Channel One’s half-hour program where Prof. Manohar Khushalani elaborated on how to tackle the water crisis in Delhi in a holistic fashion. Recorded in Channel One Studio in Noida, UP in May 2013

With the rising temperatures in Delhi, the need and demand for water are also rising. The water supply in the capital is becoming worse day by day. Even after multiple promises made by the government, the pressing issue still remains and is in fact growing.

There are many ways in which the situation can be tackled but planning is required. The demand and supply have to be met. The amount of groundwater used is currently more than what is being percolated back. Most of Delhi is located on a hill and groundwater has a little to no existence there. Even the villages where water used to be abundant have very less water now.

Delhi Jal Board has introduced a GPS tracking system for the tankers to prevent stealing and black marketing. The government is also working on directing the water in the right canals which will increase the percentage of water that can be used. The system has been made but even after multiple complaints and requests, there’s no action being taken regularly.

Prof. Manohar Khushalani adds some solutions to the problems. He states that the water level was high years back even when Delhi was a hilly area. So there might have been some mismanagement behind the issue at hand today.

Sewage treatment is also very necessary because otherwise rivers get polluted by the sewage. Sewage farms have been replaced by construction of buildings. Dilution of water has become impossible after people started covering the gutters. These stormwater drains have been made by using public tax money and no one has the right to block them. A formal penalty will be the best solution to this problem.

The calls received in the panel discussion shows how people are frustrated with the situation. They usually get dirty water, which happens because the mainline gets mixed with the sewage line. One caller suggests that an RO system or any water-purifier system can be used in a locality. Jal Board needs to make sure that the voices of people are heard so that better decisions can be made in regards to providing clean water.

For more details visit the following link : https://youtu.be/ppQ-9nAdu70

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BTP Students: Sejal Kumar / Aysha Fazilath / Rahul Patwardhan / Vyshakh Dharan

Prof. Manohar Khushalani appeared Live, as a Panelist in the Lok Sabha TV Program INSIGHT on, Monday, 18th June 2018 at 1 pm and again at 4 pm. The discussions were on Niti Aayog’s report, titled ‘Composite Water Management Index’ (CWMI). An intense and productive discussion was held on issues confronting the nation concerning the water crisis in India and the world. Dr. T. Haque, from Niti Ayog, was Khushalani’s co-panelist. Pratibimb Sharma was the Anchor of the Program

According to Niti Aayog’s report on water scarcity published in 2018, India is going through the worst water crisis situation it has ever seen. More than sixty crores of its population are facing this issue and around two lakh die every year. This report discusses the plans made by the government to curb this issue and the position they have reached to achieve the goal in the predicted timeline. This has been done in order to make a competitive framework between the states to keep a check on where they stand and what they can do to get to a better situation.

Twenty-one cities including Indore, Bhopal, and NDMC area have switched to the cleaner city lists after constant efforts. According to the rankings, 5 states – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra are working the most towards fixing the situation. Their practices have been mentioned in the report as an inspiration for other states to see and apply. These ranks have been given on the basis of 9 key areas, for example, the state with best groundwater plans has been given 15 points, improvement in lakes and other water bodies is given 5 points, and so on.

The discussion takes us through the gaps between what the report discusses and the major issues that need to be tackled. The report informs us about what the states have done by far but will this help to intercept the problems that lie in front of us in time?

Prof. Manohar Khushalani then adds that the country is receiving the required amount of rainwater, but the problem is that it is not managed well by the government and the citizens. Reasons being lack of awareness among citizens, constant fighting between states, and inability or lack of knowledge to conserve rainwater. We are a lucky nation to have this huge amount of rainfalls spread across the country but we lack proper planning. One holistic approach is needed towards making and managing proper schemes.

According to Dr. T Haque, awareness has increased amongst citizens in the civil society and they are taking steps to increase the water harvesting practices but facts say that leakages at houses contribute to a large percentage of water being wasted.

