Can Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan improve the quality of Air we breathe?

Although the warning signs have been billowing in the polluted air of urban India policymakers remain strangely apathetic. The contrast with China, which has been fighting air pollution in mission mode, is stark. As a result ozone-related early deaths in India are now 33% higher than those recorded for China. And while early deaths related to PM2.5 in China have increased 17.22% since 1990, they have burgeoned 48% in India. Overall death toll due to air pollution still remains higher in China but while they are putting a lid on it, it’s spinning out of control in India. We must make a priority out of fighting this explosive public health challenge.
The above data is presented in the State of Global Air 2017 report released in Boston on Tuesday. But data only underscore what’s obvious to the naked eye. When winter days grow grey in Delhi or the fires at the Deonar dumping ground spew methane in Mumbai or the heavily polluted Bellandur lake catches fire in Bengaluru, the airpocalypse is unmistakably upon us. And it isn’t limited to the metros. The air has grown toxic from Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar to Gwalior, Patna and Raipur.
Managing blazing mountains of garbage requires modern waste management practices. Controlling vehicular pollution means increasing the supply of reliable public transport. Agricultural crop burning will stop when transporting crop stubble to biomass power plants becomes feasible for farmers. Such solutions are not easy but achievable. Centre and states must cooperate and strategise to deliver change on a comprehensive, nationwide scale.
Scale really is the keyword here. For example while a metro network is under construction in diverse cities like Lucknow, Kochi and Nagpur, its expansion has to be rapid as demand for it has been there for decades – and this has to be done without compromising on quality. For example, it’s inexcusable how commuters on Delhi metro are being told that snags are to be a new normal. What’s equally critical is that clean commitments are followed up with proper resource allocation and action on the ground. For example Delhi has yet to see the new buses and vacuum cleaning of roads whose speedy delivery the Kejriwal government had promised way back in 2015. With air pollution causing 1.1 million premature deaths that year, India also needs to get into mission mode like China.

Mutual Funds Industry backs SIP Investments to grow!!

Fund houses are betting big on investments through systemic investment plan (SIP) to achieve the magical figure of Rs 20 trillion assets under management (AUM) for the industry by end of the current calendar year.

While some of the fund houses see the growth in SIP coming from B-15 cities, few others said their SIPs are doing very well and hence they are confident of the industry achieving the Rs 20 trillion mark by the year-end.

The AUM reached Rs 17.4 trillion in January, expanding 36.4 per cent from Rs 12.7 trillion a year ago, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund, with Rs 27,000 crore AUM currently, said its SIP was growing by 35-40 per cent over past nine months.

"We have seen our SIP book growing by 35-40 per cent over the past nine months and we have seen lots of participation from B-15 cities," DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund Chief Executive Suresh Soni said on the sidelines of an event over the last weekend here.

Commenting on the industry nearing the Rs 20-trillion mark, he said opportunities available before the sector are very encouraging.

According to Soni, after demonetisation, the overall addressable pool of money has gone up remarkably. "We can access the money stashed in banks. Some of it could come to the MF industry. Secondly, the money flow to the industry post -noteban was mature one and hence good for the industry."

Edelweiss Mutual Fund is betting high on its SIP, pre- paid SIP in particular, to drive the growth. The fund house, having AUM of Rs 7,000 crore, is ranked 25th at present.


Pre-paid SIP allows an investor to take advantage of the market falls, a facility not available under regular SIP.

DSP BlackRock Investment Managers has decided to temporarily suspend, from February 20, all fresh transactions in its open-ended diversified equity scheme Micro Cap Fund.


The reason cited by the company for suspension of fresh inflows is that there is a possibility large inflows into the scheme may prove detrimental to the interest of existing unit holders.

5 Benefits of Beetroot Juice

The beautiful and bright colour of beetroots can make anyone fall in love with it yet it is often ignored, perhaps because of its distinctive taste. If you’re not a fan, you should know that beetroot has been gaining amazing popularity as the new superfood around the world. It’s low in fat, full of powerful antioxidants, rich in Vitamin C, and helps in the absorption of iron. Need we say more? Both the leaves and the roots can be eaten. While the pink root is sweet, the dark green leaves are bitter but very rich in calcium, iron and Vitamin A.

