'Let's regain thecity's lost glory'

should login from home. Thiswill reduce the traffic by 20 percent in the city. Also, carpool-ing should be done to reducenumber of vehicles on roadevery day. More and more'vehicles should use green fuelto reduce pollution.

EffectsIf the growth of the city is

halted and if these measuresare'implemented, the advan-tages accruing will be many.BBMP has to maintain roadsand clear garbage if we wanta tl:lean city. .,~The quality of life is depen-

dant mainly on water andeJectricity. BESCOM can.s~ly quality power. BWSSBCan address problems'relatedto drinking water and sewagedisposal. Slums can be con-verted into decent residentiallocalities for the slum dwell-ers.

Tree plantation by indi-viduals and arboriculture byinstitutions and communitieswill bring back the green coverof the city, within a matter of10-15 years.

Birds and other fauna willbe back in the city. 'The tem-peratures will come down andagain the city will receive rain.This in turn will improve theground water level. Lakes andtanks can be revived, desiltedand maintained. Come, let usall pledge to regain the para-clise lost.

TIle reader is a resident ofDomlur

continued from page 1

CBangalor~ Vegetationstarted getting scarce, waterboclies were encroached, andconstruction started in everynook and cranny of the city.More and more money camein with the growth of the ITindustry. )

As reported, there isone vehicle for every twoBangaloreans today whichhas resulted in very heavytraffic. The pollution level hasincreased and the Air QualityIndex is alarmingly increas-ing, thereby endangeringfauna and flora.

SolutionsFor reviving the green cover,

every household should plantat least one tree close to his!her house or flat or on the roadside. That family should takeresponsibility of the tree till itgrows. NGOsandsocialwork-ers could take this messagefrom house to house. Fellingof trees should be stopped.No more layouts should besanctioned. Lakes and tanksshould be revived and rejuve-nated. Every household andhigh rise building should haverain water harvesting facility.

The present traffic densitycan be attributed to the largenumber of vehicles run by ITpersonnel and ITes companiesonly ..Atpreserrtthesecompa-nies are working for five days aweek. Twenty per cent of theIT personnel of all companies

~,d>1""'~ ,..>

------------------------lol ~l\J OEc~~'i2'~f'~~'~'o"""""'-----------"RussellMarket to getwaste-ta-energy plantBAN GALORE: Members of theRussell Market Traders' Asso-ciation and traders will get-awaste-to-energy plant installedat the market by next week.

The market, which housesaround 480 shops, producesnearly 12-15 tonnes of garbagedaily, out of which seven tonnesare wet waste alone. To minimisethe waste and use it towards aproductive end, the Associationdecided to instal a waste-con-suming energy generator.

"The decision was made af-ter a meeting on April 2," ex-plained Mohammed IdrisChoudhary, the general secre-tary of the Association. "Allshop vendors were consultedabout this new technology. Thetotal cost of the plant is Rs sev-en lakh. Apart from the sub-sidy, the funds we had collectedfrom willing traders will beused for the plant."

If fed 500 kg of garbage eachday, the plant will generateenough electricity to light upall shops within the market.With this eco-Iriendly ap-proach, the Association hopesto not only help the market be-come independent of the Stateenergy grid, but also eliminatetheir growing problem ofgarbage.

The plan has the approval ofthe government. "The Stategovernment has decided toprovide a 30 per cent subsidyfor the plant and a companyhas come forward to help setup the plant," Choudhary ex-plained. Under the existing sys-tem, all shop vendors dumptheir dry arid wet waste in alarge garbage bin located in-side the market.

FaceliftThe market is also due toget amuch-needed facelift. Accord-ing to sources, the entire build-ing will be painted in the nextfew days. The Associationmembers added that ever sincethe February 25, 2m2, fire atthe market which gutted 175shops, the Bruhat BangaloreMahanagara Palike (BBMP)had refrained from collectingrent from traders, many ofwhom had suffered massive fi-nanciallosses in the disaster.

"The Association has collect-ed one year's rent amountingto Rs 12 lakh from the tradersand is ready to pay that sum im-mediately to the BBMP, as wedo not want any kind of prob-lems to persist later on," said amember of the Association.DH News Service

\

Power cutdisnJpts:1

online JEEBANGALORE: Power cut hitstudents appearing for theJoint Entrance Examination(Main) on Tuesday.