Khushalani also talks about the 70 percent water being contaminated as mentioned in the report. It is very important that the water that goes below the ground is being filtered. The water below the ground is connected. So, it is very important to monitor water harvesting as well.

Talking about the utilization of water among farmers, when they were given the free electricity incentive they started using groundwater more than required. Now, when they are asked to use less water or practice micro-irrigation to grow their crops, they have no incentive to be drawn to this new practice. This is a very big area where the government can focus on. Even for the citizens, this is a big question that can come up, what’s in it for me?

There has been a lack of vision despite the efforts taken by the government. The state and the central government needs to be aligned to make better decisions. It is very much possible as some of the decisions taken in the past have proved to be very fruitful. The report has helped in creating awareness in terms of where the states stands and the positive impact of this will be seen in the coming future. This report with the inputs of people will help create a better understanding of what more needs to be done in order to solve the crisis at hand.

For more information please visit the link : https://youtu.be/hohvMVZvPcQ

CHAIN OF MASSIVE SURPRISES IN TWO PUNATSANGCHHU PROJECTS

–  Huge Setbacks Due To Failed Assessments Of Geology & Rock Supports  

            There is a strange coincidence of massive geological surprises and huge rock mass failures, which  happened in the two mega hydroelectric projects named Punatsangchhu -I & II H E Projects, under construction since 2009 -10 in Bhutan.

            The Punatsangchhu-I Hydro Electric Project (PHEP-I)  a 1200 MW project with   scheduled commissioning date of year 2016  at  cost of Rs. 35146 millions,  new approved Cost of Rs. 94000 millions (US$ 1.34 billions), expects further escalation in its cost possibly to Rs. 121000 millions (US$ 1.74 billion). The Head race tunnel and Desilting Arrangement lying completed since 2015, Powerhouse complex 98% ready have an already incurred cost of about Rs. 80000 millions . However, even the start of concreting for construction of 136m high dam is a big uncertainty after its Right Bank suffered a massive slide with continued movement of the big hill mass about 1000m height towards valley and downstream by 5m and vertically subsiding by 5m in a week in July 2013.The hill mass movement has continued at slower pace for more than year, sliding on SZ-2 Shear Zone.

            The Punatsangchhu-II  (PHEP-II), a 1020 MW project with scheduled date of commissioning of year 2017 at cost of Rs. 37778 millions, new approved project cost of Rs. 72900 millions ( US $ 1.04 billions), expects further escalationin its cost to Rs. 80000 millions    ( US $ 1.14 billions), with already incurred cost of about Rs. 65880 millions, is delayed due to the huge rock mass failure in its underground Downstream Surge Gallery (DSSG), resulting in a huge cavity of about 91m height x 70m length and 45m width in the crown of the DSSG. The Dam foundations had  encountered, a thus far unexplored, mega shear of maximum 30m width, cutting across the length all the 4 dam blocks diagonally. The shear zone with its about 35ᵒ to 45ᵒ dip, continued under the foundations to large depths.

            Occurrence of too many geological surprises, the apparent cause of the big mishaps in the two mega Projects, intrigues one to investigate if ‘ harping on the geological surprises‘ was only a scapegoat for the lack of proper geological investigations and inappropriate design done by the Consultants.

1. PHEP-I  Dam Right Bank Failure :

Shear Plane Continuity in to the hill was NOT detected by Consultants from Geological Investigations done in 2011 and therefore not provided for in Design of rock support for excavated slope	SZ-2 Shear Zone,  the cause of the huge hill mass slide,  delineated to be  dipping sharply in to the hill was established through additional drill holes done in 2014, but only after the slide in 2013.

