I was one of the fortunate five who were selected as the five winners of Action for India fellowship for the Silicon Valley Trek challenge held in New Delhi this January. Finally we started our journey and landed on 14th October. I came a day early thinking jet lag might hit me, but it did…
Against Ban on Crackers during Diwali
Pro-voices This kid gives good class which probably SC judges can attend and learn something. Diwali Cracker Ban: When pseudoscience guided decision-making (India facts) – http://indiafacts.org/cracker-ban-pseudoscience-guided-decision-making/ It is time Celebrities stop telling us how to lead our lives! (India facts) – http://indiafacts.org/time-celebrities-stop-telling-us-lead-lives/ Delhi firecracker ban had no impact, say studies (The Hindu) – http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/delhi-firecracker-ban-had-no-impact-say-studies/article19919649.ece Delhi has to stop…
Gunpowder invented in India
Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships’ by Kaushik Roy. Chemical warfare in Ancient India by Vaman R. Kokatnur J. Chem. Educ., 1948, 25 (5), p 268
Villains of Diwali Crackers Ban
Supreme Court has in the recent times giving judgements what one would call judicial overreach especially when it comes to restrictions on Hindu traditions and practices. The recent ban on crackers in Diwali is no exception, especially when there is no evidence to point to the effect. The court is infiltrated by lot of judges,…
How Dan Brown Lost support from Indians?
The latest thriller from Dan Brown, Origin, though not as effective as some of his previous books, is a good read. I always thought he did some good research before writing his novels, but in this one he lost his credibility, at least from 20% of humanity, i.e., people from India. Two mistakes: Giving credit…
Sometimes Actors Talk Sense
I was very impressed when Nawazuddin Siddiqui (also happen to be a rare person who can act in Hindi movie industry) took a stand, an unpopular one, to criticise his fellow celebrities (a.k.a morons). His statement reads as follows, “So much of fairness cream is consumed in our society, and it’s being promoted by well-off,…
When Science Teacher teaches Adam & Eve Story to 2nd Grade Kids
Today while discussing with my seven year old son on what he learnt in school I was shocked to hear what the science teacher taught the students. Apparent when discussing the chapter on “Bones and Muscle”, she went on to describe the origin of man. It seems God (read Abrahamic God) created the first human,…
With ClubFM RJ Rafi
It was a great experience talking with Rafi, a popular DJ from ClubFM, on the story of ADITYA – India’s first solar ferry. The language is Malayalam – apology to those who cannot understand it.
Imagination of a 7 Year Old
Today my son, Abhimanyu, came up with a “robotic car” (in his words) named RAIN RUN. What is interesting is that this car run on rain. Having seen ADITYA (India’s first solar ferry boat) that runs on sun during a visit on a rainy day, as well as learning about Tesla, he came up with…
Wrong Focus on Solar Projects
In the recent times it has become a fad to associate every single product as eco-friendly and green. In this process we also see a lot of products being launched with a “solar” tag – Television, … (some sample). A recent post by Sri. Piyush Goyal on installation of solar panels on trains triggered my…
GOI Sidelining Water Transport in Electric Adoption
On the surface one would agree that the current leadership under Prime Minister Modi is very aggressively aimed at transforming vehicles on road to electric by 2030. However, the various policy makers have neglected water transport. Under FAME scheme launched by Dept. of Heavy Industries, (http://dhi.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Gazette_Notification_FAME_India.pdf), the thrust in on support hybrid/electric vehicles market development…
ADITYA – 150 Days of Service; and Surprise!
From the day of inauguration on 12th Jan to yesterday (12th Jun) ADITYA completed 150 days in service. In this period, along with demonstrating some of the unique characteristics of a solar ferry, it also dispelled some of the myths propagated by the nay-sayers. The unique features that were showcased successfully based on feedback from…
