Google Plus

Taking on Facebook, Internet search giant Google today unveiled its version of a social networking service called “Google Plus” as a part of efforts to garner a share in the lucrative social networking space that has so far been dominated by the Mark Zuckerberg-led popular site.
Promising to bring “real-world interactions” and “real-life sharing” online, Google Plus lets users post photos, messages, comments and other content from selected groups of friends.
“Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools,” Vic Gundotra, Google's Senior vice-president for Engineering, said in a blog post. It said its new service aims to “fix” the “broken” and “awkward” way people interact online.
Through Circles, Google targets Facebook's features in which a user's information is shared by default with a large number of his or her friends, including their work colleagues and acquaintances, rather than only their close personal friends. Google said people want to connect with only certain people at certain times, while online, we hear from everyone all time.”
Google's new service will also let users video chat with numerous friends simultaneously.

PRITHVI II

India on Thursday test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa as part of the user trial by the Army.

“The missile mounted on a mobile launcher was test-fired from the launch complex-3 in the ITR at around 0905 hours”, defence officials said on Thursday.

With a maximum striking range of 350 km, the missile is capable of carrying a pay-load of 500-1000 kg warhead.

“Prithvi-II missile had proved its robustness and accuracy during many trials earlier,” an official of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

“Taken from routine production lot during earlier users trials by the Army, the missile had achieved single digit accuracy reaching close to zero circular error probability (CEP),” they said.

The missile, which has features to deceive any anti ballistic missiles, had demonstrated flight duration of 483 seconds reaching a peak altitude of 43.5 km in 2008 users trial.

Similarly, as a part of the operational exercises by Armed forces, two Prithvi-II missiles, aimed at two different targets at 350 km from launch point of ITR, at Chandipur were successfully launched within minutes of each other on 12^thOctober 2009 and all the mission objectives were met.

The sleek missile once again proved its accuracy when the user, tried it in a salvo mode on 27^thMarch and 18^th June 2010 from Chandipur.

It was the fourth successful Prithvi-II flight within a period of eight months.

The test firing of the surface-to-surface missile, which has already been inducted into Indian armed forces, was a routine trial conducted by the personnel of “strategic force command” (SFC), defence officials said.

“The trial was conducted in the presence of senior officials as part of routine training exercises,” they said.

‘Prithvi’, the first ballistic missile developed under the country’s prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), is propelled by liquid propulsion twin engine.

With a length of nine meter and one meter diameter, Prithvi-II uses an advanced inertial navigation system with manoeuvring trajectory.

PSLV@17

IN the normal course, the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Wednesday should have been a routine affair, considering that 16 other launches before it had been successful. In fact, only the first launch before that – way back in 1993 – was a failure and since then PSLV had become the workhorse of ISRO. What made every scientist watch the launch with bated breath was the fact that the last two launches of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) last year were failures and had anything gone wrong with the PSLV as well, it would have meant a serious loss of face. However, nothing of that sort happened and the PSLV put three satellites in orbit in a copybook fashion, with Director of the Liquid Propulsions Systems of ISRO S. Ramakrishnan describing the success as a “sweet seventeen” (referring to the 17th successful launch).

This morale-booster will hopefully help ISRO headed by K. Radhakrishnan in removing the glitches in the GSLV – which can carry much heavier payloads into the orbit. In the GSLV, the top two stages of the PSLV have been replaced with a cryogenic stage and the latter’s six solid-propellant strap-ons have been replaced with four Vikas-engine based ones. What must be remembered is that the first two launches of the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) in late 1980s were also failures, but contributed considerably to the success of the PSLV which followed.
The PSLV will provide vital information about the natural resources, the state of snowcap and glaciers, changes in coastal areas and water bodies, among other inputs. It is a “global mission” indeed, considering that the remote-sensing images of the Resourcesat-2 satellite that it has put in orbit would be used by countries across the world. The PSLV is now the most reliable and cost-effective rocket in the world. Three more launches of it are scheduled this year, to be followed by a launch of the GSLV.

Renewable Energy In India

As per various studies undertaken in past, a potential of about 89,000 MW for power generation from different renewable energy sources is estimated excluding solar energy which has been estimated for most parts of the country at around 20 MW per square kilometer of open, shadow free area covered with solar collectors.

A total grid interactive renewable power generation capacity of around 18842 MW has been set up as on 31.01.2011, which is over 11% of the total power generation installed capacity from all sources in the country.

The initial capital investment in renewable energy projects is generally high and their viability is very much region / site specific. As such, the cost of renewable power generation is generally higher in comparison with the traditional sources.A capacity addition of 12,300 MW grid-interactive renewable power (comprising 9000 MW wind power, 1400 Small Hydro power, 1700 MW Biomass power, 80 MW Urban/ Industrial Waste-to-power and 50 MW Solar power) is targeted during the 11th Plan period based on Mid Term Appraisal. Against this target, around 5,282 MW capacity (comprising 3,797 MW wind power, 547 MW Small Hydro power, 917. MW Biomass power, 20 MW Urban/ Industrial Waste-to-power and 1 MW Solar power) has been set up during the plan period upto 31.10.2009.

