Kalam backs new solar-powered fridge, an Indian brainchild

Paris, Oct 30 (IANS) An idea that germinated on the dusty streets of Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in the mind of a prominent Indian scientist will finally see fruition this Wednesday when Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam becomes the first global citizen to acquire two refrigerator-cum-vaccine coolers, totally powered by the sun.

The SolarChill uses a breakthrough technology aimed at making the process of refrigeration accessible even to the remotest parts of the world and hence help several social causes like the vaccination projects of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Rajendra Shende, the head of the OzonAction Unit of the United Nations Environment Programme and the brain behind the idea, remembers clearly the moment when the idea struck him -- during a bus ride in the western African nation of Burkina Faso in 2000.

'Looking out of our bus window at the children of the rural poor and thinking about their fragile health, it occurred to me that plenty of sunshine does not mean plenty of health. Some children, carrying their sick younger brothers and sisters, were looking at us as if we were from other planets.

'I thought that if we could develop a vaccine cooler that uses the solar energy so abundant in Burkina Faso and other developing countries, and if we develop a vaccine cooler that uses the solar energy so abundantly available there, and non-CFC (ozone-friendly), non-HFC (climate-friendly) refrigerants, it will be an environmentally perfect product,' Shende told IANS in Paris, just before leaving for New Delhi for the high-profile acquisition by the Indian president who has been keeping a close tab on the breakthrough development.

Shende says that the president has been keenly following the progress of the project ever since he heard about it over a year ago.

'When I informed him about the project, he was very keen and requested me to keep him informed on the progress. The president could see the huge importance of SolarChill for the developing countries, particularly in saving the lives of the rural children and women who do not have access to electricity and effective vaccines,' recalls Shende.

And when the project was finally complete and the team was looking for high-profile platforms for the launch of the project, Kalam was the unanimous choice.

'It was found to be important to get SolarChill known to the world community. I recalled my discussions with the president in 2005 and wrote to his office. I was immediately informed that the president is not only keen to install and operate two units in the clinic of the presidential complex (around Rashtrapati Bhavan) but was very keen to buy these units and not to get them free,' says Shende.

The first use of the SolarChill is for facilitating the preservation of vaccines in far-flung and remote areas that don't have access to not only electricity but also other fuels like kerosene. The vaccine coolers so far being used in immunization programmes work inefficiently due to non-availability or inadequate supply of grid electricity. Even when kerosene is used for the vaccine cooler, supply of kerosene is not certain in many areas and moreover kerosene is also a contributor to global warming and pollution.

The technology has already made waves around the world, winning the prestigious 2006 Cooling Industry Awards in the category 'Environmental Pioneer' for refrigeration in London earlier this year.

The project is truly international since it involves a total of seven international organisations from all over the world. Besides the UNEP, the partners in the project include Greenpeace International, UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), GTZ Proklima, Programmes for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH) and the Danish Technological Institute.

Shende is obviously thrilled by the success of the project. 'Receiving the Cooling Industry Awards is an important statement by industry leaders in refrigeration and air-conditioning that they recognize the importance, innovation and societal benefits of SolarChill. UNEP and the other partners would like to thank the organizers and the jury panel members for this award.'

Over the last six years, the partnership has developed a versatile refrigeration technology that operates on solar energy; uses environmentally safe refrigerants, bypasses the use of lead batteries, and can also be plugged into the electricity grid. SolarChill is applicable for emergency relief in natural or human made disaster zones. It has been field-tested in Cuba, Indonesia and Senegal.

The SolarChill technology is publicly owned and will soon be freely available for any company in the world interested in producing the units. Once it receives WHO approval, the Partners will work with interested refrigerator manufacturers, ministries of health and environment, foundations and others to have it commercialised and deployed across the globe.

Shende says that though solar refrigeration per se is not a new concept, SolarChill is a real breakthrough. What the SolarChill partnership was trying to achieve is to adopt the concept for vaccines preservation and making it simple for use in rural, remote and least developed areas where electricity is not available or where the electric supply is irregular. Such situation causes the efficacy of the vaccines to diminish. Hence even administered vaccination programmes may not achieve their goals.

