From the Editor’s Pen
Editors:
Arun Mehta – VIIIth Batch
Girish Deveshwar–VIIIth Batch
Navneet Vashisht– VIIIth Batch
Pradeep Kumar -VIIIth Batch
Gaurang Singh – IXth Batch
Prapti Dutta – IXth Batch
Rajat Tomar –IXth Batch
Magazine Design
Ashman Gautam- VIIIth Batch
We know what we are only to the extent reflected on the mirror of the
society. But we fail, for some reason or the other, to see ourselves in the
light of the fire within us. Worse, nobody has time to explore you, your
feelings and your thought process. In the process, slowly but steadily, we
keep smoldering and kill ourselves, leaving only our caricature to roam
around. It could be the other way round should we open ourselves up and
let the fire power up our imagination.
The humble effort, in the form of Parikalp, envisions helping the NPTIans
un-bundle their creativity and power of imagination towards a better
tomorrow. Accordingly, our collective mission would be to provide
appropriate opportunity of expression to every NPTIan and mentor them
to excel and internalize such knowledge in such a manner as to establish
ourselves indispensable for the society. In pursuit of our mission, we would
be guided by any and every wisdom which would help in un-orthodox
evolution of not only mental capabilities but also core competencies.
We believe, “Imagination, when shared and challenged, gets transformed
into reality”. This implies that challenging shared imaginations produces
fruitful results for all; sharing challenged imagination is good for none.
Former promotes ownership, later, critics good for nothing. We hope
NPTIans would utilize, voluntarily and enthusiastically, this platform to not
only launch their ideas but also channel their useful energy to bring about
the change for the collective fulfillment of the society.
It is quite fascinating to see ‘something’ happening in one’s life time,
especially when the imaginations are limitless, period is shorter and
challenges daunting. Parikalp [PARI from PARIVARTAN (Change) and KALPA
from KALPANA (Imagination)] is one such ‘thing’. It is just a beginning and
not the best one but we believe that ‘best’ is the best concept which can
always be bettered. This is an effort towards progressive betterment of all
concerned. This endeavor would be incomplete without collective
ownership of the NPTIans. You have to endear it come what may.
We would remain indebted to our patron, mentor and advisors for their
blessings, encouragement and value addition. We are short of words to
express our gratitude towards all those who volunteered to own Parikalp.
We value human sensitivity and would carry the same as legacy.
Parikalp
Let’s make the stupendous start-up an amazing journey ……………

Message from the Director General

Dear Reader,

Being the flagship academic program of this premier institute of the

nation, MBA grads of NPTI have great expectations to fulfill. This
would require not only mental agility and toughness but also
unorthodox outlook towards every phenomenon in the society and
the environment. For this reason, co-curricular activities have
important roles to play in an academic setting. It is praiseworthy
that MBA (Power Management) students of NPTI have decided to take significant step towards this
direction. I hope the ‘Student’s Magazine’ would be a relevant platform for their future growth and
development.

I wish a bright future for this initiative.

Message from the Principal Director

Dear Reader,

It is quite appealing that my students have given a thought to open

themselves up. I am happy to know that my students, of MBA (Power
Management), are going to launch a student’s magazine. It would not
only provide them a suitable platform to channel their constructive
energy and express their creativity but also help them explore their
hidden potential and recognize their core competency. It would help
them share their dream, vision and aspirations for the Indian power sector in particular and the society
in general. I hope this path-breaking initiative would make tangible contribution towards the re-
construction of the future.

“Knowledge is an un-depreciable asset and time is an invaluable working capital”. Share and utilize
them, for they will never diminish. I convey my heartfelt blessings for this initiative.

