I like many good things, this too started with a movie. It was an unsettling one though; a documentary that had created as much buzz as a Hollywood blockbuster. But unlike commercial flicks, 'An Inconvenient Truth' had forced many viewers to pause and think. It moved me, a software professional in Silicon Valley, and it turned out to be my "How can I make a difference?" moment. I began my research and found empirical evidence that India needed cleaner, cheaper and distributed alternatives to coal power. Our environment is not regenerative and 20 per cent of the carbon we put in will stay there for the next million years. With abundant solar resources, need for electrification and meeting peak load shortage, solar power was the obvious choice. It also offered climate change mitigation for a country with over 1 billion people
Those were boom years for the development of alternative energy technologies in the world. Millions of dollars were going into funding R&D -- a lot of it for solar power.
Most companies were bullish about the European solar market, saying Germany and Spain were the best places to put up projects due to their incentives. I used to wonder how Germany could be the best place for solar energy, when it gets only 250 days of sunlight and already had a surplus of energy.
I took a trip to Delhi in 2007. Although I had left India only a decade ago, the deprivation of
11:46 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Raipur: There's something that could prove embarrassing for Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Newly appointed Chhattisgarh Congress chief Charan Das Mahant has claimed that he is ready to sweep the floor his party office if ordered to do so by Sonia Gandhi. "I always do whatever is ordered by my party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. If Sonia Gandhi orders me to sweep Congress office in Chhattisgarh, I will do...
08:50 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Goregaon: A 3-year-old girl was run over and killed in Goregaon by a car allegedly being driven by a teenager. The incident took place on Monday night at suburban Goregaon near Hypercity mall. The minor, identified as Lado Gupta, was run over allegedly by the vehicle of Raunak Desai. 19-year-old Raunak, son of former Mumbai corporator Sameer Desai and a relative of Congress leader Gurudas Kamat, was allegedly behind the...
08:45 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Japan are favourites to beat Italy in the Confederations Cup on Wednesday because of their Italian manager and the fact they have had more rest, according to Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli. He believes Japan's Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni's familiarity with his compatriots might cause Italy problems. "Japan will have the slight edge, I think, because they have an extra day of rest," said Prandelli. "Plus, Alberto knows us very well,...
08:26 AM, Jun 18, 2013
A woman was on Monday night pushed out of a bus by the conductor following a dispute over fare in Dankaur area, police said. Three women boarded the private bus from Dankaur railway station this evening. They gave one hundred rupee to the conductor to get the tickets. The conductor charged them more than the actual fare and this led to an altercation between them, police said. The bus driver...
04:26 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Belo Horizonte: Nigeria rolled to a 6-1 victory at Confederations Cup on Monday over Tahiti, who were making their debut at a major FIFA tournament. Nnamdi Oduamadi scored a hat-trick for the African champions, while Elderson Echiejile added two more. Tahiti avoided humiliation Monday in their debut at a global football tournament by scoring a goal in their loss to Nigeria. Jonathan Tehau headed in a goal early in the...
03:11 AM, Jun 18, 2013
The CBI which is probing the quid pro quo investment case against YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy filed one more supplementary chargesheet on Monday. It is a supplementary chargesheet to the first chargesheet filed by the CBI in April 2012, having additional evidence (statements of witnesses) to make V Vijay Sai Reddy, an accused in the case and also an auditor of the Kadapa MP, over his role in...
11:08 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday indicated readiness to make way for Rahul Gandhi if the UPA wins the Lok Sabha elections next year. "I have always said, as far as I am concerned, I would be very happy to see Rahul step into my shoes. I always believe we will have a third go at the elections as the UPA and people will again repose their faith in us,"...
08:03 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Recife: Spain has everything else, and now it seems to have a genuine striker - the one thing the World Cup champions have had trouble finding. New No. 9 Roberto Soldado scored with a perfect finish in Spain's 2-1 victory over Uruguay in the Confederations Cup opener. The Valencia striker scored both goals in Spain's 2-0 victory over Ireland in a friendly last week, and now he's chalked up the...