Students appearing for theonline test in one exam centreon Mysore Road were shockedwhen all off a sudden the sys-tems switched off. It was onlyhalf an hour later that theycould resume answering thepaper. I

"I panicked when the system Ishut down. There were 10 min-utes remaining. We had ro wait Ifor a while before the powerwas back," said Anirudh C V, ione of the candidates who rookthe exam.

The power cut, however, willnot affect the students' scoresas the software is designed topick up the timing from whereit was left.

"When we logged in later, itstill showed that we had lf) min-utes left. onerheless, the sud-den aberration was a shocker."There was confusion with re-spect to how many additionalwork sheets the students couldget, as a few invigilators wereinstructed not to give morethan three.

Eventually, the studentswere given more work sheets,but the confusion ·I~a(0 wasteof time in between, Anirudhsaid.

This is the first-ever JEE(Main) online examination tobe conducted. Students feltthat the Chemistry paper wasthe easiest of the lor.

Many felt that the Physicspaper was difficult as theyfound a few problems compli-cated.

Sushmitha Murthy, anotherstudent who appeared for theexam at a centre in Bidadithought the exam was on thesame level of the previous AllIndia Engineering EntranceExamination (AlEEE).

"We all thought it would bea few notches more complicat-ed than the AIEEE. Fortunate-ly for us, it was on par with it."The online exam w)be heldtill April 13, 2013.OH News Service

• ·LO l~l~)If.-tE ti ~NO vi

FIrst JEE gets off to an 'easy' startStaff Reporter

BANGALORE: The first Joint En-trance Exam (JEE) got off toan "easy" start on Tuesday.

The online exam for admis-sion to BE, B.Tech and B.Archcourses-in National Institutesof Tech\lOlogy, Indian Insti-tutes of Information Tech-nology, and othercentrally-funded technicalinstitutes will be held next onApril 22, 23 and 25.

The exams commenced onMonday in 29 cities, includ-illg Colombo, Kathmanduand Singapore.

The. offline exams wereconducted Oil April 7 in 81 ci-lies, including .Doha, Dubai,Riyadh and Muscat. .

As many as 14 lakh stu-dents have registered for JEE2013, conducted by the Cen-

RELIEVED: Candidates emerge from answering thefirst Joint Entrance Exam at DOll Bosco Institute ofTechn?logy in Kumbalqod in Bangalore on Tuesday.- PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

lral Board of Secondary Edu-cation (C13SE), whichreplaced the All-India Engi-neering Entrance Exarnin-

ation (AlEEE) from this year.In Bangalore, a section of

students who attempted theexam at Don Bosco Institute

Of Technology, Mysore Road,experienced some anxiousmoments when the. powerw~ off for LQ minutes. Butotherwise lIT seat (JsI2.iull1lste;:med the national entrancetest an easy one.

'Easier than AI EEE'Sushrnitha A. Murthy said

that questions in the paperwere "moderately easy". "Infact, they were easier than theAIEEE question papers. But 1used up the entire time allot-ted to complete the exam."

Another student, AnirudhC.V. said he could not answertwo questions due to lack oflime. "1 would have preferredthe offline mode, but 1 man-aged to attempt it online pret-ty well," said the student whois eyeing a seat in liT, Ma-dras, or BITS, Pilani.

Eleven ellproposals areawaitingenvironmentalctearance "prior EC needs to be resolvedurgently," the Coal Ministrynote states.

The note points out that, atpresent, 11 proposals of CoalIndia Limited (CI L) areawaiting an EC by the MoEF,where the EnvironmentalAdvisory Council (EAC) hasrecommended issuance ofEC. Two projects are awaitinggrant of terms of reference(ToR) and the EAC has al-ready recommended the

i~i4.Ll5 'Tit-£" 1."1 \('1 Dv

Coal Ministry moves CCl tospeed up nod for mining projects

same. Seven proposals arepending for grant of ECwhere coal companies havesubmitted all necessary docu-merits and the same are to beconsidered by ~AC. Further,in-the-case of seven proposals,coal companies have submit-ted the required documentslor granl of ToH and EAC \0consider the same.