Parikalp
Power Updates
Govt to stick to competitive bidding deadline
The Centre has kept January 2011 as deadline
for shifting to tariff-based competitive bidding
regime for the procurement of electricity from
the market, and disallowing future projects to
enter into power purchase agreements on cost-
plus, regulator determined tariffs. Indications
are that state-owned generation utilities could,
however, be allowed to set up projects through
the regulated tariff route for projects where the
main plant order has been placed by the cut-off
date, which has sparked a rush among utilities.
Power on tap; but cuts galore
Despite cheap power being available on the
Exchanges, there is no let-up in power cuts for
consumers, especially for industrial users during
peak hours. Northern and Southern States
proved to be the most notorious in announcing
cuts in the recent months
Energy-use data to be ready by October
Under the proposed Perform, Achieve and
Trade (PAT) scheme to be unveiled by the
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), 714 energy-
intensive industrial units across the country will
be given targets to reduce their energy
consumption.
IEA World Energy Outlook 2010
Over 20 per cent of the global population, or
1.4 billion people, lack access to electricity.
Some 40 per cent of the global population, or
2.7 billion people, rely today on the traditional
use of biomass for cooking. These are some of
the major findings released by the International
Energy Agency (IEA) in a new report ‘Ending
Energy Poverty - How to Make Modern Energy
Access Universal,' a special excerpt of IEA World
Energy Outlook 2010.
Power projects with ready land, better
efficiency to have easier access to fuel
Fuel for future thermal power projects — both
coal and gas — will be allocated under a new
score-card system where the use of higher-
efficiency units and progress on land acquisition
have the highest weights. Projects with a higher
score will get priority in fuel allocation from
domestic sources under the proposed system,
which aims to eliminate the subjectivity
surrounding the current fuel allocation policy.
With cheap power on tap at bourses, load-
shedding utilities face the stick
If power utilities resort to load-shedding even
when electricity is available at cheap prices on
the power exchanges, the regulator could wield
the stick. The Central Electricity Regulatory
Commission (CERC) is likely to come out with
guidelines in this respect.
French power majors keen to join Nuclear
Power Corp, BHEL suppliers' list
French companies Areva and Alstom are
holding talks with Indian public sector giants –
National Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPICL)
and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for
supply of reactors and other critical equipment
for the country's $150-billion nuclear
programme.
Firms with captive wind power say TNEB
circular hurting them
A recent circular of the Tamil Nadu Electricity
Board has upset industrial consumers that have
their own captive wind power generation
capacity. The circular has reduced the maximum
Parikalp
demand, above which industrial consumer has
to pay higher transmission charges.
Bengal examining possibility of reducing duty
on power
The West Bengal government is examining the
possibility of reducing duty on power through
appropriate changes in duty structure to
provide relief to power-intensive industrial units
in the State, according to Dr Asim Dasgupta,
State Finance Minister.
NTPC arm powers up rural electrification
efforts
Under the Government's flagship rural
electrification project, NTPC Electric Supply
Company (NESCL), NTPC’s power distribution
arm is targeting the electrification of 5,100 un-
electrified villages and to provide 12.5 lakh
households, most of them below the poverty
line, with connections during 2010-11.
Centre targets 100,000 MW in 12th Plan
The Centre has targeted capacity addition of
100,000 MW each in the 12 th Plan (2012-17)
and 13 th Plan (2017-22), said the Union Power
Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Nuclear Power Corporation to set up Rs 1,500-
cr ‘liability corpus'
Nuclear Power Corporation of India is looking to
set up a corpus (capital) of Rs 1,500 crore to
address liabilities arising from nuclear disasters.
Short-term power prices in India way above
global benchmarks
Power utilities in India are on an average
forking out much higher than their counterparts
across the globe in shopping for electricity in
the short-term market. A key reason is that the
major volume of trade in the short-term market
in India takes place outside the two operational
Power Exchanges through the over-the-counter
trades (OTC) at an average of over 40-60 per
cent higher prices as compared to the bourses.
IEA flags off steps to energy efficiency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has come
out with “policy pathways” to demonstrate how
to substantially improve the implementation of
energy efficiency recommendations in the light
of a lack of technical capacity and know-how
hinders governments from realising the full
potential of energy efficiency.
India's uranium production set to rise two-and-
a-half times
India today produces 400 tonnes of uranium a
year. Thanks to the expansion of existing mines
and the opening of new ones, this production is
set to increase to 1,000 tonnes by the end of
2013, according to Mr Ramendra Gupta,
Chairman and Managing Director, Uranium
Corporation of India Ltd.
Contributor: Arun Mehta
Parikalp
News of the month
Nadal wins U.S. Open
Nadal became the seventh man to complete a
career Grand Slam sweep, joining Roger
Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver,
Don Budge and Fred Perry in having won
Wimbledon and the
US, French and
Australian Open
titles. The 24-year-
old Spanish left-
hander
overwhelmed
Djokovic with
uncanny shotmaking
to win the $1.7
million top prize as
well as his third consecutive Grand Slam crown
and his ninth Grand Slam title overall. A ninth
Slam title moved Nadal alone into seventh on
the all-time list — passing Agassi, Perry, Ken
Rosewall and Ivan Lendl and just seven shy of
Federer's all-time record, three ahead of
Federer's pace at the same age.
Duo wins double nobel
A day after winning the Nobel Prize for
Medicine, two scientists in Britain struck it
“rich” again at Stockholm when Russian-born
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of
Manchester University were named joint
winners of this year's Nobel Prize for Physics for
their “groundbreaking” work on experiments
with graphene, a new form of carbon with
immense possibilities. Professor Geim (51) is a
Dutch citizen. Both started their careers in
Russia.At 36, Professor Novoselov, a British-
Russian citizen, has been the youngest physicist
since 1973 to win a Nobel.
India clean sweeps the test series
After the dramatic win of the first test at Mohali
India went on to clinch the series 2-0 by win the
second test at Bangalore comfortably. India
maintains its top test slot after the series win
while Australia slipped to the decade low of 5.
Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged ‘man of the
tournament’.
.
Ayodhya verdict out
Sixty years after the matter first went into
litigation; a Special Full Bench of the High Court
of Allahabad has ruled that the disputed land in
Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood for 500
years until it was demolished in 1992 shall be
divided into three parts. A two-thirds portion is
to be shared by two Hindu plaintiffs and one-
third will be given to the Sunni Muslim Waqf
Board.
Centre comes out with a formula for J&K
The Centre will appoint a group of interlocutors,
under the chairmanship of an eminent person,
to begin the process of sustained dialogue in
Jammu and Kashmir with political parties,
groups, students, civil society and other
stakeholders. The decision to begin the process
of sustained dialogue was part of an eight-point
initiative taken at a meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Security (CCS). The meeting was
chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Parikalp
Delhi faces another attack
Two armed men on a motorcycle opened
indiscriminate fire outside the historic Jama
Masjid in the Walled City of Delhi on 20th
September, injuring two Taiwanese nationals
who were about to board a tourist bus. hough
an e-mail, purportedly sent by the Indian
Mujahideen to a radio station, claimed
responsibility for the incident, the police have
ruled out the involvement of any organised
terror group.
Spectacular Indian show at Commonwealth
games
Indian contingent puts up a good show at the
games.India makes history by ending up second
in the medal tally. Medal tally was led by
Australia who were convincingly poised at the
top spot with 74 gold medals. India managed
38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals. Indians
won the medal across all the games and
categories with major chunk coming from
wrestling and shooting.
Contributor: Gaurang Singh Chandel
Parikalp
Business Review
Coal India IPO approved by SEBI; Biggest IPO
after Reliance Power
Coal India is set to introduce India’s biggest
Initial Public Offer (IPO) after being approved by
Securities and Exchanges Board of India
(SEBI).The clearance given to Coal India Limited
(CIL) is the fastest given to an issue of this size
as the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) was
filed on August 9, 2010 and got cleared in 40
days. The IPO price has been fixed between Rs.
225 and Rs. 245 per
share. At this price it is
expected to mop up
between Rs.14211 and
Rs.15475 Crore. Around
631.6 million shares of
Rs.10 each are to be
offered on October 18,
2010 and the government is offering a discount
of 5% in IPO pricing for retail investors and CIL
employees.
CIL is the largest coal mining company in the
world with annual coal production of 431
million tonnes which it plans to hike to 486
million by the end of 11th FYP.
Finmin allows the companies to raise money
from overseas
India may allow individual investors based
overseas to directly buy stocks for the first time,
easing a rule that restricts investment to mutual
funds. It indicates the continued liberalization
of the stock market and represents another
step in internationalizing India’s financial
markets. The rule change may add to the US
$92 billion foreign funds that have poured into
local stocks since they were allowed into the
country in 1993, with almost a quarter invested
this year.
It is favourable for local equities and the move
would broaden the pool of funds they can
access to expand business.
India’s growth in 2010 estimated to be 9.7%:
IMF
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
predicted that India’s economy will grow by
9.7% in 2010 due to the robust industrial
growth and strong macro-economic factors.
This is up from the July forecast of 9.4% and is
projected to slowdown to 8.4% according to its
World Economic Outlook report.
India’s official growth estimate for 2010-2011 is
below the IMF forecast at 8.5% due to the fact
that IMF considers the calendar year whereas
Indian agencies follow the April-March fiscal
year.
The world economy is forecast to grow by 4.8%
in 2010 before falling back to 4.2% next year.
China is expected to grow at a rate of 10.5% in
2010 and a 9.6% in 2011 on account of high
domestic consumption.
The slowdown in world economy is supposedly
due to the challenge of unemployment as an
estimate suggests that around 210 million
people may be unemployed. There is a great
need of strong policies and coordination at the
global level for rebalancing the world
economies.
SAIL to launch FPO in December
Encouraged by the robust growth in economy
the government may release the Follow-on
Public Offer (FPO) of Steel Authority of India
Limited (SAIL) by December, 2010 instead of
Parikalp
earlier planned January-February in 2011
according to the Steel Secretary, PK Mishra. The
SAIL Follow-on offer is expected to garner
around Rs.8000 Cr in the first phase. A second
phase will disinvest another 10% stake and thus
the two phase FPO will provide Rs.16000 Crore
to the company which contributes to the
government’s disinvestment target of Rs.40000
Cr in this fiscal.
At present, the government holds around 85
per cent stake in the company and after the
FPO its equity is to go down to 69 per cent.
