रुबाई - Rubaai: November 2015

Rourkela Steel Plant

There's a little bit of SAIL in everybody's life

View of RSP from New Suraksha Path bridge Near Indira Gandhi Park

Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), in Rourkela, was set up with West German collaboration with an installed capacity of 1 million tonnes in the 1960s. It is operated by Steel Authority of India (SAIL), one of the Maharatna company.

Recently, a Rs 12,000-crore modernisation and expansion project at the RSP was dedicated to the Nation by Prime minister Narendra Modi on 1 April 2015. RSP presently has the capacity to produce 4.5 million tonnes of hot metal, 4.2 million tonnes of crude steel and 3.9 million tonnes of saleable steel.

It is the first plant in Asia to adopt the energy-efficient LD process of steel making and the first integrated steel plant of SAIL which adopted the cost-effective and quality-centered continuous casting route to process 100% of steel produced. The plant has also, for the first time in India, had adopted external de-sulphurisation of hot metal by calcium carbide injection process. RSP is one of the unique units under the SAIL umbrella with a wide variety of special purpose steels.

View of RSP from the Vaisnodevi temple

RSP’s Steel Township is the first Township of SAIL to be certified for both ISO 9001 QMS and ISO 14001 EMS. Entire RSP has been certified to internationally acclaimed Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS 18001: 2007). n order to have synergy and synchronization in implementation of various management systems, concept of Integrated Management System (IMS) has been initiated in RSP. An IMS Policy covering Quality, Environment, Occupational Health & Safety and Social Accountability of RSP has been introduced. RSP is the first unit in SAIL to adopt IMS policy.

RSP is committed to improving the quality of life

Life thousands of workers and their families are dependent on this single plant. RSP brings prosperity and pride to Rourkela. Workers waiting to enter the plant on a typical morning.

Women empowerment is a fact in Rourkela. RSp directly and indirectly is responsible for providing employment to women and making them self sufficient. Rourkela is a city safe for woman. It is a city where women are actively participating in the development and more importantly treated with equality and earned respect.

Location:

RSP is located in the north-western tip of Odisha and at the heart of a rich mineral belt. Being situated on the Howrah-Mumbai rail mainline, Rourkela is very well connected with most of the important cities of India. The nearby airports are Ranchi (173 km), Bhubaneswar (378 km) and Kolkata (413 km). Rourkela also has an airstrip maintained by RSP.

Reference:

http://www.sail.co.in/rourkela-steel-plant/about-rourkela-steel-plant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rourkela_Steel_Plant

Raja Rani Temple, Bhubaneshwar

RajaRani temple from Bhubaneshwar is perhaps the most beautiful temple to visit. The ancient architecture, peaceful atmosphere and absence of worshipers (since there is no god idol inside the temple) are some of the reasons for a must have visit.

Currently the temple is looked after by ASI and has categorized it as 'ticketed protected monuments of Odisha'. A five rupee ticket allows you to explore the temple for one whole day. Interestingly, the ticket is applicable for entry at one more ticketed place from Bhubaneshwar: Udayagiri and Khandgiri caves. It is possible to cover two historical places in one day, morning and evening dedicated to temple and during day time the two buddhist caves - Udaygiri and Khandgiri. Photography charges are included in the ticket.

The first impression from the name of temple suggests, the idol might be a pair. In fact there is no idol inside the temple and thus no puja is offered in the temple.The temple was constructed of dull red and yellow sandstone locally called "Rajarani".

The temple is believed to have been known originally as Indreswara. It is locally known as a "love temple" because of the erotic carvings of women and couples in the temple.

Historical Details about the temple. Display boards by ASI.

Various historians place the original construction date between the 11th and 12th centuries, and have placed it roughly belonging to the same period as the Jagannath Temple at Puri. The architecture of other temples in central India is believed to have originated with this temple, the notable ones being the Khajuraho temples and Totesvara Mahadeo temple in Kadawa.

Rajarani Temple is built in the pnahcratha style on a raised platform with two structures: a central shrine called the vimana (sanctum) with a bada (curvilinear spire) over its roof rising to a height of 18 m (59 ft), and a viewing hall called jagamohana with a pyramidal roof.

The highlight of the temple is the fine sculptures of dikpalas or guardians of the eight directions carved around the shrine. Starting from East we encounter successively-

Indra (lord of the East) holding a thunderbolt and an elephant goad, with the elephant below; the potbellied and

Agni (southeast), god of fire, with the Ram;

Yama (South) holding a staff and a noose, with his vehicle the buffalo;

Nirriti (southwest), the god of misery, holds a severed head and a sword above a prostrate figure;

Varuna (West) holding a noose in his left hand, his vehicle is makara or the crocodile;

Vayu (northwest) holding a banner and his vehicle is deer;

Kubera (North) placed above seven jars of gems, he has a horse and

Isana (northeast) shown with an erect phallus by the side of an emaciated figure.

The Department of Tourism of the Government of Odisha organises a Rajarani music festival at the temple every year from January. The temple focuses on classical music, and all three styles of classical music – Hindustani,Carnatic and Odissi – are given equal importance. Musicians from different parts of the country perform during the three-day festival. The festival was started in 2003 with the help of the Bhubaneswar Music Circle (BMC)

Temple is a favorite among photographers. Morning time is excellent to shoot the amber-colored beauty due to the light direction and angle. Temple is surrounded by bungalows. Thus choosing n angle to avoid them from appearing in the frame is tricky. Ultra-wide angle lens perhaps be better than kit lens at minimum focal length.

