walk the Talk’ programme when asked whether the Prime Minister can be complimented for having clinched the deal. (Although) Asked whether he thought scientists opposing the deal were going too far, he evaded a direct response. “Fortunately, in our democratic set-up, scientists can always approach at the highest level.”

let us look back at some passages of his speech from only last year.

“Energy Independence is the lifeline of a nation”

The era of wood is almost nearing its end. The world energy forum has predicted that fossil based oil, coal and gas reserves will last for another less than ten decades. The unpredictable increase in the cost of oil continuously prompted me the study the Energy scene.
Based on the study I have discussed about Energy Independence as part of my Independence Day Address to the nation, on 15 August 2005. There I mentioned that Energy Independence has to be our nation’s first and highest priority.
Our target is to achieve Energy Security by 2020 leading to Energy Independence by 2030 and beyond.
…I would like to present the actions suggested to be taken in the generation of renewable energy for realizing energy independence in India as a case study.

Structure of Energy Sources:

For meeting the development targets of India our power generating capacity as to increase to 400,000 MGW by 2030 from the existing 130,000 Megawatts of power.
This has got to be achieved through three different sources namely hyd-el capacity, nuclear power and non-conventional energy sources primarily through solar energy.
The hyd-el capacity generated through inter-linking of rivers is expected to contribute additional 50,000 megawatts of power.
Large scale solar energy farms of 100’s of megawatts capacity in certain number could contribute around 55,000 MW.
The nuclear power plants should have a target of 50,000 MW of power.

 

The balance has to be generated through the conventional thermal plants through coal and gas and other renewable sources of energy such as Wind power, Biomass, power through municipal waste and solar thermal power.
The strategic goals for Energy Independence by 2030 would call for a shift in the structure of energy sources.
Firstly, fossil fuel imports need to be minimized and secure access to be ensured. Maximum hydro and nuclear power potential should be utilized, apart from the use of coal and gas based thermal power generation.
The most significant aspect, however would be that the power generated through renewable energy technologies has to be increased to 25% against the present 5%.
It would be evident that for true Energy Independence, a major shift in the structure of energy sources from fossil to renewable energy sources is mandated. I have given an energy independence mission to my country.
Also, I would like to share with you my thoughts on how the certain areas of both conventional and non-conventional energy can be structured together to meet our national development needs.

Solar Energy:

…massive applications in the agricultural sector, where farmers need electricity exclusively in the daytime. We also need to embark on a programme in solar energy systems and technologies, for both large, centralized applications as well as small, decentralized requirements concurrently, for applications in both rural and urban areas.
Carbon nano tube (CNT) based solar cells for higher efficiency:
One of the important need for achieving energy independence by 2030 is to increase the power generated through renewable energy sources from the existing 5% to 25%. Particularly, the energy produced through solar energy has to increase substantially.
The low efficiency of conventional photo voltaic cells has restricted the use of solar cells for large application for power generation … it is essential to launch a research mission on Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) based PV cell which has got higher level of promise in efficiency.
… Our scientists have to take up this challenge and come up with the development of a CNT based PV cell with an efficiency of at least 50% within the next three years so that it can go into the commercial production within five years.
In addition, they can also take up the development of organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells and third generation solar cells. There are lots of opportunities for research in fundamental science in this area and I would like to suggest the energy experts participating in this conference to work in a coherent, consorted way with a mission mode programme to achieve faster realization of commercial availability of CNT based PV cell with 50% efficiency.
In addition to this there is a need to create a “Rural household solar mission” which will provide LED based Nano Crystal lighting system through small solar PV Power Plants to the 70 millions households who are presently using kerosene oil for lighting.

Power through Municipal Waste:

In the Power generation Sector of the energy economy, we need to fully use the technologies now available for generating power from municipal waste. Today, two plants are operational in India, each plant generating 6.5 MW of electric power. Studies indicate that as much as 5800 MW of power can be generated by setting up 900 electric power plants spread over in different parts of the country (India) which can be fueled by municipal waste. Municipal waste is generally considered to be a health liability. The electric power generation using municipal waste can help in the creation of clean environment and also add to the incremental power.

Energy in Transportation Sector:

The Transportation sector in India is the fastest growing energy consumer. It now consumes nearly, and is critically important for Indian economy and security. We produce only 25% of our total requirement. In the scene of dependability of fossil material based systems, is becoming uncertain, it is essential energy policy has to evolve new energy avenues. They are the Bio-fuels, hydrogen based fuel, electric powered vehicles.

Use of Biofuel:

India has nearly 60 million hectares of wasteland, of which 30 million hectares can be made available for energy plantations like Jatropha or any other bio-fuel plant. Once grown, the crop has a life of 50 years.
Each hectare will produce about 2 tonnes of bio-fuel per year at about Rs. 20 per litre. Biodiesel is carbon neutral and many valuable by-products such as glycerin, oil cake and herbal products flow from this agro-industry.
Intensive research is needed to burn bio-fuel in internal combustion engines with high efficiency, and this needs to be an urgent R&D programme. India has a potential to produce nearly 60 million tones of bio-fuel annually using 30 millions hectares of land thus making a significant and important contribution to the goal of Energy Independence.
Indian Railways has already taken a significant step of running two passenger locomotives (Thanjavur to Nagore section) and six trains of diesel multiple units (Tiruchirapalli to Lalgudi, Dindigul and Karur sections) with a 5% blend of bio-fuel sourced from its in-house esterification plants.
In addition, they have planted 75 lakh Jatropha saplings in Railway land which is expected to give yields from the current year onwards. This is a pioneering example for many other organizations to follow. Similarly some of the States such as Chattisgarh, Andhrapradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttranchal and Tamilnadu have energy plantations in India.

Nuclear Energy:

The present nuclear power capacity of 14 reactors which is 2720 megawatts is expected to go to 7420 megawatts by 2010 with the completion of nine reactors which are now in progress.
Eventually as per present plan BARC is expecting the capacity to be 24,000 megawatts by 2020. Hence, there is a need to plan right from now to increase this capacity to 50,000 megawatts by 2030.
Nuclear power generation has been given a thrust by the use of uranium based fuel. However to meet the increased needs of nuclear power generation, it is essential to pursue the development of nuclear power using Thorium, reserves of which are higher in the country.
Technology development has to be accelerated for Thorium based reactors since the raw material for Thorium is abundantly available in our country. To maximize the thorium utilization the development of Fast Breeder Reactor has been rightly taken it up.

Conclusion:

The world has already realized that the peace and prosperity of any nation is secure only when the rest of the world is also prosperous and at peace. Similarly, the energy consumption from renewable resources has to be maximized for all nations irrespective of their economic status if the world has to remain a livable habitat for our future generations. Hence, sharing of knowledge of useful technologies without much of a concern for intellectual property rights for the good of the mankind should be the defining spirit for international collaboration in this sector.

It is important to note that he still believes in the benefits of Thorium reactors.

Mr. Kalam said he had met the Prime Minister before “finishing my assignment (as President)” and highlighted the importance of thorium reactors. “I told the Prime Minister that thorium reactors are very important,” he said.

renewable energytechnologyenvironmentnuclear energy