Oracle forays into Cloud computing
World’s 3rd largest software maker, Oracle
Corp has entered the cloud computing business
with the unveiling of ‘Exalogic’ which integrates
server, storage and networking technology with
Oracle’s software that will be used by
companies to manage their business
applications. The
machine, introduced
by Mr. Ralph Ellison,
CEO, Oracle,
provides complete
cloud application
infrastructure and
supports thousands
of applications for business purposes. The
Oracle competes with SAP AG and IBM in the
development of business software markets.
With the acquisition of Sun Microsystems
earlier this year Oracle has entered into
hardware markets against vendors like Hewlett-
Packard.
IPO guidelines for insurance companies soon
Insurance regulator IRDA has said that the
guidelines for insurance companies to tap the
capital market for funds were awaiting
Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI)
nod and would be out soon. The guideline for
IPO of life insurance companies has already
been approved by SCADA, a body constituted
by SEBI, and is awaiting final nod from the
market regulator.
Currently, most of the 22 private life insurers
and 17 non-life players have foreign partners.
The Insurance Act caps foreign direct
investment at 26 per cent.
As per the Insurance Act, promoters having 26
per cent stake can offload equity after 10 years
of operation. However, the legislation
empowers the government to reduce the
mandatory period.
India planning to get its own OS
India is planning to develop an operating
system as another step in the process of
plugging in the loopholes in the nation’s
security. The new OS is being developed by the
Defence Research and Defence Organization
(DRDO). Two software research centres have
been established in Bangalore and New Delhi
for this purpose. Although the new operating
system will be originally developed for defence
applications, it may also be made available to
the commercial sector.
It reflects the high level of security concerns
expressed by the Indian government as in the
case of Research in Motion’s Blackberry
networks.
Contributor: Pradeep Kumar
Parikalp
Cover Story
A Cup of Tea
I was alone, at my home watching the same old
boring TV shows with nothing else to do when
the doorbell rang.
I nevertheless didn’t care….
Sorry, no salesman this time, mom’s not at
home, I shouted. The bell however rang once
more, then twice, thrice.
Hey I’m coming!!,I said and opened the door.
As I opened the door, a sweet voice rang into
my ears; Hii …Arun …is aunty at home??
For a few moments I was perplexed then I said,
Hi Ekta…ummm..mom’s not at home.
Ohh..well I had some important work, she said
but never mind I guess I’ll come some other
time.
Well you can wait if you want to, she would be
back anytime soon.
Okay I guess I’ll wait for sometime she said.
For your kind information, Ekta used to live in
my neighborhood.
We both were good childhood friends but later
on separated.
Our families though remained in constant
touch; I had other pursuits, generally rendered
as useless by my parents.
Relatives and other family friends couldn’t
usually locate me in social gatherings.
Reason: I usually didn’t attend social
gatherings…for me they were too boring.
So…what’s up?? I asked
Working …what about you, she asked.
Not working …I said and laughed a bit.
Needless to say as it is, I shamelessly admit
(even proudly reckon) the fact that I’m lazy and
a procrastinator.
So where are you working, I asked her.
NHPC… she said with a bit of smugness on her
face.
Could you umm…help me with the full form, I
guess N stands for National.
Yeah and HPC stands for Hydroelectric Power
Corporation.
Hmm…hydropower….that’s great
Well hydro reminds me that I forgot to ask you
for water.
She laughed a bit and said, not thirsty right
now, will ask you whenever I feel thirsty.
So what are you doing these days? She asked.
Well I just gave CAT recently, waiting for the
results.
So what are your expectations?
It has been said in the Gita that one should not
be expectant of the results and continue with
his duty, I said without a hint of apology.
Hey, by the way would you like to have
something different? I asked.
Different??
Parikalp
Exotic, maybe??
Hmm…tell me what is it?
Would you like to have some tea? I asked.
Tea..umm…no thanks for the concern.
Well it isn’t something that you’d get anywhere,
it’s special.
And what’s so special about it.
Darjeeling Tea, my dad went recently to
Darjeeling.
Oh …even I’ve been to Darjeeling once, she
said.
So what about the tea then?
Okay..let’s have it.
So then I made a special tea for her and myself,
just adding a hint of sugar and a dash of milk to
it.
She sipped the aromatic tea and asked, so Arun
which colleges have you applied for?
This tea is making you nostalgic for sure. I said.
Welingkar,IIFM,IMDR and NPTI, I said
NPTI, hmm….premier institute for training in
Power Sector.
Yeah, I said.
So you interested in Power Sector too??
Yeah, somewhat.
And you don’t even know about NHPC.
Well I was just kidding…
Hmm….You want to know something about the
sector?
Yeah sure, you must be knowing a lot about it.
Well I can give you a brief idea.
Okay.. go ahead.
The aroma reminds me of something.
What?
The lush tea gardens of Darjeeling, its green
fields and valleys with beautiful young maidens
plucking tea, humming to a traditional song.
Well, those valleys are important for something
else too.
Parikalp
Hmm…
They are the birthplace of the Power Sector; the
sector was born in the hills. With a small
hydropower plant of 135 MW established in
1897.It was known as…
The Sidrapong Hydro Power Plant??
Yeah, how do you know that?
Was preparing General Awareness for IIFT
exam.
Good preparation, she said.
I guess that plant was mainly to cater to the tea
industry there.
Yeah…commercial production and distribution
of Electricity started in Calcutta in 1899.
Okay
In order to lay a proper framework for the
electricity sector, the Indian Electricity Act of
1910 was brought up.
It must have specified details regarding
acquiring license for supply of electricity?
Yeah..at that time only private participation was
there, in order to supply electricity one had to
take a license from the State Government.
I guess one needs to do the same even today.
No, today a license is not required for
generating electricity; license is required for
either transmission or distribution of electricity.
So the one who generates isn’t the supplier?
No, the one who distributes is the supplier.
In our case the supplier is…
MPSEB? I asked.
Correct, and it is the State Electricity Board and
has been recently unbundled.
Unbundled??
Yeah …that is a separate company handles the
generation, a separate company handles
transmission and a separate company hands
distribution
That must have been done in order to improve
efficiency in each of these segments.
Exactly!!
This unbundling must have been done quite a
long time ago
No it has been done quite recently; it has
mainly started with the Electricity Act of 2003.
You seem to say that with pride. I said
What?
The Electricity Act of 2003; seems like some sort
of breakthrough to me.
Can be said as a landmark in the history of the
sector.
You were telling about the 1910 Act.
Yeah..during those days major participation in
the sector was private and one needed to
acquire a license from the state government.
There was one thing nevertheless
And that was..
The Act promoted competition by enabling
multiple licensees in one area.
But don’t we have that even today, as in the
case of Mumbai for instance we have Tata,
Reliance as well as BEST supplying electricity.
Yeah…that has been possible today only due to
the Electricity Act of 2003 which allows two or
more licensees to supply in the same area.
Okay…please continue with your story
After Independence the need for government
involvement was felt.
And that must have led to the creation of PSUs.
Yeah, firstly it led to the creation of SEBs under
the Electricity Supply Act of 1948, wherein SEBs
had control over all spheres of the sector and
they were the advisors to the State
Government.
So then it seems that the SEBs started giving
licenses.
No, licenses were still given by the State
Government, after consultation from the
SEBs.The SEBs had a major role to play. It was
their responsibility to provide electricity to the
state. The SEBs had to carry out all activities
Parikalp
from generation to transmission and
distribution. Even the tariffs were fixed by the
respective SEB of the state.
Was there a central body to overlook the SEBs?
Yeah..There was a central body, which came
into effect after the Supply Act of 1948, it was
known as The Central Electricity Authority
(CEA). Though it didn’t have the powers to
interfere in the workings of the SEB but it could
advise them or obtain data from them.CEA was
also the technical arm of the Central
Government and any plant above 25 MW would
require a techno-economic clearance from the
CEA.
I’ve heard of another similar body, CERC, what
about that?
The CERC is the Central Electricity Regulatory
Commission; it was setup much later in 1998.
And, what about bodies such as NTPC and
NHPC?
From 1975-1991 an era of PSUs came, in 1975
NTPC and NHPC were established, NPCIL
(Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and
NEEPCO (North Eastern Electric Power
Corporation) were also established during this
period thereby providing impetus to the
generation sector.
Well, you seem to know quite a lot about what
happened, Miss Historian.
A committee called the Rajadhyaksha
Committee submitted a report on the sector in
1980. The report highlighted several
shortcomings in the sector, especially in the
Transmission and Distribution sector as a result
of which NPTCL (later known as Power Grid
Corporation of India Ltd) was setup.
And then as you might know, Economic
Liberalization started in India in 1991, reforms
in Power Sector also started with the entry of
private players such as Enron, GVK and Essar.
So the sector reforms started with the
economic reforms, I asked.
Yes, the declining condition of SEBs, high
Technical and Commercial losses were some of
the reasons that necessitated the reforms
I read somewhere that these were the reasons
that led to privatization of distribution in Orissa
but it was a failure.
The Orissa reforms were a failure because the
Transmission and Distribution losses were
higher than anticipated, not only that even the
collection efficiency which was supposed to be
100% was only 83%.
That must have led to high losses for the
distribution company.
Exactly, the failure of Orissa reforms has been
an important lesson, from which states like
Haryana and Andhra Pradesh have learnt.
Yeah, there’s a saying, when you lose don’t lose
the lesson.
Right, and as a part of the reforms the
government started distancing itself from
regulation for the first time as was evident by
the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act of
1998.Since then tariff regulation is being done
by independent regulatory commissions.
And in the recent decade, as far as I know there
have been several developments in the sector.
Yes, most important of which was The
Electricity Act of 2003, which has brought in
competition and transparency, by enabling
Open Access.
Open Access?
Parikalp
Yes, it is the right to use the interstate cherished vision of the National Electricity
transmission facility by any generator, industrial Policy.
consumer or a distribution licensee. Thanks for the information Ekta; I hope you
And in what ways might that have helped? liked the tea.
Well, by enabling open access one can route Well, it was the most awesome cup of tea I ever
power from surplus to deficit areas and it had.
enables better use of existing transmission
capacity.
Arun Mehta is the founding
Well, Ekta that was quite informative, finally I’d member of Parikalp. His interests
like to ask you why should I join the Power are reading, surfing and listening
Sector? to music
The sector still faces a lot of challenges, the
cherished vision of National Electricity Policy
(2005) to provide Electricity to all households by
2012 still remains a daunting task. AT&C losses,
power shortages and cross subsidies still mar
the sector. The sector needs skilled and trained
personnel who can redeem the sector. Perhaps,
people like me and you can help in fulfilling the