Fast-tJ'addngThe Ministry pointed out

that after the intervention ofthe CCI, the MoEF has beenfast-tracking the pendingproposals for EC & Fe. Dur-ing the period April, 1, 2012and March 15, 2013, theMoEF had granted EC to 31proposals of CIL and ToH tosix proposals.

.(IL, "TP( TO TA~EliP QUALITY, DUES~SSUES-TODAY(New Delhi: Coal India Ltd(CIL) and NTPC are likely~o meet on Wednesday to(address the issues pertain-ling to the quality of fueleupplies as :well as the

.,<.'~ .~ ~ower major's ~2,840 crore

fdues to the coatPSU."CIL will meet NTPC on

lPower firm's pending dueslto the coal PSU and coalquality issue," said a ClLfofficial. ClL had on April 1stopped coal supplies toNTPC's power plants.However, they wererestored on April' 4. "Thecoal supply has more orless being restored. Somecoal is going "from otherplace also. The issue isbeing sorted out. FromApril 4 onwards it (coalsupply to NTPC) is around50-60 per cent," ClL chair-man and managing direc-tor S. Narsing Rao said.Meanwhile, CIL has beenwriting to NTPC to clear\the dues amounting to over~2,B40 crore. "Our cornpa- ~nies have been writingto' -them. It owes us ~2,840crore," he said. -PTI

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Coal Ministryhas written to the CabinetCommittee on Investments(CCI) for streamlining grant-ing of clearances by the Min-istry of Environment andForest (MoEF) for variouscoal mining projects in thecountry.

The Coal Ministry hasasked the CCI to considerparallel processing of envi-ronmental clearance (EC)and forest clearance (FC) forcoal projects as in the case ofNational Highways Authorityof India (NHAl) projects."Further, the issue of en-hanced borehole density forexploration in forest areaswithout the need for seeking

~DI~\I) 0 (VA-TESlIN6 TIMES IThough many find the paper easy, some were apprehensive of qualifying for JEE (advanced), the entrance exam for IITs

JEE (main) was a walk in the park, say city studentsdna corespondent @dna Children's Home, Sushmitha A

Murthy, said that she found the pa-per easy and is anticipating to qual-ify for the JEE (advanced) that willbe held for the top rs lakh rankholders ofJEE(main) for admissionto the top IITson June 2.

'The paper was easier than I hadexpected and I thought chemistrywas the easiest subject of them all.I wrote the JEE (Main) because Iwant to pursue pure sciences at theIndian Institute of ~cience (IISc)and I am not really interested in

ing the Bm entrance," he said.Another student from from Jain

College, Shwetha Rao, said shefound the math paper to be thehardest and the chemistry paper tobe the easiest Though she is notsure of making it in the top l.5lakhstudents in the main paper, she stillhopes to ~ able to get through Na-nonal lnsdture ofTechnology (NIT).

"Obviously everyone is going tobe worried about the cut-offmarks, but NIT is also a great insti-tute and as long as Iget a rank good

enough to get through to that Iwillbe happy," she said.

The main online examinationwill once again be held on April 22,23 and 24 in the city.

While the examinations wentsmoothly at most of the centres,students at the Don Bosco Institutehad to contend with a power cutthat lasted about 10 minutes..IheRower cut left stud~J)lS..paI1icing.NoSU~tV\'.~~tany other centre.

------ inbox@dnaindia.net

Kumar who took the test in Achar-ya Institute of Technology. said thatcontrary to popular opinion, fewsubjects did in fact leave himscratching his head in confusion.He said he also trained with BASEtuition centre to prepare for theexamination.

'The paper was definitely not alengthy one but about five or fourquestions in maths and physics pa-pers were difficult, but I am notworried. Apart from the CIT examand COMEO-I<,I will also be wtft:

!~.~ The paper was not alengthy one butabout five or four

questions in maths andphysics were difficult.

-Anil Kumar, a JEE candidate

Students in Bangalore who took upthe online JEE (main) examinationon Tuesday found the paper easyand are looking forward to theother common examinations heldin the country.

The examinations started onApril 7 (offline exam) and are ex-pected to see a record 14 lakh stu-dents taking up the examinationtill April 25.

A student from Sri Kumaran

IITs,"she said. She will also be tak-ing the COMEO-K examination aswell as the CIT (Common EntranceTest).