Based on various studies and surveys, a potential of around 90,000 MW eq for power generation from different renewable energy sources (excluding solar) in the country has been estimated which include 48,561 MW from wind, 14,294 MW from small hydro and 26,367 MW from bio-power. The potential for solar energy is estimated for most parts of the country at around 20 MW per square kilometer of open, shadow free area covered with solar collectors.

DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGEN FUEL

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing a broad based research, development and demonstration programme on hydrogen production, its storage and utilization as an alternative fuel for transport and decentralized power generation applications. The programme is being implemented through various academic and research organizations; laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; and public and private sector industry. As a result of these efforts, laboratory scale prototypes of hydrogen operated motorcycles, three-wheelers, small generators, catalytic combustion cookers and some fuel cell based systems have been developed and demonstrated.

A development cum demonstration project for use of hydrogen (up to 30% by volume) in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel for automotive vehicles is under implementation through the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, New Delhi; R&D Centre of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Faridabad and five automobile manufacturers. In addition, IOCL has set up two hydrogen production and dispensing stations, one each at Faridabad in Haryana and at Dwarka in New Delhi. These stations are presently being used for providing hydrogen blended CNG fuel for some demonstration and test vehicles.

POWER FROM WASTE :

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is promoting setting up of projects on Energy Recovery from Urban and Industrial Wastes including garbage. The technologies being presently used are bio methanation and combustion followed by biogas engines or steam turbines for power generation.

The cost of power generation from urban and industrial wastes is about Rs.2.50 to Rs.4.00 per unit of electricity depending upon the type of wastes and the technology deployed. These costs are competitive with cost of power generated from conventional sources.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is supporting setting up of Waste-to-Energy projects under the programmes on municipal solid waste, other urban wastes and industrial wastes. The programmes provide for central financial assistance for setting up of Waste-to-Energy projects and other promotional measures such as capacity building and awareness creation. However, non-availability of source-segregated garbage is the main constraint in development of projects on power generation from municipal solid wastes. A total of 36 projects with an aggregate capacity of 83.13 MW power from urban and industrial wastes have so far been set up in the country.

FIRST PHASE OF SOLAR MISSION

Government has recently approved Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission to develop solar energy technologies to make solar power competitive to conventional grid power. It aims at creating capacity of 20,000 MW grid solar power and 2,000 MW of off-grid solar power including 20 million solar lights by 2022. In addition, it aims at installation of 20 million square metre solar thermal collector area by 2022. The Mission will be implemented in three phases. Government has approved the target, for the first phase of the Mission, to set up 1,100 MW grid connected solar plants, including 100 MW capacity plants as rooftop and small solar plants. In addition, 200 MW capacity equivalent off-grid solar applications and 7 million square metre solar thermal collector area are also proposed in the first phase of the Mission, till 2012-13. Mission will also support research and capacity building activities in solar energy. An amount of Rs. 4,337 crores has been approved for the first phase of the Mission

TIDAL ENERGY

A study was undertaken for the assessment of tidal energy potential in the country. According to the study, there is an estimated potential of tidal energy of the order of 8000 MW in the country. This includes about 7000 MW in the Gulf of Cambay and 1200 MW in the Gulf of Kutch in the State of Gujarat and about 100 MW in the Gangetic Delta in the Sunderbans region in the State of West Bengal.

The Ministry sanctioned a demonstration project for setting up 3.75 MW capacity tidal energy power plant at the Durgaduani Creek in Sunderbans region to West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA), Kolkatta. The project is being executed by NHPC Ltd.

The State Government of Gujarat formed a Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) with public private partnership and sponsored a study for large scale exploitation of tidal energy across the coastline of Gujarat. One MoU for commissioning of 50 MW Tidal Power Project has been signed by M/s. Atlantis Resource Corporation (U.K.) and Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd., Govt. of Gujarat.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy considers providing financial incentives upto 50% of the cost to the State Government implementing Agencies for the development of tidal energy projects on cost sharing basis as technology demonstration projects in accordance with its R&D policy guidelines.

The country’s wind power potential has been estimated be 48,000 MW. A total of 10,904 MW wind power capacity has been installed in the country so far. Government has been promoting commercial grid connected wind power projects through private sector investment in wind potential states by providing fiscal incentives, loan from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and other financial institutions. Technical support, including detailed wind resource assessment to identify further potential sites, is provided by Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), Chennai. This apart, preferential tariff is being provided to increase wind energy investment in the potential States. Recently, Government has approved a Generation Based Incentive for wind power projects to run concurrently with the benefit of accelerated depreciation but in a mutually exclusive manner during the 11th Plan.