2. Mega Shear Encountered In PHEP-II Dam Foundations

Geological X-Section At Dam Axis (DPR Stage) Shows No Shear  Zone in the Dam Foundations	Geological X-Sections Depicting Shear Zone at Dam Axis, Ch. 40m,60m and 80m D/S of Dam Axis

Shear Zone Traverses From Heal in Block 5 to Toe in Block 8 with Trend 35ᵒ-45ᵒ/N070 -080 With Affected Zone 4m to 30m Wide

3. Huge Rock Mass Failure In DSSG of PHEP-II :

Geological X- Section of DSSG Assessed By Consultants Showed No Shear Zone

The massive rock fall in the Downstream Surge Gallery Cavern happened on 03 March 2016 during the progress of benching excavation in the cavern. The cavern had been excavated to its 2/3 rd depth and the crown stood intact for three years before the rock fall. Six technicians of those working in the cavern at the time of collapse got buried alive under the falling muck and died.

• The individual case studies of  the Rock Mass Failure in Punatsangchhu-I Dam ; Encounter of Un-Explored Mega Shear zone in Punatsangchhu-II Dam;  and The Huge Rock Mass Failure in DSSG of Punatsangchhu-II HE Project,  dealt in details, shall  be posted separately soon please.

On the left : Prof Carmen Reinhart, on the right : Prof Gita Gopinath

Two of the most fundamental institutions of neo liberal economics – the IMF ( International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank have women as their chief economists now . Our own Prof Gita Gopinath (department of economics , Harvard) is at the IMF and just about some hours ago, Prof Carmen Reinhart from Harvard Kennedy School is appointed the chief economist at the World Bank. I have referred to Prof Reinhardt’s work on global financial crises for my own lectures . Her key focus being the problematic relationship between banking, currency, lending bubble and finally the crisis . A relationship that works uniformly through all neoliberal economic logic . Also , recently I had googled her latest work while preparing for the China lecture series and had come across her forecast for the Chinese bubble bursting with a strong insight into the fragility of the Chinese economic model .

Clearly, with the way the world is sinking into the biggest financial crisis as the post corona world order sets in , it is scholars like her whose work will rule the roost . I am not an economist by profession but whatever I have studied and understood I find the very logic of neoliberal economics faulty . We need a combination economic model. However , this news made my heart swell with pride again. More power to such women of substance .

Banni comes back from the school, and without removing the school bag from her shoulder, she goes straight to the kitchen and asks “Mom! what have you made for lunch today?”
Mom – Vegetables, salad, curd and roti
Banni – Which vegetables?
Mom – Beans, carrot and potatoes
Banni – Why do you make vegetables I hate them! I want to eat noodles instead.
Mom – Vegetables are full of vitamins that make you healthy.
Banni– I don’t want to be healthy now, can I please have noodles?
Mom – Vitamins is the need of the body. They are the good soldiers to fight against the bad soldiers in our body.
Banni – Bad soldiers? What do they do?
Mom- They make us fall ill. We get headaches, stomach pain and feel lazy.
Banni – Then why don’t the good soldier fight back and win the battle.
Mom – It all depends on the number of soldiers. If the good soldiers are more in number, they win. And we feel strong, active and creative. Also, we are less likely to fall sick. But if the bad soldiers are more in numbers, they win, and we get many diseases.
Banni – But I never told my body to have bad soldiers in me.
Mom smiled and said – You feed the bad soldiers by eating more junk food.
Banni – I eat your cooked food too, not so keen on vegetables today.
Mom- if you eat little good food along with chocolate, chips, burger in a day. Who do you think will win?
Banni – oh mom, by mistake, I served more food to the bad soldiers.
Mom- Now, if you eat home food half-heartedly and outside food with joy, it is like that you feed bad soldiers and become extra friendly to them. On the other hand, you don’t enjoy the company of good soldiers. Never appreciate and encourage them.
Banni does not want to hear any bad words about her favourite foods but what to say? She started looking outside the window.
Mom knows what is going on in Banni’s mind.
Mom – How do you feel when your teachers do not acknowledge your good work?
Banni- I feel very bad. Which are the good food and bad food, mom?
Mom – All the packed food, including snacks that come in beautiful wrappers, have preservatives to make them stay for long. They are lying on your grocery shop for one week or sometimes more than that. They are not fresh and healthy. They are bad soldiers. Food made by mom and all fruits and vegetables are the good soldiers. Fired food made at home is ok too because mom uses the fresh oil.
Banni – but I love to eat chocolate, biscuits, noodles, pizza, burger and whatever is there at the food joints. If they are so bad, then why are they sold in the market?
Mom –They are sold in the market to make more money. I am happy that you are so truthful also I understand your temptation. How about one point to the bad shoulders and two points to the good soldiers? And always remember water is the best friend of the good soldiers.
Banni – I know what I will do now.
Mom – What?
Banni- I give four points to the good soldier by eating vegetables, salad, curd and roti with you. And in the evening I will eat noodles that give 1 point to bad soldiers. How about that, mom?
Mom hugged Banni – God has sent me a very intelligent child. I love you Banni, and you are much smarter than me.