Beetroots are best enjoyed raw and uncooked as cooking may destroy most of its nutrients. You can add them in salads or easier to just juice them up. Beetroots are one of the healthiest vegetables you can juice, undoubtedly. A glass of beetroot juice helps in giving you all the vitamins and minerals in a concentrated form. If your mixture is too thick you can add some water to balance the consistency. Don’t remove the pulp that’s where all your fiber is. Also, remember that plain beetroot juice may contain oxalic acid and therefore it is good to blend it with other fruits or vegetables. This will also help in adding additional flavour and nutrition. For instance, beetroots and carrots make a lovely pair.

1. Manages your blood pressure
Beetroot juice can help in temporarily lowering high blood pressure. Researchers have attributed this to the presence of nitrates in beets. The naturally occurring nitrates increase nitric oxide found in the blood vessels which allow more oxygen to flow to your brain, heart and muscles  and thus, lowering high blood pressure.


2. Gives you glowing skin
If you’re healthy from within, it reflects on the outside. Beetroot juice acts a great blood purifier. Beetroots are also rich in Vitamin C which helps in clearing blemishes and evens out your skin tone while giving it a natural glow.

3. A great way to detox naturally
Beetroots are a unique source of betalains – a type of phytonutrient. These compounds are known to provide powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties.  For long, beetroot has been known as the liver-protective food. It is a great liver cleanser and helps in flushing out all the toxins. With the help of compounds like methionine and glycine, it prevents fatty acids from building up and stimulates the liver cells.

4. Boosts energy and stamina
Beetroot juice helps in opening the blood vessels and thus increases the flow of oxygen throughout your body making you feel more energetic and active. This is probably why it’s best to have it early morning to wake up your sleepy organs.  It has been often promoted as a great workout drink and good for athletes as it increase the flow of oxygen to the muscles preparing them for the stress ahead.

 

5. Good for digestion
Beetroot juice with its pulp is full of fiber which helps in regulative your digestive processes and also relieves constipation. A glass of beetroot juice is also a great home remedy for an upset stomach.  

ZTE Blade A2 Plus- A sensational Phone of 2017 at just Rs11,999/-

As expected, ZTE Blade A2 Plus smartphone was launched on Friday in India. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 11,999 and will exclusively be available on Flipkart from Monday, February 6 onwards. Just like China, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus will be available in Gold and Silver colour options.

ZTE had launched two RAM variants of the smartphone in China - 3GB and 4GB. However, India gets only the ZTE Blade A2 Plus 4GB RAM variant option for now. Just to recap, the 3GB variant of the ZTE smartphone was priced at CNY 1,499 (roughly Rs. 15,000) and the 4GB variant was priced at CNY 1,699 (roughly Rs. 17000) respectively in China.

The ZTE Blade A2 Plus sports a metal unibody, with a square shaped camera, flash and fingerprint scanner, sitting one below the other vertically at the back. The volume and navigation buttons are housed on the right edge, while the capacitive navigation buttons are situated at the bottom chin in the front. The big highlight of the ZTE device is its massive 5000mAh battery that supports fast charging. ZTE claims that the smartphone can last up to 22 hours of talk time.

 As for specifications, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus features a 5.5-inch (1080x1920) pixels full-HD display. It is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6750T octa-core SoC (four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.5GHz and four at 1GHz) paired with 4GB of RAM and Mali T860 GPU. The inbuilt storage is at 32GB with the option to expand further via the microSD card (up to 128GB).

The hybrid dual-SIM ZTE smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based Mifavor 3.5 OS. As for optics, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with PDAF, dual-LED flash and 1080p video support. At the front, there is an 8-megapixel sensor with screenflash. Connectivity options include Bluetooth v4.0, GPS, 4G LTE, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. Lastly, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus measures at 155x76.2x9.8mm, and weighs 189 grams.

"With a young, tech-savvy audience, about 69 million consumers purchased their products online and it is expected to cross 100 million by 2017. Our Blade-series smartphone, ZTE Blade A2 Plus comes with 4G LTE, VoLTE support and host of other features at an effective price. Through this phone, we take the first step to reach millions of Indians who are going digital. By eliminating multiple external factors, we want to bring the best phones that industry has to offer and at an effective price," said Sachin Batra, CMO, ZTE India Terminal in a statement.

