The year: 2004. The movie: Swades (Hindi for homeland). Shah Rukh Khan is playing the character of Mohan Bhargava, a non-resident Indian space scientist in the US. On a trip to meet his grandmother in India, Bhargava is appalled by the living conditions in her village, Charanpur, set in the plains near a river.
When West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation commissions its 2 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant at Jamuria near Asansol in April-May, it will leave an indelible mark on India
Call it a quirk of fate. When B.S. Yeddyurappa took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka's first BJP government on May 30, 2008, he did so in the name of the farmer. He knew he owed his present position to him. The first decision of his Cabinet was also seen as pro-farmer: the government announced that it would not charge them for the electricity sold to power irrigation pumpsets. However, a few days later, when his police opened fire to control a mob of violent protestors, the first victim, Siddalingappa Choori (35), was a farmer. Several others were wounded.
Last year, India imported 121.67 million tonnes (MT) of crude
GAIL will supply gas to Bangalore If GAIL has its way, Maharashtra and Karnataka will have natural gas flowing by 2011. A 730-km pipeline will carry gas from Dabhol, where the Ratnagiri Gas & Power's LNG terminal is located, to Bangalore. The Rs 2,500 crore project, cleared in principle by the GAIL Board, is expected to spark off an economic boom in Karnataka's Tier-II cities and towns. GAIL hopes the supply of gas will benefit industries in the two states in a big way. It plans to design its pipelines in such a way as to transport 16 mn standards cubic metres per day, but that depends on the source and customer tie-up. The pipeline, as proposed, will pass through Ratnagiri & Kolhapur (Maharashtra) and Belgaum, Dharwad, Haveri, Davangere, Chitradurga and Tumkur (Karnataka). All these towns, a GAIL spokesman said, will see gas distribution projects coming up. KPMG Assistant Director Kumar Manish believes that natural gas will help industries that are currently using naphtha or diesel to save some costs. According to him, the pipeline will prod a large number of commercial consumers and small industries to switch from the liquid fuel to gas. The gas would work out cheaper than the commercial LPG. The Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline is among the five new pipelines GAIL has planned. Together, they form an integrated national gas grid.
