Homage to the Sun

A great story in India. When in Turkey I saw solar panel driven heating systems on top of every house. In India, where Sunshine is abundant, one does not see it very much. Hence the following story was very warming..

From The Hindu:

World’s largest solar steam system inaugurated in Shirdi

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Thursday inaugurated the world’s largest solar steam system, installed at Sri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi. The system has been designed to cook food for the devotees.

The total cost of the project was estimated at Rs. 1.33 crore and a subsidy of Rs. 58.40 lakh was provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), according to an official release here.

The solar system enables the Sansthan to cook food for 20,000 people a day, resulting in a considerable annual saving of one lakh kg of LPG or nearly Rs.20 lakh.

The system, capable of generating about 3,500 kg of steam every day, was installed in a record 10 months. It has been designed in such a way that it can generate steam even in the absence of electricity to run the feed water pump for circulating water in the system.

To promote such systems in the country, the MNRE is promoting a scheme whereby it will bear up to 50 per cent of the cost in the case of non-profit bodies and up to 35 per cent in the case of profit-making bodies availing depreciation benefits.

Unemployed on Main Street is good news on Wall Street

The market indices were significantly higher today because investors were apparently cheering the fact that "The number of newly laid-off workers filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose last week, the government said, though the increase was mostly due to seasonal distortions.The number of people remaining on the jobless benefit rolls, meanwhile, fell to 6.2 million from 6.25 million, the lowest level since mid-April.The Labor Department said that new claims for unemployment insurance increased by 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 584,000, above analysts’ estimates of 570,000.A department analyst said the increase comes after claims were artificially depressed earlier this month by the timing of temporary auto factory shutdowns, which happened earlier this year than in most years. Still, this week’s total is below the 617,000 initial claims reported in late June before the seasonal distortions began. It reflects a trend that economists say indicates a slowing pace of layoffs.The four-week average of claims, which smoothes out fluctuations, fell to 559,000, its lowest level since late January..."

The market rise is still baffling to serious thinkers, as there is no evidence of significant hiring in any of the high value industries, and even the restaurant industry is struggling. As to where people will find jobs does not seem to concern the market. What's more- at least some of the people who fell off the benefit rolls might have exhausted their benefits, rather than finding a job. Finance, again, wagging the tail...

An Education in the Business of Education

A friend of mine is currently leading a team on a massive IT project for a large IT consulting firm, and has been sharing her frustrations with me. Based on her descriptions, some of her team members have got degrees and diplomas but cannot think logically, and cannot write complete sentences. Most importantly, they do not know what questions to ask, and how to work together.
On the other hand, I gave an exam in class, and the students gave a good demonstration of the future workers. Many walked in late, some by more than twenty minutes. A large number of students tried to demonstrate collaboration through cheating, some blatantly. These students will graduate, and then end up on the project teams of competent people and ruin the latter's happiness. A lot of things have changed in India, but the widespread prevalence of basic lack of ethics has not.

A "Text"book Accident

Even though the link between drunken driving and probability of causing an accident has been well established, there is no dearth of these alcohol-related accidents. By the same token, it does not take a great scientific mind to realize that texting on a mobile device while driving is highly dangerous. However, money has to be spent to study this further to establish what simple observations can tell us. NYT reports, in an interesting piece titled "In Study, Texting Lifts Crash Risk by Large Margin" that "The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles shows that the risk sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research — and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions. The new study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which compiled the research and plans to release its findings on Tuesday, also measured the time drivers took their eyes from the road to send or receive texts. In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field..."

However, stupidity reigns supreme, as illustrated by the person quoted at the end of the above story. "...About half of drivers 16 to 24 said they had texted while driving, compared with 22 percent of drivers 35 to 44. “It’s convenient,” said Robert Smith, 22, a recent college graduate in Windham, Me. He says he regularly texts and drives even though he recognizes that it is a serious risk. He would rather text, he said, than take time on a phone call.“I put the phone on top of the steering wheel and text with both thumbs,” he said, adding that he often has exchanges of 10 messages or more. Sometimes, “I’ll look up and realize there’s a car sitting there and swerve around it.”Mr. Smith, who was not part of the AAA survey, said he was surprised by the findings in the new research about texting. “I’m pretty sure that someday it’s going to come back to bite me,” he said of his behavior."