Parikalp
Power -Article
Problem of land acquisition in Indian
Power sector
The Constitutional Framework of Land
Acquisition-
Originally the Constitution of India consisted of
provisions under Article 19(f) and Article 31
which constituted Right to Property. Later, right
to property was made only legal right and
Article 31 was amended accordingly. The main
law that deals with acquisition is The Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 further amendment of
which is land acquisition act 1984 according to
which land can be acquired either by the state
or the central government for the public
purposes .There are many loopholes in this Act
some of which are given below –
a ) Too wide a definition of “Public Purpose”
b) Uncertainty in rehabilitation
c) Arbitrary and only monetary compensation
d) No provision for compulsory Social Impact
Assessment
e) The process is too time consuming &
cumbersome.
Present Scenario in India –
Controversies, protests and violence have made
land acquisition for power projects in India
quite cumbersome. Protests against acquiring
agricultural land, inappropriate compensation,
R & R, political opposition or environmental
impact have been the main reasons for these
protests. Also, the project sites are sometimes
inhibited by the locals.
According to CEA, The land must be acquired by
competitive bidding but often the states
governments award the projects to private
players on the basis of their political nexus with
the govt.
There are many examples of protests against
land acquisition –
a) Reliance Power's Dadri project: In August
2009, hundreds of farmers from Dadri in
Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh took out
protests against the Reliance power project for
"forceful acquisition of fertile land." The
compensation for land was fixed at the rate of
Rs 135 per square metre, when the market rate
of land at that time in Noida phase 2 was Rs
15,000 per square metre.
b) Enron: Enron's Dabhol Power project in
Maharashtra was marred by several protests,
bribery charges, brutal action against
opposition by local and activists.
c) Sterlite Industries: Vedanta's Indian arm,
Sterlite Industries for bauxite mining in
Niyamgiri Hills.
Under these circumstances, one needs a
solution which will accomplish at least two
objectives:
Objective1: Farmers (and other stakeholders on
the land) need compensation high enough to
keep a large majority of them interested in
voluntary sales.
Objective2: The matter has to be settled in a
way that it does not become a political football.
Recommendation-
The solution is for the state to offer sellers a
compensation package in two parts:
a) Minimum lump sum amount related to the
recent average market value of the agricultural
land, and
Parikalp
b) An annuity (a monthly pension as it were for
the farmer’s retirement) from an all-India trust
fund where some shares of the new company
are vested. This fund will collect shares from all
companies in the business of buying land all
over India, so that risks are pooled on a large
scale without the fund brought down by any
particular project failure and it will be
independently and professionally managed (like
pension funds). A stream of annuity payments is
much better for poor farmers than one-off cash
payments which often get frittered away.
Since stakeholders in the land also include
sharecroppers and agricultural labourers, one
may propose some part of the lump sum
compensation also to go to them, possibly
related to the market value of the agricultural
land (as the West Bengal government had
originally announced for registered
sharecroppers). The state also needs to be
involved in some form of temporary welfare
payments (and job training) to unregistered
sharecroppers and landless workers.
Future of land acquisition in India
The land acquisition policy of Haryana (HR) is
very ideal policy to deal with difficulties in land
acquisition. This should be implemented in all
India level.
The policy has not only hiked the compensation
payable to the farmer for the land acquired but
also laced it with a sort of inflation-linked
royalty payable to him for 33 years. The annuity
gets an annual hike too. The policy also has it
that in case a unit is set up on the land
acquired; one member of the farmer’s family
will get a job.
For those farmers whose land is acquired by the
Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure
Development Corporation (HSIIDC), the state
government has decided to provide an annual
compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre for 33 years
in the form of royalty, besides giving them fixed
compensation. The royalty would be increased
by Rs 500 every year. If the land is acquired for
setting up special economic zones
Amol Maurya is a student of
MBA Power Management 2nd
Year. His interest are playing
cricket and listening to music.
Parikalp
Point- Counterpoint
Should India bid for Olympics 2020?
India, which is the world’s
fastest growing economy
after China, is currently
hosting possibly the most
hyped, anticipated and
criticized games the world has ever seen-“The
Commonwealth Games 2010”. These games
have accumulated so much negative publicity
that the positive aspects have been completely
overshadowed.
The topic of discussion is “Should India bid for
Olympics 2020”. My answer is definitely YES.
Why am I so sure about it? I have points to
substantiate my response. I’ll be taking these
one by one. Firstly, India is currently hosting the
most expensive commonwealth games in the
history costing in excess of Rs. 300 billion. If we
consider that this was not the amount that was
stipulated to be invested and a lot of money has
been wasted, let’s assume that 25% of the
money invested could have been saved if there
was no corruption. Then the remaining amount
is Rs.225 billion which is also a huge investment.
Most of this money was invested in building the
infrastructure for the games. So, the result is 20
world class stadiums in the city of Delhi. So we
possess quality infrastructure. Secondly, the
commonwealth games are considered the
second major sporting event in the world (after
the Olympics) and since we have started off
these games in a great fashion so I assume that
the management part would also be smooth.
This indicates that India has the potential of
managing such a sports event. Thirdly, it has
been estimated that the total revenue
generated due to the commonwealth games
would be of the order of 5 billion dollars. So
having Olympics would generate a lot of
revenue. Also, more than 2.5 lakh jobs have
been created just by Commonwealth Games so
we can easily imagine what Olympics would do.
Finally, if India is able to pull off a sporting
event like the Olympics it would create a whole
new global image of India (Like Beijing Olympics
did for China).
So In my view India should at least bid for the
Olympics. If we win the bid It would surely not
be a mess like the Commonwealth Games (as
humans learn from their mistakes) and It would
surely be a social and most importantly an
economic boost for the country
Punit Paliwal is a
student of MBA 1st
year. His interests are
watching movies and
playing table tennis.
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Should India bid for Olympics 2020?
Olympics have always
been a fascination for
billions of people all over
the world. To organize
such an event is always
very prestigious for any
country but at the same time very expensive
too.
Last Olympics cost china $44billion and current
CWG cost India Rs 70,000 crore
The decision to organize such an expensive
event in a country where poverty levels is
among highest in world, where 50% of world’s
hunger population resides is never considered
to be a sagacious decision.
CWG games show the real picture of our
management ability and the corruption level
prevailing in our great country. In prevailing
circumstances we are not in a condition to
organize such a massive event. First we have to
improve our management ability and lay a
proper framework of organizing event which
must be corruption free.
At one hand we already spend huge amount of
money on CWG and thinking to spend even a
far more amount on Olympics and on the other
hand children’s in our country are collecting
garbage’s instead of attending schools, people
are dying on roads due to hunger and in
absence of medical help, diseases like dengue
are widespread, farmers are revolting
continuously and we are facing lots of other
problems remain unsolved from decades.
Just building roads, flyovers or any other
infrastructure at the name of any event doesn’t
bring development and growth. First we need
more schools, colleges and hospitals instead of
sport complexes in order to lay the path of
sustainable development only after which
organizing such events are justifiable.
In the prevailing scenario security issues are the
major challenge for us. Star performers from
top countries already denied being a part of
CWG and it is clearly a black spot on the face of
our country that we were not able to generate
faith in the mind of participants. It is good for us
to first strengthen our security system in order
to create an environment which is suitable for
such an event.
The foremost obstacle in front of allocating
budget for Olympics is our huge fiscal deficit
which is nearly 6% of our GDP currently which is
likely to increase due to over budget of current
CWG.
In the light of above circumstances not to bid
for Olympics 2020 is in the favor of our great
country and also consider as a sagacious
decision.
Sameer Pachori is a
student of 2nd Year MBA
in Power Management.
His interests are reading,
internet surfing and
playing badminton.
Parikalp
Campus News
Ganesh Puja
With due support from students (including
Alumni) and teachers, we organised Ganesha
Puja this year too. It was 10 days celebration.
On day 1, we established idol of Lord Ganesha
with proper rituals followed by Aarti and
celebrations in which we danced on dhol, and
music. From day 2 to day 9, we managed to
have Aarti in the morning and the evening. But,
everyday after Aarti, we had good gathering
whereby we shared our ancient wisdom and
their relevance in contemporary world,
especially in power sector. Campus looked very
lively during those days.
8th Batch, MBA (Power)
Razzmatazz on the occasion of Teacher’s Day
Teacher’s Day Celebration has been a custom in
NPTI. It’s the day when we formally host some
cultural activities as a token of respect to our
respected teachers. This time, due to some
unavoidable reasons, we celebrated it on 9th
September. Our celebration started with
‘Saraswati Vandana’ followed by ‘Deep
Prajwalan’ by Sri Subodh Garg, the Director
General of NPTI. Further, teachers were
requested to participate in games and songs
which really filled the auditorium with colours.
Songs were sung by students as well as
teachers. The event was electrified by sparkling
act cum comic poem presented by Mr. Navneet,
which made whole auditorium roll in the aisles.
It was followed by Mr. Chetan’s poem in the
respect of teachers. After this we had great
lunch organised for the day. Post lunch, it some
movies were screened and their relevance
discussed.