A student from Jain College, Anil

If/: \0 7 Lt/ I '3 ( :.. "J.-:ar

-I JEEStudents Get Power Cut JittersI Express News Service

II,

as we did not anticipate anytechnical errors at the mo-ment of examination,"

"After about 15 minutes,the power connection wasrestored. Since the serveralso shut down at the time

Though students werewell trained with the mockonline tests, the power cutwas a bad experience," ex-plained Anirudh, who hadtaken coaching from BASEinstitute.

He also added that theoverall difficulty levels inJEE Mains were moderate,but the Physics portion wasdifficult.

However, Anil Kumar, aII PUC student from JainCollege who attended thetest at Acharya Institute of :Technology, the second testcentre, said the examinationwas a smooth affair.

The JEE Mains will alsobe conducted on April 22,

23 and 25 in the city. ~

Bangalore: The first everonline Joint Entrance Ex-amination (JEE) Mains2013 turned out to be anightmare to city studentson Tuesday.

Hundreds of studentswere a bundle of nerveswhen there was power cutat the fag end of the three-hour computer-based JEEat Don Bosco Institute,which was one of the twoexamination centres in thecity.

Recalling the experience,Anirudh CV, a II PUC stu-dent of Jain College, whowas at the Don Bosco Insti-tute for the JEE Mains, said,

Students panickedtowards the end ofthree-hour onlinelEE Mains 2013 onTuesday, when therewas an unexpectedpower cutStudents Involved In a discussion after the online JEE exam in

Bangalore on Tuesday I NAGARAJAGAfJEKAl

that we had last logged in,the examination and theanswers keyed in were re-stored as they were.

"Towards the end of theexam, when there were just10 minutes for the session

to end, the computer turnedoff due to power failure atthe lab. Students panicked

I,

-:."~.. ,.;:- ",".:~;.: '). . ~Lr t>( \\?(\~~rIn pursuit of a

solar-poweredworld

)

Maharani's Collegeholds conference onharnes~ingsolarenergydna correspondent @dna

Here's something for those who want to Si!Vethe environment without breaking a sweat. 'Ifcommuting without increasing your carbonfootpnnt IS the goal, then a cycle exhibited atthe national conference on solar energy organ-ised by Maharani's Science College for Womenholds the key. Powered by solar energy the cy_de pedals itself. '

. 15 companies displayed their best innova-tions that would directly help the society at theconference-cum-exhibition. Apart from theself pedaling cycle, there were solar lanternssolar heaters and other solar powered device;on display. A solar cap with an in-built fan thatpowers itself when the sun is at its peak wasanother star attraction at the exhibition.

The conference that 5<lW participation fromover 200 students and university professorsfrom across the country, was organised in a bidto promote research on harnessing solar power111India. It also featured paper presentationsfrom both researchers and students. The inau-guration was attended by MB Dyaberi. rnanag-II1gdirector of Karnataka Renewable EnergyDevelopment.

"Currently Karnataka is not able to com-pletely harness the various forms of renewableenergy. But that is because there are many hur-dles. Harnessing that form of energy depends alot on our geographical location and weatherconditions," said Dydberi:' .J

Sakala mission director and department ofadministrative reforms secretary Shalini Ra-jneesh, who was also present at the event saidthat the time has come for the state and thecountry to recognise the fact that natural re-sources are depleting and hence should beused warily and judiciously. .•.••.•.'-'. However, here is some good news for those

hving III Bangalore - of all the cities in IndiaBangalore is probably amongst the more sola;efficient ones in the country. According to cNarayan Reddy, associate professor Maharani'sSCIenceCollege for Women, Bangalore ranksthe highest in solar heaters.

"I don't know about other statistics, but interms of the number of households that havesOI~:7rnh)!e rs, Bangalore comes on the top," hesal~

inbox@dna[ndia.net

:05 ands still overpower tariff hikeBandh cripples norrnallife across 'stateHYDERABAD: Normal lifewas affected in AndhraPradesh on Tuesday follow-ing a statewide bandh calledby a united Opposition overthe power issue.

ing bus stations. According toAPSRTC, 2,500 buses out of4,800 were stopped by pro-testers causing a revenue lossofRs 18 crore, In the state cap-ital, agitators hurled stonesand broke glasses of severalbuses, and deflated tyres ofmany buses.