The partnership also decided to avoid the need to convert the direct current (DC) solar electricity to alternate current (AC) electricity by designing the DC motor that would run the compressor. The need for the storage batteries was also to be done away with by designing the effective insulation that would maintain the temperatures to keep the vaccines effective during the night when solar light is not available. The product was developed in four years, through collaborative efforts, field-tested and is now undergoing WHO approval process.

'The power of partnership has produced the product that is pro-poor. Power of nature could be nurtured to improve the way we make choices for the sustainable development. For the first time in the history of technology transfer the partnership of seven international agencies, and NGOs and technical institutes has developed a technology that is in public domain. It would be made available to those who wish to use it,' says Shende.

Israel-Palestine truce takes tenuous hold in Gaza

Gaza/Tel Aviv, Nov 26 (DPA) A long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian truce in the Gaza Strip came into effect early Sunday - and was violated almost immediately when rockets landed in southern Israel.

Apart from the morning missiles, there were no other reported incidents and as the truce took a tenuous hold, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security chiefs to make sure it was obeyed.

Dozens of Palestinian policemen took up positions in the northern Strip in the late afternoon to prevent militants from firing more rockets at Israel.

At the same time, the Hamas-led government said it would investigate the morning's rocket-launchings, which began about an hour after the ceasefire started at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT).

Although Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said all factions would obey the truce, the military wing of his Hamas movement, and the Islamic Jihad said they had fired the five rockets at the town of Sderot, adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

'We claim responsibility for launching rockets as a natural reaction to what the Zionist occupation is doing, including incursions, assassinations and arrests in the West Bank,' a leaflet issued by the Islamic Jihad said.

'We reiterate that there is no space to speak about a truce amid the continuation of the Zionist aggression on all our territories,' the leaflet went on.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the Israel Defence Force (IDF) to show restraint despite the rocket-launching, and said he hoped a similar truce would also come into effect in the West Bank.

'Even though there are still violations on the other side, I have ordered the troops to show restraint and to give the truce a chance,' he said.

'We hope the ceasefire will take hold in (the West Bank),' he continued. 'At the moment it is not implemented there. If they show responsibility and good will, all this will lead to the commencement of negotiations that are serious, real and open-hearted between us and the Palestinian Authority.'

However, Defence Minister Amir Peretz said the morning's rocket attacks were a breach of the ceasefire agreement, and Israel would react harshly to every attack.

'I hope the Palestinians rein in all the groups. We have a common interest in a ceasefire,' Education Minister Yuli Tamir said while visiting a school in Sderot.

The ceasefire had came into effect at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, after Abbas told Olmert that the Palestinian militant groups were committed to stop launching rockets at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Israel, for its part, said it would pull its troops out of those areas of the Gaza Strip where they had been operating in a bid to stop the rockets.

'The responsibility and goodwill may lead to the beginning of serious, open and direct negotiations between us and the Palestinians,' Olmert said Sunday.

Jharkhand offers alternate mine, but Mittal says no

Ranchi, Nov 27 (IANS) The Jharkhand government has offered Mittal Steel an alternate mine instead of the ore-rich Chiria mines for its proposed 12-million-tonne-steel plant in the state, but the global steel player has reportedly said no.

Chief Minister Madhu Koda said: 'We have offered the Ankura mines to Mittal Steel. At this point we cannot promise of giving Chiria mines to Mittal Steel as we are fighting a legal battle with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) over it.

'Ankura mines can fulfil the requirements of Mittal Steel.'

However, Mittal Steel has rejected the offer. 'The Ankura mines will not fulfil our needs. We want mechanised mining which is not possible in that mine. We had visited the Ankura mines along with experts, but it is of no use to us,' Sanjeev Sengupta, general manager Mittal Steel Jharkhand, was quoted as saying by local dailies.

Mittal Steel, owned by steel magnate L.N. Mittal, had recently said there would be no project in Jharkhand if it did not get Chiria mines.