Actual Cost of Solar Power

This blog is prompted by a report (in the Times of India of 1st December) that for some roof-top solar projects, a tariff of Rs 3 per unit has been quoted, which is same as the average cost of power from the coal-fired plants of NTPC. The report also gives the impression that solar power is going to be cheaper than power generated by thermal power plants. While it is true that the cost of solar power has been coming down, it is necessary to understand certain aspects of solar power, particularly regarding its impact on the overall cost of power supply, so as to be able to take informed decisions without being carried away by some simplistic facts.


A distinctive characteristic of solar power is that it can be generated only during the mid-day hours when the sun is up in the sky. It therefore can’t help in catering to the requirement of electric power during evening hours, when the power demand peaks. As we move towards ‘electricity for all’, the power demand during evening hours would keep on rising, and conventional generating capacity would require continued enhancement, irrespective of the installation of the solar capacity. In fact, solar capacity should not be counted when working out the generating capacity requirement for meeting the projected peak demand.
What the solar generating capacity (whether roof-top or large-scale) actually provides is electrical energy during mid-day hours (say 8am to 4pm), to replace an equivalent amount of electrical energy from thermal power plants during those same hours. This directly reduces (i) the amount of coal burnt in the power plants (whose day-time generation is curtailed), (ii) amount of ash produced by these plants, (iii) CO₂ emission, and (iv) the requirements of coal mining, import and transport, and of ash disposal. These are all most beneficial from environmental angle, and are the reasons for the global push for solar (and wind) power generation.
Sometimes, concerns are voiced that the increasing solar capacity would cause the Plant Load Factor (PLF) of the thermal plants to fall (because the latter would have to necessarily back down during mid-day hours when solar plants would be feeding power into the grid), destabilise their operation and upset their economics. These concerns are not valid. PLF is not the right criterion for judging a plant’s performance. Backing down, and ramping up the thermal generation when solar generation falls in the early evening hours, would normally be within the plants’ operating capability. It would only require the plant operators to be alert, and to take the necessary preventive/corrective actions to ensure that their machines are not over-stressed. The commercial problem can also be easily overcome by adopting two-part tariff (comprising of capacity charge and energy charge) for the thermal plants, wherein any revenue reduction on backing down is neutralised by a matching reduction in cost of fuel consumed. All Central thermal stations already have this tariff format, and would not suffer on account of backing down. Typically, the present energy charge rates of thermal plants, based on their respective fuel cost, are in the range of Rs 1.50 to 2 per kWh sent out, while the total average cost (including the fixed cost, which is recovered through the capacity charge) is in the range of Rs 3 to 4 per unit. Thermal stations still on single-part tariff have simply to change over to two-part tariff to avoid any adverse effect on their economics.


Now let us come to the impact of solar power on the overall cost of power supply. Suppose the tariff for solar power, to be paid by a State utility is Rs 4 per unit. When this power comes into the State utility’s system (during 8am – 4pm period), the off-take of the State utility from the thermal stations would get reduced by the same extent, hour-by-hour. Consequently, the amount to be paid by the State utility to the thermal plants would come down as per the latter’s energy charge rate. So, while the State utility would pay Rs 4 for every kWh of solar power it received, its payment to the thermal plants would come down by only Rs 1.50 to 2. Thus the utility would have a net additional liability of over Rs 2 for each kWh of solar power it receives, even when the total average prices of solar and thermal power are comparable. This is the real (additional) cost of solar power, which is ultimately borne by the national economy.



A question then arises as to how the above cost is to be shared between the various stake-holders. If the amount of solar power in the total electrical energy mix is 5%, the additional cost per unit of total energy would be more than 10 paise, and around 15 paise per unit of energy sold (after allowing for T&D losses). If the regulators determine that this additional liability is to be borne only by the better-off consumers and they consume about 50% of the total electricity supplied, their average tariff shall have to be jacked up by about 30 paise per unit. This is the order of the price to be paid for this environment-friendly power, which needs to be duly considered while deciding about the pace of enhancement of solar power.