On day 10, the day of “Ganpati Visarjan”,

campus was filled with excitement and joy. We
all gathered at 9.30 am for Puja and Havan.
Then at 11.30 am teachers joined us for Aarti.
We had a special lunch for that day. In evening
at 5.00 pm, we started a colourful Visarjan Yatra
accompanied by dhol, majeera and colours.
Heartiest thanks to co-ordinating committee for As shared by-
their efforts and to everyone else for one’s Cultural Committee
soulful contribution.

As shared by-
Ashutosh Singh & Ashish Gaikwad

Parikalp
My Summer Internship
Cross Border Electricity Trade: Necessity for
South Asia
Objective: The concept intends to promote the
development of cross border electricity trade in
South Asia by developing adequate electricity
infrastructure (especially, transmission) for its
adequate supply to sustain the economic
growth rates of the respective countries in
medium to long term.
Approach: The research work analyzed power
scenarios of the countries in terms of cross
border trading opportunities for arbitrage and
challenges towards it and possible trading
arrangements.
Findings: There is huge potential for the
development of regional electricity trade in
South Asia in terms of import of low cost
hydropower by high demand countries (India
and Bangladesh) from high resource potential
countries (Nepal and Bhutan). In the longer
term, Bangladesh is envisaged as gas based
power exporter. This would require
improvement in investment climate –
macroeconomic conditions and legal
framework, ensuring commercial operation of
electricity sector and adopting institutional
measures to negotiate complex projects of this
nature. To achieve this, the region would
require extensive bilateral and multilateral
policy and confidence building measures from
the Governments and International Financial
Institutions (IFIs) to help evolve the huge
market and enable it with inbuilt capabilities to
make it this ambitious project a reality
Implications: It is envisaged that this cross
border trading would lead to unprecedented
economic growth and greater degree of
regional integration in South Asia. From social
angle, it would also result in better quality of
life for common man (i.e. consumer) due to
increased availability of electricity supply.
Value: The study adds value to the already
existing studies on electricity interconnections
among South Asian Countries (SAC) and tries to
identify/suggest priority actions needed by SAC.
Author: Rohit Khatri,
MBA (Power Management), NPTI Faridabad
(Haryana), India.
Email: rohitkhatri18@gmail.com
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My Summer Internship
Opportunities, Challenges And Financial
Analysis of Agriculture Demand Side
Management (Ag-DSM) In India
There are approximately 20,000,000 “irrigation
structures” (e.g., tube wells, etc.) in India. That
is four times the number of irrigation structures
in China, Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, and the United
States combined together. Between 1980 and
2000, ground water consumption in India
doubled. The rapid deployment of tube well
technology has contributed to improving the lot
of farmers. However, it is increasingly clear that
underground aquifers are being depleted and
the free power policies that helped enable the
lifting of ground water have imposed a ruinous
financial burden on the country’s erstwhile
SEBs. Unhappily, there is neither enough water
nor enough electricity to allow the continuation
of the trends of the past three decades for
another three. Reversing the policies of the past
might not be enough to restore equilibrium and
create the conditions that would allow
sustainable growth. Worse, the consequences
of an abrupt reversal could be devastating for
the millions of small, poor farmers who
comprise most of rural India. The goal of this
report is to sketch the complexity of the above
mentioned problem and outline an
administrative approach towards developing a
workable solution which could help stem the
tide. It would yield important insights and help
refine our understanding of how to get better
alignment among the incentives of key groups
and how to fine-tune the approach to achieve a
workable, financially viable, replicable and
sustainable model. Scope of this report is very
wide. It is applicable all over India and also to
many countries in the world. The problem
regarding highly inefficient agriculture pump
sets is there all over India and there is an urgent
need to take steps to solve the problem.
Replacing these pumps sets by the energy
efficient pump sets is the need of the hour and
this report focuses on that. This report gives a
comprehensive account of all aspects regarding
Ag DSM (Agriculture DSM). It highlights the
various opportunities and challenges for all the
stakeholders, which are involved in Ag-DSM. It
gives the background regarding planning and
implementation of Ag-DSM projects. It
showcases the various models available for
financing these projects as well as risks and risk
mitigation strategies attached to these projects.
There are also financial analyses of potential
projects in Ag DSM for the states of
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and
Punjab. It provides an initial checklist of
information needed from State governments
and Discoms to start assessment and planning
and finally implementation of potential Ag DSM
projects.
Author: Sharma Diveyesh Jyotindra, MBA
(Power), NPTI Faridabad, India
E-mail: divyeshsharma2000@yahoo.com
Parikalp
My Summer Internship
Going Green Becoming Profitable: Analysis of
Revenue Opportunities for Wind Power
Producers in India
Familiarization: It is high time that we, as a
nation embrace alternative energy sources such
as wind power and invest for our future. The
development of wind power is the key to fight
against dangerous climate change. Indian
policymakers have understood the fact that
clean energy is the need of the hour and are
providing ample regulatory and financial
support to make wind power projects financially
attractive.
Objective: There are three primary objectives of
the project.
1. To make a comprehensive model for
future renewable energy requirement of each
State in India.
2. To project the future REC market size
for wind power producers.
3. To analyze present revenue
opportunities in different states of India and to
make rational and descriptive revenue
comparison model.
Significance: Project was helpful for AES in
finding out the most attractive States for
investment in wind energy. It also gave the
insight about the possible future revenue
streams from wind power project and their
respective advantages and disadvantages.
Methodology: Analysis of the last four year’s
Tariff orders and ARR had been done to come
out with a projection trend and specific CAGR
data of electricity purchase for each State. The
CAGR data of electricity purchase and RPO of
each State was used to find the future RE
demand in all the States. This analysis opened
the door for REC market size projections.
Revenue comparison model was based on the
REC pricing regulations of CERC and preferential
tariff offered by different states.
Findings: AP, MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and
Gujarat are the most lucrative destinations for
wind power selling. In the longer run, REC
option will outweigh the preferential tariff
option of revenue generation.
Author: Sunil Sharma, MBA (Power
Management), NPTI, Faridabad, India
E-mail: sunil.eck007@gmail.com
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Power-Excerpt
The Concept of Net-Metering: Case of USA &
Its Impact on India
In the Present scenario, the need for the
involvement of Domestic households in the
development of Renewable Energy is quite
obvious and important. A look at the Net-
Metering concept being followed in more than
35 states across the USA could provide us with
the address to this problem.
"Net-metering" is a simplified method of
metering the energy consumed and produced
at a home or business that has its own
renewable energy generator, such as a wind
turbine. Under net metering, excess electricity
produced by the wind turbine will spin the
existing home or business electricity meter
backwards, effectively banking the electricity
until it is needed by the customer. This provides
the customer with full retail value for all the
electricity produced.
The main reasons why net metering is a widely
used concept in the USA are:
•It helps counter the intermittent nature of the
renewable energy sources like solar, wind, tidal
etc.
•Easy and inexpensive mechanism for
encouraging the use of small-scale renewable
energy systems.
Net metering provides a variety of benefits for
both utilities and consumers. Utilities benefit by
avoiding the administrative and accounting
costs of metering and purchasing the small
amounts of excess electricity produced by
small-scale wind energy facilities. Consumers
benefit by getting greater value for some of the
electricity they generate and by being able to
interconnect with the utility using their existing
meter.
The only cost associated with net metering is
indirect: the customer is buying less electricity
from the utility, which means the utility is
collecting less revenue from the customer.
Net-metering is a concept which can
revolutionize the Indian electricity scenario by
encouraging the rural and urban consumers to
generate their own electricity through green
means. Also, it would also help a long way in
increasing the renewable power generation
capacities, which is envisaged in the 11th plan
at 14,500 MW of capacity addition. These
targets would be much easier to meet, if even a
small percentage of Indian population would
take part in it. The concept of Net-metering
could provide the necessary impetus to lure
people in.
Suramya Dwivedi is a 2nd
year student of MBA Power
Management. He is an avid
reader and also likes
playing sports such as
cricket badminton etc.
Parikalp
Project Review
Model for Near Term Load Forecasting
Objective: To develop a universal model for
near term load forecasting which can be used
by any DISCOM for near term load forecasting.
Approach / Methodology: Trend analysis of past
demand for three months in past three years
has been done to estimate future demand of
different consumer categories. Restricted and
un-restricted demand have been estimated,
under appropriate PRM (Power Regulatory
Measure) framework, to estimate total power
requirement in all circles of the State after
making suitable provisions for FSA (Fuel
Surcharge Adjustment) as may be applicable at
the time.
Findings: The load curve flattening will reduce
