Tokyo at night

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I have been living in Japan for the past four months. Don’t worry I am not one of those ‘trying too hard to fit abroad’ Indians who do nothing but criticise India. I love my country with passion and tell you what, I like Japan too. And I feel there are so many things we Indians can learn from the Japanese and make our country a better one!

You’d be wondering why all of a sudden, I am writing about the merits of a life in Japan but hey, didn’t you hear the news? The oldest living man is Japanese, his name is Tomoji Tanabe and he is 113 years old. For the uninitiated, Japanese women have been topping the World’s longevity ranks for 23 years while the men follow a close third to Iceland and Honk Kong.

Ok, so let me try and elucidate the reasons for a LONG life in Japan.

1.� � � People are safe. You know you will come back home when leaving for work/school/market etc. etc. in the morning.

2.� � � The police actually help a lost soul find the way. You know something, that was precisely their job always but many cops have evolved their duties to suit their comfort or maintain the false aura of fear that distances the common people from them.

3.� � � They are well prepared to face disasters. We know Japan’s susceptibility to earthquakes. A natural disaster that cannot be predicted. But hey, even the Japanese are ready to deal with one if it happens. The buildings are made of a special kind of light-weight concrete. There are emergency earthquake packs in offices.

4.� � � Government offices are proactive and well-organised. And may I say efficient too!

5.� � � They are not afraid to get their hands dirty to keep the place clean. The pain that the citizens and the establishment takes to keep the country clean is commendable. No one complains about sorting the garbage as burnable, plastic, cans and what not. If you don’t do it, your garbage collecter will. So, in a way you are shamed to sort your trash yourself.

6.� � � You can drink water from the tap directly.

7.� � � Your children are safe playing in the park. Not just that, 10 year-olds can safely commute on their own by the metro.

Well, I did say I’d try and discuss a few reasons.

Hard to believe, but there is an almost ideal place on the earth. And guess what, it took a lot of effort to get there.

One of best coolest cinema in this year’s Toronto Film Festival was rock documentary “It Might Get Loud” — some excellence time useless with Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White, playing together and chatting discretely about what electric guitar income to every of them. The film was directed by Davis Guggenheim, who also made Al Gore Oscar victor “An Inconvenient Truth.” One of best coolest parts of film fest was that can be every one three guitarists appear together at opening show of film. Here is an audience-caught short of them taking a small number of questions and goofing around after show. Alas, no one has yet chosen up sharing rights, so I don’t know when film will be unconfined.

Davis Guggenheim has finished a film on a documentary that will be seem at narrative of exciting guitar from point of vision of three important rock musicians: the “Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White”.

Guggenheim, director-producer of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Deadwood,” directed and co-produced “It Might Get Loud,” which Thomas Tull finance and shaped. The small Film Co. will symbolize the pic in Cannes.

Led Zeppelin’s Page, U2’s Edge and White, leader of White Stripes and Raconteurs, were selected for their crash across three dissimilar generations from Page’s 1960s days as a sitting musician and an associate of Yard birds into Edge’s single sound urbanized in ’80s through White’s present work. Each explain and demonstrate that how he misused sound of electric guitar to outfit his own style.

With the increasing debates over the reality of global warming among believers and non believers, car manufacturers atleast have realized that the phenomenon is taking an upward swing and that, their industry is pretty responsible for it (CO2 emissions by cars exhaust).
Thus we find every big car company announcing a fleet of green-cars for safeguarding our future. So has been Mazda’s intent. The company is about to premier its new, sporty, cross-over concept vehicle in the upcoming Moscow International Automobile Salon 2008. The Kazamai concept (as it is called) means “swirling crosswinds” in Japanese. It is based on Mazda’s futuristic-vision of developing apt technology that is greener, safer and sustainable. Kazamai aims to achieve a distinct balance between sporty driving thrill, excellent safety performance and superior environmental concerns.

The sexy car is thus given an aerodynamically compact design so that the car ‘flows’ on roads! Its four-wheel drive powertrain is projected to contain a next-generation direct injection engine and a newly developed transmission so as to lend the car optimum fuel efficiency.

� The company also promises to unveil information over Kazamai’s exciting driving dynamics, frugal fuel consumption and greatly reduced CO2 emissions in the automobile show. Now, it remains to be seen whether Mazda actually delivers what it says or is just creating those “green-car” hypes to sell its product. Let’s watch it in Moscow on 26th of coming month!

Via: inhabitat

So far Anacondas have invoked a sense of fear and intrigue in mankind. Now they will help men to gather sea power to meet the energy needs of future! No, I’ not talking about real life slithery huge anacondas but a new device in pipeline being tested by researches now a days in UK. The ‘Anaconda’ is a totally creative concept! It is a wave-energy converter ipso facto.

So far oceanic energy has not been tamed as successfully by scientists and R&D folks as has been the solar energy and off lately the wind energy. Now, plans are being made for future, to produce affordable electricity from the energy in sea waves using a device made up of rubber tubing. The ‘Anaconda’ device looks like an Anaconda snake (hence the name!). It is closed at both ends and filled completely with water and is designed to be tethered just below the sea’s surface, with one end facing the oncoming waves.

Considering the cost involved and efforts to reduce it such projects had not seen the light of the day till date but now the scenario is going to change. Anaconda’s simple design promises durability at affordable costs and low maintenance. Also, it may become the cheapest source of green and clean electricity in years to come.

Mechanism: Once anchored just below the sea surface, one end of Anaconda remains free. An oncoming sea wave hitting this end squeezes it and causes formation of a ‘bulge wave’ inside the rubber tubing of device. As the bulge wave runs through the tube, two types of sea wave movement occurs- 1) bulge wave running inside the tube and 2) the initial sea wave (which caused the bulge wave to emerge) running along the outer surface of rubber tube at about the same speed. The initial sea wave in due course of time squeezes the tube more and more and causes the increase in size of the bulge wave as well. The bulge wave then turns a turbine fitted at the far end of the device and the power produced is fed to shore via a cable.