Koda also announced the state government would give land to Mittal Steel, but on certain conditions. The state government wants assurances from the company in the fields of employment, health facilities and education to help the state.

The government's refusal to grant Chiria mines and proposal of giving land tagged with certain conditions indicates that it is getting tough with the company and other investors.

The Chiria mines are a bone of contention between the Jharkhand government and SAIL with both fighting a legal battle over it in the Jharkhand High Court. Chiria mines, located in West Singhbhum district, have 1.4 billion metric tonnes of iron ore.

Last year Mittal steel had signed MoU with Jharkhand government to set up the steel plant with investment of Rs.400 billion. Mittal steel wants 600 million tonnes iron ore for 30 years from Chiria mines but the state government has expressed inability to allot the Chiria mines.

Tamil Nadu seeks PM's intervention on dam row

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Tamil Nadu MPs Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought his intervention to solve a row with Kerala on the Mullaperiyar dam's height and demanded that central security forces should guard it.

The MPs, including T.R. Balu and G.K. Vasan, met the prime minister in the parliament house. They said Manmohan Singh had assured them that Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz was working out 'an amicable solution'.

'We stand on merit. Kerala has to abide by the Supreme Court verdict (on raising the dam water level). The law will take its own right course,' Vasan told reporters after the meeting.

The Tamil Nadu government has protested Kerala's move to get naval officers to check the safety of the 111-year-old dam, on the Periyar river in Kerala's Idukki district.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Karunanidhi had earlier threatened to pull out of Wednesday's scheduled talks with Kerala convened by the central government to resolve the dispute.

Trouble between the two states began ever since the water level in the dam rose to above the prescribed level of 136 feet. The current water level is 138 feet.

The rising waters of the dam, situated on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, prompted the Idukki district administration to alert villagers living on the banks of the Periyar to move elsewhere.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads over the dam that was built under an agreement signed in 1886 between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the British administration.

While being located in Kerala, the dam serves Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has demanded that the storage capacity of the dam be raised from 136 to 142 feet to meet the increasing demand of water for irrigation.

India successfully conducts missile-versus-missile test

Balasore (Orissa), Nov 27 (IANS) India Monday successfully test-fired two nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missiles against each other from different military test ranges on the Orissa coast to test their effectiveness, officials said.

While one missile was test fired from the shore-based Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea at 10.15 a.m. from a mobile launcher at launch complex No.3, the second one went off over a minute later from another mobile launcher at launch complex No.4 in the Inner Wheeler Island. Both ranges are located 150 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

The missiles collided in the sky over the Bay of Bengal about 70 km from the Chandipur range, defence sources said. The impact created a 'boom like sound' with the remnants of the rockets falling into the Bay of Bengal, officials said.

The aim of the exercise is to test the missile's ability to provide an air-shield cover to important Indian metros against hostile attacks, the sources said.

'It is a great success. The missiles successfully collided against each other. It is a moment of pride for the people of the entire country,' ITR Director A.K. Checker told IANS. 'We are analysing the data.'

The exercise was undertaken under the Prithvi Air Defence Exercise (PADE), being undertaken for the first time to validate its operational effectiveness.

The exercise was earlier scheduled for Sunday but was put off after scientists wanted to do some additional checks.

'While the missile from ITR was the attacker, the one from Wheeler Island was to act as the defender,' an official said.

The Prithvi is one of the five missiles being developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

First tested in 1988, Prithvi-I has a range of 150 km and can carry conventional or low-yield nuclear warheads for use against troops or armoured formations. Its two variants, Prithvi-II and Prithvi-III, have a range of 250 km and 350 km respectively.

Prithvi-II was first tested in January 1996. It flew 250 km and is said to have accurately landed at a pre-determined point. The Indian Army has already inducted Prithvi- I and II.

Prithvi-III was successfully test fired for the first time in October 2004.

The air defence exercise is to be followed by a three-day national conference on range technology from Tuesday at ITR. To be inaugurated by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, it will be attended by 15 renowned defence scientists from the US, Britain, France, Germany and Denmark.