Exactly two months ago, on 17th March 2020 In a perceptive article, author Maiti Bibhansu, wrote in Times of India about the subtle science of Microvita. First proposed by P.R Sarcar, 34 years ago, it has a great relevance to the mysterious pandemic, Coronavirus, baffling scientists all over the world.

Bibhansu writes: Coronovirus has become a severe threat to this planet earth. It is spreading like wildfire. WHO has declared a health emergency. Still, there is no proper treatment to fight it.

In the year 1986, the great spiritual master and philosopher Shri P R Sarkar aka Shri Shri Anandamurti wrote a book, “Microvita in a nutshell”. This book has a link to some viruses like coronavirus. Sarkar is of the opinion that the smallest particle of matter or an element is not an atom, electron or proton but a microvitum or microvita in the plural. Microvita exists in both physical and psychic realms. Physically they are smaller than a sub-atomic particle and in the psychic realm, they are subtler than ectoplasm. These microvita belong to three categories—positive or friendly microvita, negative or harmful microvita and neutral microvita.

According to the Dutch microvita researcher Henk de Weijer “Microvita are tiny creative catalysing agents. They build atoms of matter, biology and mind while cooperating with the characteristics of subatomic particles and pure energy”.

Starting from the basic concept expressed by Sarkar in his discourses, the scholar Richard Gautier highlighted the involvement of microvita in the organization of energy for the creation and maintenance of structures. He wrote: “…without microvita, no physical structure can exist. This is because, without microvita, energy or prana cannot be organized to become vital energy and create or maintain the existence of a structure.”

In connection with Quantum Field Theory, another researcher from the Netherlands, Frank van den Bovenkamp, suggests that the scalar field (a special type of quantum field) not only gives mass to elementary particles but on top of that produces subtle vibrations which appear to possess certain characteristics of microvita. This inner, simultaneous state of the all-pervading scalar field is reminiscent of P.R. Sarkar’s philosophical concept of “Trigunatmika”, also referred to as the Causal Matrix, and has no reality in the absolute sense but is superior to its effects and is inferred by them.

Reacting to the article, Richard Gauthier a researcher and Physics instructor, from Santa Rosa Junior College, California, USA, wrote: “This is a very nice article about microvita and their potential for helping society in these difficult times. I have been researching microvita for more than 30 years. some of my articles on microvita and science can be found at: richardgauthier(dot)academia(dot)edu(slash) research.

“My latest research”, he adds, “is about Microvita and the Origin of the Universe. You can find a PowerPoint for this article “superluminal primordial information quanta (sprinqs) created and compose a multiverse of equally fine-tuned universes evolving life and highly-developed minds” at the above location in the presentations section. I encourage interested people to find out more about microvita and to read P.R. Sarkar’s original article about microvita at microvita(dot)org. Read from source at the link below:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/understanding-yoga/coronavirus-and-p-r-sarkars-intuitional-science-of-microvita-10638/

We have been reading about UFOs for decades now. The topic came again into limelight when Pentagon admitted that some videos which were doing the rounds for a few years were genuine and neither fake nor tampered with. On 2nd May, 2020, the TV Channel, Times Now, conducted a debate on the UFO Mystery in it’s program India Upfront anchored by Rahul Shivshankar. The three panelists in the program were; Prof. Manohar Khushalani, Somak Raychaudhury & Amitabha Ghosh. On its twitter account Times Now tweeted the entire discourse by Manohar Khushalani in this tweet. Lets first listen to that on Twitter:

Since you’ve seen part of the debate in this video, you would also appreciate that there was not enough time to go into this exciting topic in detail. My intention is to expand my point of view in a series of articles beginning with this one – Part I of the series. Also in Part II we will share the complete debate, so that we can get our co participants viewpoints across as well. To begin with, lets look at the sequence of events as reported by BBC ^​*​

The US Department of Defense has released three declassified videos of what it now calls an “Unexplained Aerial Phenomena” – the new nomenclature for UFOs

The Pentagon said it wanted to “clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real”.

In its statement, the Pentagon said: “After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorised release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

“DOD [Department of Defense] is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos. The aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as ‘unidentified’.”

The videos had already been leaked in 2007 and 2017.

Two were published by the New York Times^​†​, while the third was leaked by an organisation, To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences, co-founded by former vocalist Tom DeLonge. The musician co-founded the academy in 2017 in order to study UFOs and other paranormal phenomena.

Tweeting about the release, DeLonge thanked shareholders in his organisation, and said “I am hoping to fund further research into the objects.”

“With today’s events and articles on my and @TTSAcademy’s efforts to get the US Gov to start the grand conversation, I want to thank every share holder for believing in us,” he said.

“Next, we plan on pursuing the technology, finding more answers and telling the stories.”

Many people surmised at that time that there were alien’s navigating those Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

According to the New York Times, the clip from 2004 was filmed by two navy fighter pilots and shows a round object hovering above the water, about 100 miles (160 km) out into the Pacific Ocean.

Two other videos filmed in 2015 show objects moving through the air, one of which is spinning. In one, a pilot is heard saying: “Look at that thing, dude! It’s rotating!”

Let’s look at these videos described above

Obviously these aerial objects were not following any known laws of Newtonian physics . This author^​‡​ has always held that many new laws of dynamics are yet to be discovered or harnessed. One of them is Gravity. Yes we use Gravity of heavenly bodies to catapult or alter the course of rockets and satellites, enabling them to wander into the universe. This technique helps to save fuel and helps the spacecraft to remain navigable for a longer time. Hence Gravity is a force, a form of energy which is so powerful that it can hold Gigantic Planets, Suns and Stars together.

Yet my colleagues in the debate on Times Now program probably felt that if they were UFOs then they were to follow the same laws of physics which purportedly governed the rocket science of contemporary Space agencies like NASA. ISRO, Roscosmos and CNSA. Yes these Agencies have done remarkable work in outer space, but we are infants of science, if you compare yourself with the unimaginable size and extent of the Universe, and our place in it.

As beautifully put by Jonathan Marcus ^​§​ , “The fascination with the unexplained never goes away. And the UFO phenomenon is perhaps one of the most potent of these stories, linking uncertainty about worlds beyond our own to conspiracy theories about government and especially the US government. Down the centuries people have looked to the sky and tried to explain mysterious lights and objects.”

Roswell, New Mexico, currently known mostly through myths about aliens and UFOs, is a major Tourist destination with plethora of tourist attractions, skywalk and UFO museums, art galleries, Alien Zones, Inns and Hotels, was a little known place in 1947. It catapulted to fame when One morning around Independence Day 1947, about 75 miles from the town of Roswell, a rancher named Mac Brazel found something unusual in his sheep pasture: a mess of metallic sticks held together with tape; chunks of plastic and foil reflectors; and scraps of a heavy, glossy, paper-like material. Unable to identify the strange objects, Brazel called Roswell’s sheriff. The sheriff, in turn, called officials at the nearby Roswell Army Air Force base. Soldiers fanned out across Brazel’s field, gathering the mysterious debris and whisking it away in armored trucks. The farmer’s discovered debris, was initially described as a flying saucer, by the local media.