07:56 PM, Jun 17, 2013
New Delhi: A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal United split, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday reached out to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, calling him a secular leader. Taking a potshot at the Gujarat Chief Minister, the Prime Minister also said that Narendra Modi is not a threat to the Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections, as the people know what he stands for. On the...
07:14 PM, Jun 17, 2013
New Delhi: A day after the Congress announced its new working committee members, senior party leader and the new face of the Congress media wing Ajay Maken claimed that the party is growing under Rahul Gandhi while the NDA is shrinking. In a press conference, Ajay Maken said in today's age of communication, accessibility is one of the most important aspects. In the backdrop of JD(U)-BJP split in Bihar, Ajay...
05:06 PM, Jun 17, 2013
The fissures in the BJP were visible after Narendra Modi was made the campaign chief for 2014 polls and now the JD(U) parts ways with its long-time electoral partner on the Modi issue. Is the rise of Modi doing more harm than good for the NDA? CNN-IBN's deputy bureau chief Sumit Pande joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. Who is more at fault, JD(U) or BJP?...
04:46 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Long-time alliance partners JD(U) and BJP have parted ways after 17 years. Will the departure of the JDU upset BJP's national ambition for 2014? Social scientist Saibal Gupta joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. What do you think is the exact reason for Nitish to move out from NDA? Asked by: Kemi A. The advent of Narendra Modi in the scheme of the things decided by...
04:40 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Italy playmaker Andrea Pirlo gave Brazilian fans a taste of what they were missing as he marked his 100th international appearance by orchestrating his side's 2-1 win against Mexico in the Confederations Cup on Sunday. The notoriously difficult to please Maracana crowd was united in its adulation of the 34-year-old, appreciating the sort of player their own country has struggled to produce and even shunned. Pirlo's role as a deep-lying...
04:33 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Kolkata: Days after the brutal gangrape and murder of a 20-year-old girl in West Bengal's Barasat district, a group of women protestors on Monday shouted anti-government slogans and forced Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to leave the grieving family's house within five minutes of her arrival there. Sources say, she felt it was a deliberate ploy to insult her. The deceased girl's family had earlier refused any kind of help from...
03:08 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Revife: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque refused to be drawn on why he chose goalkeeper Iker Casillas in his starting line-up over Victor Valdez against Uruguay in their Confederations Cup opener. Casillas had not played a competitive match since January and many predicted Valdez would be first-choice in goal for La Roja's opening Confederations Cup Group B match, reports Xinhua. "I have seen it fit (to play Casillas)," Del Bosque...
01:11 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said he was frustrated with Mario Balotelli after the striker's shirtless goal celebration in the Azzurri's 2-1 victory over Mexico in the Confederation Cup. Chilean referee Enrique Osses cautioned Balotelli after the 21-year-old followed his 77th-minute winner on Sunday by repeating the flexed-muscle pose he made famous during last year's European Championships, reports Xinhua. The AC Milan forward was immediately benched by Prandelli...
12:37 PM, Jun 17, 2013
New Delhi: BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani Prime Ministerial ambitions have received a severe jolt with the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the 2014 election campaign in-charge. It is believed that it was Narendra Modi who prepared and implemented the plan to push Advani to the background. Known as the iron man of BJP, Advani had never missed the party's National Executive but during the Goa conclave...
12:08 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: The Nigerian soccer team arrived in Brazil, three days behind schedule and a day before it opens their Confederations Cup football campaign against Tahiti. The team landed in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte early on Sunday morning, putting an end to speculations that Nigeria might miss the eight-team tournament due to unspecified "internal problems", reports Xinhua. Africa's current top team was expected in Brazil last Thursday,...
11:33 AM, Jun 17, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: As part of conservation of endangered animal species especially amphibians, the National Biodiversity Congress has sought a ban on using animals covered under the Wildlife Protection Act for study and experimental purposes. Many species of amphibians, listed as protected in the Wildlife Act, are facing extinction on the global scale due to man-made causes, NBC's consolidated recommendations' report said. "Use of frogs as tools to understand basic concepts in...
11:09 AM, Jun 17, 2013