Early in the morning the temple premises is used by the locals to have morning walk or light exercise. Visitors come bit late, somewhere around and after 10 AM.

Timing and Entry Fees:

The monument remains open from sunrise to sunset.

Entry fee for each Indian citizen is Rs. 5.00,

Foreign visitor has to pay Rs. 100.00/ $ 2.00

Children below the age of 15 years are not charged any entry fee.

Location:

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajarani_Temple

http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_tktd_orissa_rajarani.asp

http://www.orissatourism.org/travel-to-orissa/bhubaneshwar/rajarani-temple-bhubaneshwar.html

http://www.odisha.gov.in/portal/LIWPL/event_archive/Events_Archives/143Rajarani_Music_Festival.pdf

http://www.asibbsrcircle.in/Ticketed-Monuments-Rajarani.html

इच्छा

इच्छा

माझी कविता तशी गुणगुणण्यासारखी !
आज तुला का म्हणायचीय ?
शब्दांमधल्या दडलेल्या अर्थाला ,
का वेगळाच सुर लावायचाय ?

अर्थ नाही खिशात माझ्या ,
पण अर्थहीन उधळले नाही ,
शब्द जपुन वापरलेत मी
त्याची किंमत मोजतोय अशी !

ऐकायला मी नसणारे ,
हे गीत गाणारेस कुणासाठी ?
दोघं बसले असताना ,
एकांतात दूरच्या तळ्याकाठी !

गाण्याची सवय लावु नकोस ,
एकांतात कदाचित मी आठवेन ,
अंगा अंगाला होणाऱ्या स्पर्शात ,
फक्त मी आणि मीच असेन !

सर्व काही विसरून जा ,
माझे नवे गित घेऊन जा ,
आनंदाने जगण्यासाठी ,
ही एकतरी भेट ठेवुन जा!

A glimpse of Solar cell technology : Current and future

Need of New Solar cell technology

Food, shelter and cloths are the primary needs of the man-kind. Industrial and agricultural revolutions, occurred at regular intervals, made human race fulfill its basic needs. These revolutions were backed by a solid thought process of intelligent minds. Minds those were freedom-lovers, knowledge persuasive and hungry for development. Most of the nations got their freedom in 20th century and soon became developing or developed nation. Their goal was to achieve prosperity, stability and sustainability.

To accomplish this socio-economic revolution, technology played a crucial part. Developments in technology, either analog or digital, transformed the nations from underdeveloped stage to developed ones. Transfer of labor, brain-drain, and emergence of new markets changed the course of economy and history. Each activity in every development sector was supported with strong sources of energy like oil and coal. Energy was the real boost of whole system and access to energy became the mantra of 21st century. However, soon the system realized that it is resting on the support of non-renewable conventional energy sources, which are depleting at an alarming rate. The damage done by these polluting energy sources in terms of global warming, added to the urgency of discovery of alternative energy sources.

The requirements from the new source of energy were obvious – clean, continuous and renewable. It was realized that such sources are readily available and are naturally occuring. Phenomenon occurring in Mother Nature was the answer for virtually infinite sources of energy. It was realized that solar radiation, forces of winds and thermal gradients has the potential to fulfill all the requirements to become natural and prolific sources of energy. Efficient technologies were needed to tap this potential and convert them to useful form of energy. Intensive research and development program carried all over the world invented technologies like wind-mills, geothermal generation, tidal generation, bio-fuels, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV). Solar PV soon becomes a technology to look for as an alternative source of energy supply. This was possible because of following reasons:

Availability of sun’s energy, virtually infinite,
Discovery of PV effect, showing the way to convert solar energy to flexible electrical energy,
Realization of solar cells for using it for a wide capacity of electricity production,
Continuous developments in PV technology, aiming to increase efficiency while reducing the per-unit cost of electricity, and
Established Silicon (Si) IC technology – makes enable to transfer knowledge from IC manufacturing industry to solar PV production industry.

Need for new solar cell technology

The shift of the solar cell market from a supply-restricted to a demand-driven market has altered the economics of the trend. To maintain enormous sensation in worldwide PV production to meet future demands, different path ways have to be pursued. Few promising pathways are:

expanding solar grade Si production capacities
reduction in material consumption
accelerated thin-film solar cell manufacturing

The concept of ‘third generation PV’ is to significantly enhance device efficiency (more than single junction cell efficiency) using thin film processes and by using abundant non-toxic materials. Conversion efficiency is one of the influential parameter for implementing PV cells on a truly large scale. High conversion efficiency can significantly bring down the solar PV energy conversion cost. The maximum thermodynamic efficiency for the conversion of non-concentrated solar irradiance into electrical energy for single junction was calculated by Shockley and Queissar to be about 31%. General approaches to achieve efficiency higher than Shockley-Queissar limit consists of exploiting entire solar spectrum, modification in solar spectrum and reduction in thermal losses. As single junction or classical approach cannot overcome this limit, several new approaches to outwit the Shockley–Queissar limit under active investigation includes tandem cells, hot carrier solar cells, multiband and impurity solar cells.

(to be continued....)

Image source: http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/solar-panels.jpg