On July 8, “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region” was the top story in the Roswell Daily Record. But was it true? On July 9, an Air Force official clarified the paper’s report: The alleged “flying saucer,” he said, was only a crashed weather balloon, but later it emerge that it was part of a secretive balloon programme to monitor the Soviet Union.

However, in 1950, there was another twist to this public fantasy when the skeptics grew more numerous, when the Air Force conducted a series of secret “dummy drops” over air bases, test ranges and unoccupied fields across New Mexico. These experiments, meant to test ways for pilots to survive falls from high altitudes, sent bandaged, featureless dummies with latex “skin” and aluminum “bones”–dummies that looked an awful lot like space aliens were supposed to–falling from the sky onto the ground, whereupon military vehicles would descend on the landing site to retrieve the “bodies” as quickly as possible.  So we can see how much folklore is associated with the UFO mystery

Subsequently the testing base for advanced aircraft, known as Area 51 in Nevada, became the alleged centre for UFO research. For the conspiracy theorists this was where the US government sought to harness advanced alien technology.

Over the years many of the most outlandish theories have been debunked. But in 2017, the Pentagon did finally admit that it had a long-standing programme, now terminated, investigating alleged UFOs.

Undoubtedly the Idea of Aliens do fascinate people because of mystery attached to it. The event at Roswell got so embedded in public mind that it has inspired novels like Roswell High by Melinda Metz or even a recent television series Roswell, New Mexico , which is an American science fiction drama, named after the city . 

The inevitable question that follows is, are we a freak occurrence of life in the Universe, are we alone in this cosmos of Trillions of stars, galaxies, planets, exoplanets and what have you or is there life elsewhere too

DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.12571016
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12571016

More about this in subsequent articles

Part II will examine whether Science Fiction is really Fiction?

Part III will deal with the quintessential question: Are we alone in the Universe?

Also Read:

• The UFO sighting investigated by the police
• UFO ‘sighting’ becomes legend like King Arthur

This OneVorld video gives us insights into Professor Yogesh Kulkarni’s Domestic Compositor from the University of Pune exhibited at DCE.

The compositor uses the culture developed by BARC (Baba Research Atomic Centre). The moisture needs to be removed from the mixture so the system is designed in such a way that the moisture is not retained and decomposes the green matter. The baffles are designed to provide proper aeration to the mixture of waste and culture.

It can be installed under the basin and can decompose 1.5 kilograms of organic matter every day. After putting the culture inside, it needs to be rotated twice a day. Normally in a week’s time, the entire waste is decomposed.

Green India Mission is aimed to protect, restore and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover and respond to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures. This OneVorld video gives us more information on the same.

Green India Mission is affiliated under the National Action Plan on Climate Change(NAPCC). Formally launched in February 2014. It aims to increase the forest cover by 5 million hectares and increase the quality of the existing forests in 10 years. A wonderful initiation by the government for protecting our dear nature and ecosystem.

A quick look into the goals of Green India Mission –

1. Improvement in quality of forest cover and ecosystem
2. Eco-restoration
3. Improvement in forest and tree cover in urban areas
4. Management of public forest by community
5. Diversification of forest-based livelihoods

BTP Students: Sejal Kumar / Aysha Fazilath / Rahul Patwardhan / Vyshakh Dharan
Video Input: Utsav Rohilla / Nitin Yadav / Aditya Diundi

This OneVorld video talks about National Water Mission which is affiliated under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

National water mission was launched in 2009 in India which aimed at developing a framework to increase water use efficiency by 20%. The overall objective is ”conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management”. The mission aims at the recycling of wastewater using modern techniques.

This project will be organized through Inter-Sectoral Groups in India including related Ministries, Ministry of Finance, The Planning Commission, Experts from industry, Academia, and Civil society.

The development of the overall framework includes recycling of wastewater, low-temperature desalination technologies, basin-level management strategies, new regulatory structures, expanding irrigation, recharging of underground water sources, drip, ridge and furrow irrigation.