the burden of extra power to be procured in
short term and thereby reducing the burden of
FSA on the consumers. By the study it comes
out that the State needs to flatten its load curve
especially during early morning hours for all the
three months. Also there is huge gap between
demand and supply during Peak hours of the
day which can be well balanced by month
ahead PPA. Further it may be observed that
state has surplus power in significant amount in
various hours of the months under
consideration. This surplus power may be
consumed or balanced by balancing the PRM
schedule and by load curve flattening.
Rationale / Implications: The significance of the
study to assist a DISCOM to estimate & procure
the balance power, over and above long term
PPA, on month ahead basis and reduce the FSA
burden on consumers.
Limitations: Practical difficulties in category-
wise demand estimation, assumed load factor
of 1 and certain assumptions regarding PRM
pose certain limitations on the scope of the
study.
Originality / Value: India lacks effective tools for
near term load management. The model thus
developed and subsequent analysis shows that
it would help Discoms manage their business
more efficiently.
Author: Ankit Piplani, MBA (Power), 2008-10
E-mail: ankit_piplani@rediffmail.com
Parikalp
Project Review
Model for Near Term Load Forecasting
Objective: The primary objective of the project
is to develop Econometric model to project the
future power demand in State of Delhi and to
validate the Model Projection with the
Projection done by 17th EPS.
Approach / Methodology: The model used in
the present study is a mixed approach of time
series analysis and econometric methods using
SPSS software package. In the contest of this
study, first the explanatory variables have been
forecasted using time series annual data. After
forecasting the variables with time series data,
a multiple regression econometric model has
been developed to forecast the future
requirement of electricity demand. Based upon
the models thus developed, probabilistic,
optimistic and pessimistic energy and peak
demand is estimated. In order to find out the
peak demand annual load factor is also
projected.
Findings: The findings suggest that the
electricity demand in Delhi during the forecast
horizon 2009-22 would be sluggish and within
manageable range. The sluggish power demand
in Delhi would be due to low industrial load and
relatively low growth rate in other consumer
categories.
Rationale / Implications: Power is a critical
infrastructural input which requires long term
dynamic planning to meet the future demand. It
is necessary for utilities to make advance
demand estimation in order to sign a judicious
PPA with the generating company for future
power procurement. This helps reduce burden
on every stakeholder.
Originality / Value: The model can be replicated
for other State with suitable customization as
regards consumer categories and load
behaviour. It would help utilities to become
more competitive and consumers would get
electricity at most competitive prices.
Author: Ashwani Goel, MBA Power, (2008-10)
E-mail: ashwani.kumar.goel@gmail.com
Parikalp
Any Colour You Like
Beauty in Boots
Two months back, the sounds of ‘Waka Waka,
It’s time for Africa’ echoed in every part of the
world, from South America, to Europe and Asia,
to North America, with Africa being the
epicentre. The Beautiful Game. This is how
Soccer is referred all over the world and why
don’t we have any other game with such
perfect blend of passion, speed, glamour,
energy and sporting spirit? Undoubtedly the
answer is a big ‘No’. All year round the English
Premier league, Italian Serie A, Spanish league,
mesmerise the fans with beautiful display of
soccer, with the big daddy ‘Champions league’
terminating the season. Then after every four
years comes the most awaited and most
popular sports event in the world, The FIFA
world cup. Hosted by South Africa, the recent
FIFA World Cup, 2010, symbolized freedom
from hatred and racism. South Africa, a
developing nation just behind India, was able to
host the event flawlessly.
Well I am sure what comes to your mind is a
comparison which is obvious as the CWG are
on, but that is not my objective here and I don’t
want to think about anything else when I am
thinking soccer. ’Soccer thinking’ should be
introduced in management classes. So much of
inspiration can be drawn from a soccer player,
especially the captain who in itself is a full
grown manager applying all management
concepts and applications in his game.
Coming back to the bizarre event, India was
also gripped with soccer fever. Newspapers,
magazines, TV channels gave a real good
coverage and the atmosphere was
unprecedented. In fact, in my 15 years of soccer
craziness I had never witnessed such good
media response and public excitement.
Argentina and Brazil had always been the
favourites among the fans, but this time the
young generation was crazy about Spain and
Germany. Leave aside places like Kolkata and
Goa which have a long history of soccer frenzy,
this time Delhi was high in soccer fever.
Markets like Palika Bazaar, Sarojini Nagar were
filled with soccer jerseys. Messi, Ronaldo and
Kaka jerseys’ demand was at the peak.
Restaurants and Bars grabbed the opportunity
by giving special offers during match hours and
installing big screen TV’s to attract customers.
One full month of international soccer; a sheer
delight for all soccer fans. We Indians proved to
be one of the biggest supporters of the game.
At this point of time I wonder for how long we
will go on cheering for the Albicelestes and
Sambas. Where do we see our nation standing
in this game?
India’s rank in world soccer is 160 and nations
like St Kitts and Nevis, Niger, Nepal , Fiji, Haiti
which are in no comparison to India’s size,
economy, infrastructure and reputation, are
ahead of it. In fact the condition was not so bad
earlier. If we look back, India’s performance till
1970 was really good. The Indian national team
won gold medals in football at the 1951 and
1962 Asian Games, and finished fourth at the
1956 Olympics in Melbourne. The team
qualified for the 1950 FIFA world cup but could
not participate due to lack of practice time and
certain selection issues.
Parikalp
 Now the point is that why at present India is
not so beautiful in this beautiful game. The
question crops up every time a world cup
comes around and we find ourselves farther
from the main draw than Argentina is from
semi-final spot, a grief for a diehard
Argentinean fan like me. There are three
conventional answers to the question: one that
we are physically ill-equipped for the rigours of
the game; two that we lack interest in the
game; and three that we ignore soccer for our
love of cricket. My view may or may not
support the above three points but attempts to
sketch the current picture of soccer in India.
It has been said that Roberto Carlos, once the
most powerful shooter of the ball, had four
times more power in his shoot than India’s best
- Bhaichung Bhutia. If we look at other games,
while we do well in cricket, history speaks even
our best team lineup could not fill the dearth of
a raging fast bowler who can scare the
opposition batsman. Fast bowling is the only
aspect of cricket that demands raw power, a
level of physical ability on par with the
footballers. Surprisingly none of our bowlers
have been able to bowl consistently at over 150
km per hour. Keeping in mind the so much hype
and encouragement given to cricket don’t you
think it points to serious metabolic deficiencies
in the population? Coming to hockey, with the
advent of new playing style with long passes
and introduction of AstroTurf, India’s
performance declined solely due to lack of
stamina and athleticism. Thus it is clear that we
Indians genuinely lack in this aspect of fitness,
and the reason is a late start. In European
countries kids join soccer coaching classes at
the age of 6 or 7. Proper attention is given to
their diet and their physique and stamina is
built accordingly. They are so comfortable with
the ball that no trick seems impossible to them.
But in India majority of players take soccer
seriously at teenage, which is too late for a
game where a player is considered veteran after
28 and is expected to quit. Lionel Messi,
Michael Oven and most of the star players
made their debut in the national squad while
they were aged between 17-19.
Looking at the second reason, citing lack of
interest in the game, I don’t agree because the
craze and enthusiasm was very clearly visible
two months back. Even if I keep aside the world
cup, in normal days also soccer players could be
seen in parks and fields fighting for the ball.
Recently during my visit to Assam, I did a lot of
road travelling and to my surprise; I could not
find a single place where cricket was being
played. From the dense localities of Guwahati
to the sub-urban and rural areas of this
beautiful state, everywhere I could find kids
playing soccer. I remember, soccer was the
most popular sport in my school and we had
special coaching sessions in the morning. In fact
there were regular inter-school soccer
tournaments organised by various schools in
Kanpur. But unfortunately all that excitement
and soccer mania was limited to school life only.
The situation now is more or less the same.
After passing out of school a good soccer player
has no major opportunity to take soccer as a
career. While we have so many cricket
academies, their counterparts in soccer are
rare. Those which exist don’t have proper
training facilities and coaches at par with
international level, and most of them train boys
not kids. This is the one thing I always stress
upon that if we want to go ahead in soccer we
should start right from the bottom. A very good
example is China where small girls of age 5 and
6 were given training for the Beijing Olympics
which took place a decade later. So it is better
Parikalp
to take the initiative with a different approach
which works, with international collaboration
and serious efforts by the government. The AIFF
(All India Football Federation) should set targets
for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA world cups, inject
funds, look for talent, and train to bring them to
the level of Europeans and South Americans.
Passion, which is an integral part of the game
need to be built, because if you cannot feel
soccer, you cannot play it. So better start
feeling the game. Perhaps after a decade we
can sing ‘Waka Waka, It’s time for India’.
Jai Hind……
Mohammed Sarim Siddiqui
MBA- VIIIth Batch NPTI

