jatropha cultivation to follow Amul model in Gujarat

Today's concern for green energy is not unknown to anyone. Here I would like to share one such new to have Jatropha as fuel source.

Ministry of science & technology's CSMCRI, has entered into a three-way agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and auto giant General Motors to develop jatropha as a sustainable biofuel energy crop. A complete lifecycle analysis will be conducted to evaluate the environmental impact, starting with fertiliser production, raw materials and harvesting of the jatropha fruit over the five-year period. "Objective behind the $1-million project is to demonstrate that jatropha can produce significant quantity of oil for commercial scale conversion to biodiesel," said General Motors India MD Karl Slym. As per the agreement, the new partnership will establish two farms at Bhavnagar and Kalol in Gujarat.

Amul 's 'white revolution' has changed the lives of thousands of farmers in Gujarat. Now, a Gujarat-based research institute plans to replicate the co-operative model for cultivating jatropha, which produces biofuel. Bhavnagar-based Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) is in talks with NGOs like Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) so as to use the Amul model to avail large quantity of raw material for manufacturing biofuel. This will help the country reduce its dependence on imported petroleum products. Dr Puspito Ghosh, director of CSMCRI said, "We have tasted sweet fruits of 'White Revolution.' If joint efforts are made for mass cultivation, jatropha too has the same potential. Rural co-operatives are the best solution to get quality jatropha fruits under the observation of experts. The institute has also mooted a proposal to the state's forest department formally." Jatropha is emerging as a promising choice for alternative fuel source in India. Since jatropha is cultivated on a random basis on around 0.9 million hectares of land in India, quality of oilseeds are not high. "Though Gujarat's share in total cultivation is just 2.5% at present, we want to promote jatropha cultivation on large chunks of wasteland not only to procure raw materials for biofuel but to also give employment to thousands of people," said Ghosh. Just like milk co-operatives, jatropha co-operative societies would also protect economic interest of farmers he explained, adding, "We are working on a dedicated mobile plant which would collect jatropha seeds from various farms. The plant would extract oil from seeds in front of the farmer. By end of the day, the biofuel processing refinery would have adequate raw oil and farmers would be paid in cash."The approximate cost of a mobile plant would be around Rs 30 lakh. Initially, CSMCRI would develop one unit on experimental basis. Jatropha is a drought-resistant, non-edible plant that can be grown commercially with minimal care on marginal land. Unlike corn and sugarcane, which are grown elsewhere for biofuels, jatropha is inedible; so, it will not impact the food chain negatively.

EXCELLENT THOUGHT PROCESS!!!

CEO's (of J.P Morgan) Fantastic reply to a Pretty Girl

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?
I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here. I'm 25 this year. I'm very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York . My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York CityGarden(? ), $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I've met a few girls who doesn't have looks & are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, & who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

Awesome reply:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor. My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here. From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain. Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money": Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square. However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position". If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased". Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in "leasing" services, do

contact me...

signed,

CEO

J.P. Morgan

Indian Institute Of Idiots- By Chtan Bhagat @TOI

Our education system creates a society of followers rather than change-embracing leaders

Chetan Bhagat

I avoid writing columns on the Indian education system as it is not good for my health. For days, my blood continues to boil, i have insomnia and i feel like hurting someone real bad. The Indian education system is a problem that can be fixed. It affects the country’s future, impacts almost every family, everyone knows about it and it is commercially viable to fix it. Still, nothing happens because of our great Indian culture of avoiding change at all costs. And because change means sticking out your neck and that, ironically, is something we are not taught to do.
Still, with a movie coming on the education system, which came about because of a book i wrote nearly six years ago, it is important to revisit the issues. Soon, all the media will talk about is the anatomy, diet and romantic chemistry of the main actors. While that makes insightful breakfast reading, it is also important to understand the main problems with our education system that need to be fixed or, rather, should have been fixed 10 years ago.
There are two main problems: one, the supply of good college seats and, two, the actual course content and intent behind education.
The first issue is about the supply of A-grade institutions vs the number of A-grade potential students. With one crore students taking the class XII exam each year, the top 10 per cent, the high potential population by any global standard, deserves a world-class institution. That means we need 10 lakh good, A-grade, branded college seats per year. Either the government provides them, or they work with private participants to make it happen. Until that is done, the scramble for seats will be worse than a peak hour Virar fast. No amount of well-meant advice to parents to go easy on kids, telling children to not take stress, will work. I’m sorry, if i have a child who i think is bright, i will fight to make sure he has a good college. If the number of seats is well below the required number, the fight is going to be bloody and ugly. And that is what happens every year.
What makes me most curious is: why doesn’t the government fix it? Real estate and faculty are often the biggest requirements in creating a university. The government has plenty of land. And any advertisement for government teaching jobs gets phenomenal responses. After this, there could be running costs. However, most parents are happy to pay reasonable amounts for college. With coaching classes charging crazy amounts, parents are already spending so much anyway. I understand Indians send $7 billion (over Rs 30,000 crore) as outward remittance for Indian students studying abroad. Part of that money would be diverted inwards if good colleges were available here. The government can actually make money if it runs universities, and add a lot more value to the country than, say, by running the embarassing Air India which flushes crores down the drain every day.
Why can’t Delhi University replicate itself, at four times the size, in the outskirts of Gurgaon? The existing professors will get more senior responsibilities, new teachers will get jobs and the area will develop. If we can have kilometre-long malls and statues that cost hundreds of crores, why not a university that will pay for itself? This is so obvious that the young generation will say: Duh!?
The education system’s second problem: the course content itself. What do we teach in school and college? And how much do you use it in daily life later? Ask yourself, has the world changed in the last 20 years? If yes, has our course content changed at the same pace? Has it even changed at all? Who are the people changing our course materials? Do they have real life corporate exposure?
I am not saying we study only to get a job (though many, many Indians actually do it with that main intention). However, even in the ‘quest for knowledge’ goal of education, our course materials fall short. We emphasise sticking to the course, testing endlessly how well the student has revised his lessons. We treat lessons as rules to be adhered to, and the better you conform, the more likely you are to score. I hated it personally, and i am sure millions do too but they have no choice. Innovation, imagination and creativity – crucial for the country as well as more likely to bring the best out of any student – have no place in our education system. In fact, we actually ensure we kill this spirit in the child as fast as possible. Because innovation by definition means challenging the existing way, and that is just not something good Indian kids who respect elders do.
The cycle perpetuates itself, and we continue to create a secondrate society of followers rather than change-embracing leaders. I have hope that the current generation will break this norm and start questioning the great Indian way. I have hope that the current HRD minister will acknowledge this problem and do something. I have hope that Indians will start questioning any politician they meet on what they are doing about the education system at every place possible. I have hope that people will realise that making new states is less important than making new state universities. Maybe i am right, maybe my hope is justified and maybe i will live to see the change. Or maybe i’ve got it all wrong, my optimism is misplaced and i am just, as they say, one of the Idiots.
The writer is a best-selling novelist.