At the Vizianagaram railwaystation, TDP activists stoppedthe Bokaro Express for sometime. Bandh was intense inSrikakulam and Vizianagaramdistricts also. In the two dis-tricts, 859 buses in nine depotscould not move out.

In Warangal district, Leftparty leaders locked the gatesof RTC depots at Janagaon,Mahabubabad and otherplaces. Nine hundred buses ofeight depots could not comeout.

In Karimnagar, yet anotherTelangana district, the Leftparties, TD P, BJP and the TRStogether prevented buses frommoving out of depots in Go-davarikhani, Huzurabad, Siri-cilla, Korutla and other places.

lO" CI-}. J~ L~Q~ t,\.'v, ....:...",./

~1.\1 SMART'J' h

~D'l'I igent Power closeto $150 m PE dealDiI~gent Power, the power generation arm ofDalnlk B~askar, is in final talks for closing a$150 million equity infusion with jp Morganor Khazanah, The management has been intalks for raising ~800 crore PE investment tofund Its thermal power projects. Sourcesclose to the deal said a closure can beexpected in a little over a month from now. In2011,Warburg Pincus had invested $150million in Diligent Power. ~snorttv,

Karimnagar MLA Vijaya Ra-mana Rao and others were tak-en into custody for preventingbuses from plying.

The Kakatiya University ofWarangal has postponed allthe examinations to be held onTuesday. .

University registrar said itwould be later announcedwhen the examinations wouldbe held again. In Chittoor dis-trict, Opposition parties hadalso forced the educational in-stitutions to close. Many insti-tutions voluntarily declared aholiday. '

In the commercial capital of-the state, Vijayawada, thebandh was intense.

CPI and CPM leadersstopped buses at the NehruBus Station. Leaders squattedat the bus depots at Vidyad- 'harapuram, Governorpet andAuto Nagar depots.

The police made elaborate se-curity arrangements in view ofthe bandh and to e sure therewas no breach of law rd order,DH News Service

// MRFtopsJD Powercustomer indexTyre maker MRF been ranked highest in 2013India Original Equipment Tire CustomerSatisfaction Index (TCSI) Study conducted byJ D Power Asia Pacific. MRF Car Radials rank

~ highest for the 10th time in the last 13years,a company statement said. The J D Powerstudy measures satisfaction among originalequipment tyre owners during the first 12to24 months of ownership.

~

The bandh call was given byOpposition parties, cuttingacross party lines, to protestagainst the steep hike in powertariff. The parties demanded.she immediate rollback of the'rariffhike.

While villages and majortowns have responded to thebandh call, the citizens in thetwin cities-Hyderabad and

'I Secunderabad-remained lukewarm as there was no impactof the bandh on normal life.

Leaders of Left partiesblocked bus stations and pre-vented APSRTC buses fromplying, paralysing the bus serv-

I ices. CPI state secretary KNarayana and CPM state sec-retary B V Raghavulu were ar-rested at Mahatma GandhiBus Station here when theytried to stop buses from leav-

.../

• I

How can our Bangalore leaders ensure that ~citizens are given their minimum due? ~Dismal state of public amenities. infrastructure, environmentaldegradation ... the list that gave Bangalore the thumbs down goes on. TheJanaagraha survey is proof that state's political leadership that was engrossedin politicking has let down citizens. It's a big blow to the capital city of a statewhere people cough up the maximum tax for most of their daily needs.

The need of the hour is a clean andcompetent government with a propermaster plan for the city than ad hocprojects. We need a powerful anti-corruption body to prevent theillegalities in various civic bodies.Regulate micro transport mechanismand over commercialization by ensuringparticipation of all stakeholders,including citizens. The government hasfailed by inten'ionally failing to implem-ent a mechanism to listen to the voiceof the people which has reflected In thesurvey. , ANILJ REBELLO

B.as'iC'amenities like water, electricity,,.. roads and hygienic surroundings are

the least our.leaders can guarantee thepeople and cpntinuing to ignore thesame might Bot go unnoticed duringelections. , MYKRISHNA

What we need and deserve is atransparent and efficien1:"administ-ration provided by honest. citizen-focused leaders who can make areal difference to our city., KARTHIKPRAIlHAKAR