Parikalp
Any Colour You Like
he knew it had been a mistake. Simone had
(Untitled) said, “I don’t just understand why you keep
thinking of these things. It is all in your mind.
Running as hard as he could, but getting
We live reasonably well. We have all necessary
nowhere. Running, but to what end? Running,
comforts. Just last week we discussed starting a
with no finish line in sight. Tyler was now
family. But you insist on thinking in this manner.
getting tired. He was seeing things it seemed,
Tell me, is there some problem? Don’t I love
because the scenery around him didn’t seem to
you? Don’t you want children?” And after this
be changing. Maybe it was the fatigue getting to
point Tyler had drifted off into his thoughts.
him. He didn’t know, and frankly, he didn’t care.
But now, he was tiring, and getting exhausted.
It seemed to him that his life had no purpose.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he came up against a
As far back as he could remember, he always
wall. He had to go around it, and as he turned a
seemed to be running. Or if not that, then
corner, there were more blockages. It seemed
pulling stuff, or pushing buttons meaninglessly,
as if he had entered some kind of maze. He had
or just sitting around and eating. To put it
to retrace his footsteps several times. It was all
simply, Tyler was depressed. He was fed up of
so confusing and confounding. It seemed as if
this life doing worthless things. His lovely wife,
his world had just been reduced to this race of
Simone, was the same, if not worse off. She also
sorts, and reaching the end of this maze, at the
was doing menial, worthless things.
centre of which he knew lay the golden prize.
Sometimes he sat down and thought, where
Running... deciding... turning... no way
had he gone wrong, where was the wrong step
forward... coming back... starting off in a new
taken, which had led to this. He got this feeling
direction, on a new path... Suddenly, there it
that he was trapped. Even though he did all
was. In front of him, at a mere 100 paces, lay
these different things, he was somehow
the treasure. He ran towards it with a new
trapped. There wasn’t a feeling of freedom in
found burst of energy. To him, it seemed that
these lowly tasks. Oh, he was comfortable, no
with this golden booty lay the answers to all his
doubt about that, but somewhere at the back of
troubles. But, as he reached within sniffing
his puny mind, there was this nagging feeling
distance, amazingly, he was picked up and
that something was amiss.
transported back to his home, alongside his
And today, he had to run. Fighting against every sleeping wife.Again this feeling of helplessness
urge to stop, and just lie down, to rest those and befuddlement broke over him like a
burning muscles, to have a hint of some relief, torrent. So close, and so far. Somehow he felt
any relief, would be a bliss. But he had to run. that they both were just mere lab rats. Which to
And running he was doing. be quite honest, was exactly what they were.
Rats in a laboratory.
As he tired more, the morning conversation
Girish Deveshwar is a 2nd
came to his mind. He had told his wife his fears,
Year MBA student.. His
his insecurities, and as soon as he was finished,
interests are reading, movies
and cricket.
Parikalp
Mystery Of Seven
I happened to go for a wedding a couple of
months ago. As we knew during Indian
weddings, we have 7 rounds (which we call fere
or Saptapadi) around the fire and then bride
and groom ties a knot for lifetime. I was
wondering why we have 7 feres and not 6 or 8...
Then I realized, there are many things which are
7.... Want to check? Let’s start from the
wedding rounds itself.
1. Saptapadi in weddings.
Initially I used to think as normally people say
there are 7 human births a person can have. So
each round might be a replica of each birth. But
when I asked my uncle, he said, with each
round a couple makes a vow to establish a
happy married life. These includes - providing
proper food, being strong and complement to
one another, being blessed with prosperity,
being eternally happy, being blessed with
children, living in perfect harmony and finally
being always the best of friends.
2. Seven days in a week
Have you ever wondered why there are seven
days in a week? There were at least 9 planets
identified when the days, weeks and years into
place, then why not 9 days in week, why 7? It
may be due to the association of the seven
celestial beings (the visible planets plus the Sun
and the Moon) with deities in the minds of
humans from probably an early stage in the
development of intelligence up to the time of
the advent of modern science. As we all know
they include Sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus and Saturn
3. Seven Wonders of the World
The number seven was chosen for this because
the Greeks believed it to be the representation
of perfection and plenty. However it still
continues and now we have different sets of
wonders but in number 7 :) like 7 wonders of
ancient world, 7 wonders of medieval world, 7
wonders of modern world and etc. etc.
4. 7 Sur in music (Saptasur)
Indian Music has Saptak Swaras octets (sa re ga
ma pa dha ni) which are basics of music, using
which hundreds of ragas are composed. The
seven notes of the scale (swaras), in Indian
music are named shadja, rishabh, gandhar,
madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad,
usually shortened to Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha,
and Ni and written S, R, G, M, P, D, N.
Collectively these notes are known as the
sargam (the word is an acronym of the
consonants of the first four swaras)
5. Seven deadly sins
Wrath (Anger), Greed (a sin of excess), Sloth
(neglecting what God has spoken, and being
physically and emotionally inactive), Pride, Lust,
Envy and gluttony (over-indulgence) are
supposed to be seven deadly sins in the world.
6. Seven spirits of god.
As per the old myths there are seven spirits of
god, which include the Spirit of the Lord; the
Spirit of wisdom; the Spirit of understanding;
the Spirit of counsel; the Spirit of might; the
Spirit of knowledge and the Spirit of the fear of
the LORD.
Also, as per Hinduism, there are seven worlds in
the universe, seven colors in rainbow, seven
seas in the world and seven Rishis (seven gurus)
called sapta rishis which include Bhrigu, Atri,
Angirasa, Vasishta, Pulastya, Pulalaha and
Parikalp
Kratu. There are seven virtues as per the Expecting a solution in the next issue of
catholic epistemology including faith, hope, PARIKALP.
love, patience, kindness, courage and justice.
According to Arthur M. Young there are seven Sunil Sharma is a 2nd year
student of MBA Power
levels of evolution. According to Charles Muses
there is a seven-dimensional Q-universe which Management. His interests are
is the master control center of our 3-D universe. reading and cricket
There are seven step pyramids in Mexico, seven
step ziggurats of Mesopotamia. And the
mystery of number Seven continues :) can
anyone help me in solving this puzzle?