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant derived its name From Jaitapur lighthouse which is mentioned in many international maps. Government of India has decided to promote nuclear power at a large scale in view of rapidly rising demand for electricity, limited and depleting fossil resources, environmentally benign and safe nature of nuclear power etc. Accordingly, Government of India accorded its sanction in October 2005 to set up the Nuclear Power Plant at Jaitapur besides three other locations.

Technical and Economic Reasons for Selection of  Jaitapur Site

The Site Selection Committee recommended setting up a nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, based on the suitability of meeting criteria like  which include availability of land vs. population density, available source of cooling water , seismicity, safe-grade elevation at site (flood analysis etc), environment aspects and proper access for transportation of heavy/over-dimensional equipment to plant site. Along with these conditions and based on some other considerations the Government approved Jaitapur site for the establishment of the NPP.

The site selection for is carried out by the Site Selection Committee, notified by the Government of India which selects site for  setting up a nuclear power plant, revied various parameters as per the requirements laid down in the code of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and the laid-down criteria.

Earthquake-prone Site

The Jaitapur site is not considered earthquake-prone. As per seismic zoning map of Government of India, Jaitapur site falls within zone III. The longitude and latitude of the land covered for Jaitapur nuclear power project are given below:

Latitude of JNPP site: 16° 34’ 38” N to 16° 36’ 29” N

Longitude of JNPP site: 73° 19’ 02” E to 73° 20’ 48” E

As per the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) codal requirement, there should not be any active fault within 5 km radius from the proposed site of an NPP. Further, based on the studies carried out by various government institutes/ organisations, there is no active fault found up to 30 km radius from JNPP site. Hence, the site is not considered earthquake-prone. This is to further confirm that based on the available data of seismicity prevailing in the geographical region, all the structures, buildings and equipments of JNPP would be designed to qualify the “ground motion acceleration”

Benefits of the Project

The benefits of project are-

i) The project will augment electricity generation in the country, in a benign and environment-friendly way, which is the need of the hour.

ii) Development of areas around project site.

iii) Direct and indirect employment opportunities.

iv) Contribution of National Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) in social and community development of surrounding areas, especially nearby villages, in the field of education, health and infrastructure facilities.

Generation Capacity of JNPP

One unit of 1650 MWe plant operating at full capacity shall generate 36-39 million units per day. Presently, generation capacity of six units is 1650 MWe capacity each. Evolutionary Pressurised Reactors (EPR) from AREVA, France is under consideration of the Government of India.

Number  of Reactor Units

There will be six reactor units of 1650 MWe each at JNPP. The distance between each adjacent reactor unit is planned to be 250-300 meters.

Completion of Project

5 to 6 months’ time is required to declare commercial operation after completion of construction. The time required for completion of each unit is approximately six years  from the start date. Approximately all the six units of 1650 MWe each will be constructed in a twin-unit mode in phased manner and implemented in a period of 15-18 years.

Life Span of Each Plant

The guaranteed life of the proposed plant is 60 years.

Type of Fuel

This plant will be “PWR-type”, based on enriched uranium fuel. Irrespective of the fuel type, all the safety guidelines based on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)/Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) regulations are strictly adhered to by NPCIL to ensure that there is no adverse effect on environment, health and life of people through air, sea and land as a result of the operation of the NPP.The uranium will be supplied by AREVA, France, which will be also supplying the reactor units.

Source of Fresh Water

The fresh water requirement of the plant units and the proposed residential complex of JNPP will be met from a desalination plant facility installed by (NPCIL).

New developments in Indian space programme

In a morale-boosting success for its space programme after two consecutive GSLV setbacks,India put into orbit its sophisticated remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 and two micro satellites carried onboard its workhorse PSLV-C16 rocket from Sriharikota.

In a textbook launch, ISRO’s trusted PSLV in its 18th flight hurled the three satellites into an 822-km polar sun synchronous orbit a little over 18 minutes after lift-off in clear skies from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, 90 kms north of Chennai.

India’s advanced communication satellite, GSAT-8, was successfully launched at 02:08 hrs IST ON May 21, 2011 by the Ariane-V launch vehicle of Arianespace from Kourou. French Guiana. Ariane V placed GSAT-8 into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 35,861 km apogee and 258 km perigee, with an orbital inclination of 2.503 deg with respect to equator.

ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka acquired the signals from GSAT-8 satellite immediately after the injection. Initial checks on the satellite have indicated normal health of the satellite. The satellite was captured in three-axis stabilisation mode. Preparations are underway for the firing of 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) during the third orbit of the satellite on May 22, 2011 at 03:58 hrs IST as a first step towards taking the satellite to its geostationary orbital home