Steam Center Blog

May the Lord known as Shiva bless all mankind today on the auspicious occassion of Maha Shivarari. Just returning from a visit to a Shiva temple and the fair outside it. Picked up a lot of things needed at home as shown in the picture. Everything was at prices much lower than in stores, about a third. They are indeed gifts from the Lord.

  Every year much rice straw is burnt in the fields causing much pollution in Northern India. However rice straw can be put to good use for many products, one of then being paper. A preliminary estimate by this author suggests that a mix of half and half rice straw and Bagasse, the residue left after crushing sugarcane to extract juice can produce good quality paper for printing and writing as also for boxes and newspaper. For every ton of sugarcane crushed approximately 30% tonnes of wet bagasse is produced. Adding 10% cotton fiber to the mix will yield high quality printing and document paper whereas adding 10% polyester fiber could yield quality paper for carry bags that may be used to replace plastic bags in current use. Further research shall help verify or refine the recommendations of this brief note. The State and Central Government of India can aid this effort in the following ways: Providing research funding to universities...

Widespread deforestation has taken place on the planet over the last century due to human activity. While this deforestation affects the planet and all life that dwells upon it in numerous ways, this note mentions three effects on climate change that includes climate extremes 1. Atmospheric Turbulence The greater the atmospheric turbulence, greater are the chances of unexpected climatic phenomenon i.e. climate extremes. Winds move over the surface of earth in what scientists call as atmospheric boundary layers. It is well known phenomenon in turbulence science that turbulence in such boundary layers is damped when roughness exists on the surface. Forests with tall trees are one such roughness. Therefore the fewer the forests on land the greater the atmospheric turbulence and greater the chances of climate extremes. 2. Evaporation from Trees Evaporation from tree leaves absorbs the sun’s heat that falls on the planet. It is for this reason, during day ho...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisalpur_Dam#/media/File:Bisalpur_Dam.jpg    A tremendous increase of human population has taken place over the last century leading to a water crisis in both urban and rural habitations. The present note addresses this issue. A special reference is made to Jaipur city in Northwestern India but much of the note has value for cities elsewhere too. We shall begin with some essential fundamentals about water and then suggest immediate short-term and long-term solutions to the water crisis. Fundamentals of Water Use Along with light and air, water is the basis for life. Poor water quality and inadequate availability of water severely compromises quality of life and living. Therefore, it must be the top most priority for any society and its government. There is no shortage of water on the planet for all life that dwells on it. What may however lack is its proper management and distribution. Thos...

https://www.irctc.co.in L ast year this author in public interest had written a note (here) with a few suggestions for improvements in Indian Railways. Links to that note were sent to concerned including the railway minister Shri Piyush Goyal ji. One of the suggestions was for improving the user interface of the IRCTC website where passengers book tickets online. It was a rather untidy and crowded interface although its workings were efficient. To the delight of this author and hundreds of thousands of users everywhere, this interface has now been improved. It has been updated to the best global standards that prevail in our world. The Dynamic Railway Minister Piyush Goyal deserves many compliments for this. There were two other suggestions in the note mentioned, that have not been addressed yet. It is hoped that the Railway Minister can inspire his ministry to make improvements here too. These are mentioned next, Waiting list System: The railway ministe...

Green, Tawny and Red sugar Cane Stalks Document also available for view or download at,   https://www.scribd.com/document/390113251/Regenerating-Soma-Plant-of-Rig-Veda Abstract Rig Veda, an ancient sacred text of Indo-Aryans described a godly plant known as Soma. The juice of this plant imparted huge improvements in physical, intellectual and emotional abilities to ancient Indo-Aryans who consumed it. Some modern studies have identified certain intoxicating plants as possibly being Soma but these do not come close to the original description. Soma was neither intoxicating nor hallucinatory. Rather, its effect was precisely opposite. It increased focus, alertness and memory. An earlier study by this author suggested that sugarcane grasses appear to be similar in description to this plant. However, sugarcane juice as available now, although healthy, does not have the unusual enhancing properties of Soma. It appears that it does not contain the active compounds...

Standardizing design of glass bottles to minimize use of plastics. While plastics are a great convenience, plastic pollution has become a major concern for the world. Throw away plastic bags and bottles are clogging drains, polluting rivers and oceans. Items like plastic furniture and containers do not create much problem because they have long-term use and are easy to recycle. It is things like shopping bags and numerous bottles for water and cold drinks that are a major source of pollution. Attempts are underway around the world to ban their use and return to old-fashioned paper and cloth shopping bags as well as glass bottles. An outright ban on manufacture, sale and distribution of plastic bags with heavy penalties for manufacturers and lesser ones for other users will rapidly bring an end to plastic bags. Humans are innovative enough to come up with easy alternatives as indeed they have already done in many places around the world. The second item is bot...