The light weight anaconda device is still at an early stage of development. Currently it is being tested on laboratory scale. The work is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Anaconda’s inventors and its developer (Checkmate SeaEnergy), engineers at the University of Southampton are now embarking on a programme of larger-scale laboratory experiments and novel mathematical studies aimed at producing viable anacondas for the future.

Some more facts about ‘Anaconda’- the device:
· Invented by Francis Farley (an experimental physicist) and Rod Rainey (of Atkins Oil and Gas).
· When built, it would be 200 meters long & 7 meters in diameter.
· It would be deployed in water depths of between 40 and 100 meters.
· It is our Green hope for future as wave-generated electricity is carbon-free and so can help the fight against global warming.

Via ScienceDaily

Iceland- the country known for its glaciers and whaling practices is not set to become a pioneer in sustainable and eco-friendly practices. According to Iceland Review reports, the country will soon come up with a ‘green map’. The latter will inform locals and tourists about eco-friendly places, environmentally-certified products and services available in Iceland.

The ‘green map’ will be developed by University of Iceland Tourism Department in association with website natturan.is (natturan= nature; an environmentalist website). The map which follows an example set by greenmap.org, is a compilation of different categories: organic, health products, recycling, home remedies, certification, transportations, education, eco-friendly, fair trade, certification procedure, innovation, homemade, restaurants and travels service and last but not the least, technology.

Anna Karlsdottir, geographer and lecturer at the University of Iceland said,” It has been time for a while now to publish such a map and it will first and foremost be accessible on the internet,” Thus efforts to collect data about the green companies and services available in the country are already started by natturan.is. The green map thus produced will be downloadable and will be available on the website of Google Maps as well.

Source IceNews

This summer may witness arctic meltdown. Scientists have predicted that, the ice caps at North Pole may melt away completely owning to the phenomenon of Global Warming. It has been noted in last year’s studies that, ice at North Pole has started liquefying significantly. And this year, it may just get worse with the remaining layers of ice getting heated up with rising global temperatures. Continued meltdown of thicker caps formed during the ice ages has exposed the thinner layers to warming climate. The remaining cold cover is made up of seasonal ice which is liable to a quick meltdown during summer months. As per, Andy Mahoney, researcher, University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center, “This year there is a lot of young ice. There’s always some, but this year there’s a lot”.

Data from satellite observations reveal that in comparison to last year, the melt down rate has increased, which means, the probability of full-scale ice cap melting has also increased. This certainly is alarming news. Perhaps people should understand that small rise in temperature can have catastrophic effects.
The melting ice has roused an interest in international community more for political reasons than ecological and environmental concerns. Despite the unpleasant consequences of global warming and climate change, as expressed by environmentalists and scientists, what actually interests politicians is the vast area that will be exposed once the polar ice is gone! Canada, U.S, Russia and other nations bordering the Arctic are keen on acquisition of this newly shaped Artic region. The latter can prove to be suitable for shipping purposes. Every one wants a piece of pie!

The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of Sea defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. As per the convention, Arctic countries can prove their claim to the vastly uncharted polar ice packs of North Pole, ten years after ratification of the treaty. It is interesting to note that, United States has not ratified the treaty yet. It has objected to the provisions of the treaty on several grounds. The U.S. believes, the treaty is unfavorable to America’s economy and security. However, the decision upon the control of Artic will be taken by another UN panel by2020.

The irony of the whole situation is, instead of pondering over the grave consequences attributed by the complete meltdown of North Pole, the community of Arctic countries is busy reaping its respective interests. This blind pursuit of economic benefits at the cost of ecological balance with further burden our Mother Earth.

Via CTV

River Yamuna is the water body that touches the feet of Taj Mahal (Agra) and flows into Delhi. The river is a lifeline for people belonging to both Uttar Pradesh and the Indian capital. What was once known for its idyllic beauty set against the monument of love, is now reduced to a highly polluted stream. The river can be seen suffocating and choking under the line-up of plastic bags, industrial waste, human waste, animal excreta, dead bodies and everything dark and ugly one can imagine! Saddening as it is, several attempts are being made to clean it up. In Delhi, besides being the play card of politicians at the time of elections (when the whole drive to clean up the river’s body by the respectable chief minister takes place) it’s the city favorite dumping ground as well. Whatever is being done and will be done to purify this water body in Delhi is like a slow-paced novel. However, a ray of hope has emerged from the neighboring state (U.P.) to look into the matter of increasingly polluted Yamuna.

This surprising and first of a kind restorative action calls for the formation of a 5 member River Police Squad to keep an eye on polluters of the Yamuna (as announced by Agra district authorities on Sunday). A Supreme Court directive (10yrs old) is behind the materialization of this move. The directive orders the district administration to form such a squad. It is the work of the five members of the squad, to drive away cattle owners, who daily bring their buffaloes to the river for washing and thus polluting it. The apex court has also joined in and suggested that the washermen be shifted from the river bed and suitably re-located. The squad will be the watchdog observing and recording the activities of those who discharge untreated sewage and industrial wastes into this holy river.

Although as per the directives of Yamuna Action Plan, diverted sewage must be first treated by the Sewage Treatment Plants. In reality, industrial effluents , waste products from tanneries , Petha–makers etc. are directly thrown into Yamuna. Hopefully, the situation improves now as State Pollution Control board officials hope, now it would be easier to catch polluters by filing police complaints and taking legal actions against them.

And all of us in India are really waiting for this squad to kick in its operations at the earliest.

Via Timesof India