The central government should monitorwhether the states are utilizing thefunds efficiently. Strict orders shouldbe passed to those who are grabbinglands for apartments, which are the

/

Netas, listen to the people firsteon't ignore this little voicePlease don't cut trees. If you arecutting one tree, plant two trees.There's no rain because more andmore buildings are coming up atthe cost of trees. The entire city isfull of stray dogs. Please catch

main cause. of pollution, garbage,traffic woes', etc., A SIVAGAMI

Plan the city's infrastructure keepingin view the present and the futureneeds. Decentralizing decision-making and better coordinationbetween political leaders, civicauthorities and the citizens is urgentlycalled for. Having an efficient massrapid transport system is the only wayto decongest the clogged roads.Prevent unchecked arrd haphazardgrowth of the city as it is turning

them and take them to a shelterbut don't kill them. Installinggarbage bins in apartments,companies and other public placeswill help to keep the city clean.

A Santhosh Ram, CLASSII, NARAYANAETECHNOSCHOOL

Bangalore into a concrete jungle andleading to severe environmentaldegradation. , USHAG RAO

Citizens should be given dueimportance ensuring their participationin ward committees, besidesdecentralizatlcn and longer tenure forthe mayor to arrest poor governance.Separate legislature for GreaterBangalore City will enable local MLAs toensure qualitative improvement in city'sinfrastructure.] BNGOVINDARAJULUPeople at the helm of affairs allowed

the city to grow without having anyinsight, leave alone sincerely workingtowards providing basic .ijmenities. Thegrowth of Bangalore should have beenconcomitant with better planning andpeople who matter the most. In thebackground of earning dubiousdistinction of 9th place among the 11 inscale, administration should pull upsccks.] HPMURAU

There is no understandinq, co-oper-ation, coordination or transparencywhen it comes to our administrators.They should involve citizens.] DIUPNKALYANKAR

Our administrators should adhere totime schedules for public works anduse exchequers' money optimally.They should not compromise onquality to favour personal interests.]NARAYANs BAWl

to [ "'.ttJ 'Ttl f HI f"!'O V

BHEL Tiruchi's profit up marginally~: ,'IiSpecial Correspondent

TIRUCHI: BHEL Tiruchi Com-plex has recorded a turnoverof Rs.l5,003 crore during2012-13 against the previousyear's Hs.14,689 crore. But itwas, way short of its target ofR5d7 251 crore./1\h~re was I~O turnaroundin the demand situation; not asingle new order was placedby the private sector. Howev-er, the Executive Director ofthe Complex A. V. Krishnanhoped that the reforms initi-ated by the Central Govern-ment would help 13HELfinalise private sector pro-jects to the extent of 16,000-17,000 MvUl'ing the courseof the year

For the current financial: year, it would have last fiscal's! turnover <IS the target. Vol-

A. 'V. Krishnan

urne of project supplies wouldalso be, maintained at thesame level of 5.4 lakh tonnes,he said, addressing a pressconference here on Tuesday.

The Tiruchi Complex end-ed the year with an orderbook of Rs.24,902 crore. Last

year, the order book stood atRs.28,294 crore, but the in-flow of orders worth Rs.7,585crore this year was 34 percent more than previousyear's Rs.5,653 crore.

The profit before tax atRs.3,193 crore reflects a mar-ginal rise by Rs.21 crore overthe previous year.hr. Krishnan said that10,340 MW of thermal andcaptive power plant equip-ment were commissionedduring the year.

The first unit of 600 MWrating supplied by BHEL tothe North Chennai PowerPlant had reached full load,he said./

In-h6use engineering andmanufacturing had been fullyestablished for the entirerange of supercritical boilersand related range of high

pressure valves and piping.Mr. Krishnan said. There wasa quantum jump in invest-ment on capacity augmenta-tion from Rs.230 crore in2011-12 to Rs.1,500 crore.

The Power Plant PipingUnit at Thirumayam hadbeen fully operationalised,'Mr. Krishnan said. At thestainless steel tube plant,state-of-the-art cross pierc-ing elongation technologyhad been integrated for high-er productivity.

Expenditure on researchand development reachedRS.415 crore. About Rs.3,200crore was earned from com-rnercialising new technologyand product improvements.

During the year, the BJ IELTiruchi Complex filed 103new patent and copyright ap-plications.