Steam Center Blog

T his author has written this note after reading a report in the times of India today that the government is hoping to reduce consumption of urea fertilizer by about ten percent by reducing size of urea bags by ten percent. However, With SOM the urea utilization can come down from 25% to 50%, reduce costs, improves soil as well as yields. This is an original idea of the author, not published before, and the terminology SOM is his own standing for Semi Organic Mix. He is publishing it here online in public interest. SOM Fertilizer SOM fertilizers are prepared by thoroughly mixing together in industrial mixers a half and half mix by weight of dry compost and urea. A farmer may use more of the quantity by weight to get similar nitrogen yields but in that case also there is about 25% saving in urea. The additional use of compost improves the soil and the embedding of urea particles in compost slows the release of nitrogen in soil so as to improve plant health and ...

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=147952&picture=hall-with-hundred-pillars Not along ago, about a hundred years ago, Jaipur city had been regarded as a fairy tale city of the world, ranking among the top ten beautiful cities of the world. Unfortunately, an uncontrolled expansion over the last seventy years has now converted it to not just one of the poorly ranked cities of the world but also of India. Tourists still flock to see the charm that lies hidden within its deterioration but that is little solace for those who love the city. Fortunately, with a little effort, the city can be restored and recover its old glory again, Indeed some beginnings is already being made in the direction. In the view of this author, familiar with the city from time of his grandparents, seven things can restore the status of the city to its old glory and more. These are as follows 1. Restoration of Dravyavati River In an older post  ( see this not...

Recent data shows that there has been a slight reduction in corruption in India this year. It is because India has found a very honest Prime Minister in Narendra Modi and his cabinet. However the reduction has only been slight because at lower levels of government, born from years of habit, corruption is still widespread. An older note in this blog described how corruption can be eradicated with speed. It is presented here again with slight modification and simplification including the use of the now widely available JAM, Adhaar card number system in India. This plan is exceedingly simple to implement and cost effective. It involves just two simple steps Passing an ordnance that a bribe by the bribe giver shall not be a prosecutable crime provided the bribe giver files a complaint by post at --- or online at ----   within a month of giving the bribe. A draft design of the simple online form is included with this note. It may be modified to...

A n earlier note in this blog had some suggestions for the Indian Railways and one of them has already been implemented soon after the dynamic new Railway Minister of India, the Right Honorable Piyush Goyal took charge. Thanks have been recorded to him at the end of the note as an update. This note is on a different matter that also needs urgent attention of the Honorable Minister to save Indians from physical damage and huge hurt they undergo daily because of one of their practices. It is best understood from my personal experience two days ago, recorded next. I needed to make a trip from Delhi to Jaipur on the evening of the 23 rd of this month.   Looking up the new improved website of Indian Railways I found that there was a vacant lower berth in sleeper class of train number 14659 from Delhi to Jaisalmer. I chose the boarding destination as Delhi Cantonment since the station was closer to where I was staying. The train had a scheduled two minute stop here and my ...

  T hey say a dog is man's best friend but an unregulated, untrained population of dogs can also become public enemy number one causing misery to both the dog and human. While street dogs have always been part of human civilization, with increasing urbanization and increased population these dogs create many problems for humans, the first being their open defecation on streets, secondly danger to humans especially children. There have been reports of mauling to death. Third is noise pollution by their persistent barking. This barking disrupts sleep and health of all, sometimes fatally in case of elderly persons. It destroys peace during day hours and hugely compromises study hours of children studying for school or exams at times leading to their failing in examinations. Along with stray dogs the problem of pet dogs has become equally huge; they too contribute to open defecation on urban streets creating a stench and health hazard. Their barking disturbs neigh...

A dulteration of food by substances dangerous to life is a fact in many parts of the world including India. Consumers have to be careful in ensuring that food they procure from markets is safe for their health and their families. Food safety inspectors exist in health departments of all countries to check food products and punish unscrupulous food sellers. In India however there is a unique dimension to this inspection that hovers between the irrational and sordid corruption that plays with the health and well being of citizens. Let us first explain what the irrational element is. On October 15 there was a report in the times of India, the prominent daily newspapers that in a village in Chomu district of India, food inspectors from the health department had unearthed a mawa (a concentrated milk product used in many Indian sweet dishes) unit that was preparing it from milk powder and edible vegetable oil products instead of just pure milk ( see here ). They destroyed 120 kg...

May God bless this sweet Child and his mother W hile much of the population in India is still poor and cannot afford private medical care, free government services are hugely limited and overburdened. The most tragic is the huge number of child deaths that are taking place in such hospitals due to inadequate care and it is here the need for improvement most urgent. What is needed now is  new large modern government run Mother and child hospitals to take care of mothers from the beginning of pregnancies as well as children up to the age of five. To begin with one such hospital may be set up in each district across India at a place the population density is highest in the district. Each district may have special departments peculiar to their area such as North Central provinces for encephalitis and meningitis or the western tribal parts for malnutrition. Each district mother and child hospital may also run extension centers and mobile care vans across the district bu...