Parikalp
अभभव्यक्ति

है सफ कछ उसके ऩास भगय,

में तया चाहिा हॉ
सही होते बी ग़रत फना,
ना भस्जजद चाहता हॊ ना भॊददय चाहता हॊ ,
इॊसानों भें भसीहा है वो,
हय ददर भें भोहब्फत का सभॊदय चाहता हॊ !
फॊटने को हास्जय सदा यहा.
जहाॉ बी दे खता हॊ वहाॉ गभ ही गभ हैं,
अफ तो फस खशिमों के फवॊडय चाहता हॊ !
भशरक कहता उसका मे जग,
अफ तक हाया हॊ फस हायता यहा हॊ भैं,
जफ जहाॉ ऩकायो आता है ,
अफ खद को एक फहत फडा शसकॊदय चाहता हॊ !
वो प्माय का बखा आज तरक,
औय फडे फडे भक़फयों से कोई इश्कक़ बी नहीॊ भझे,
झोरी ऩर भें बय जाता है .
खद के शरमे भहकता हआ खण्डहय चाहता हॊ !
ऩय कहाॉ रुके आॉस फहते,
फेचाया सोचा कयता है ,
यचना की थी भैने स्जसकी,
nd
Navneet Vashisht is a 2
year MBA student and a member of
वो भझे उराहनें दे ता है .
the Editorial
Board of Parikalp
स्जस भाटी से फना है त,
वही भाटी तेया अॊत फनी,
रार कयी धयती तने,
जो कबी यही थी हयी बयी.

ि मेरा अपना है
तेये जीने से खि हॉ भैं,

उजरी जग की याहों भें , ऩय मह जान रे त प्माये ,

चभकते उज्जवर तायों भें , चाहे जो भज़हफ हो तेया,

फैठी खाभोि ननगाहें हैं, रगे भझे अऩने साये .

चऩ सी सनती आहें हैं.

भझे फाॉट कय नाभ ऩय,

कहता है वो, भैं क्मा कहॉ? त क्मा कय रेगा हाॉशसर,

कहना बी भस्श्ककर रगता है , उस छोटी सी बशभ ऩय ही,

इस भल्मवान सॊसाय भें , नाभ तेया होगा धशभर.

पकीय फना सा फपयता है .

Parikalp
चाहे फनरे भॊददय त, जो दय हआ जड से तो वो,
मा भस्जजद ऩय ही खि हो रे, टटा पर ना परता है .
डेया भेया है ददर तेया,
ना बेद फकमा कबी भैनें,
भझे प्माये प्रेभभम भें रे.
फ़िय त क्मॉ बेद फनता है ,
ऩाना चाहे तो सोच ज़या, भेये नाभ की इज़्जज़त भें ,
कैसे त भझको ऩाएगा, त भझे चनौती दे ता है .
तेया कभामा धन वैबव,
सफ मही धाया यह जाएगा. त आज बी भेया अऩना है ,
मे तेया बी तो सऩना है ,
भैं दे ख यहा हॉ आज महाॉ,
आन शभरो आऩस भें सफ,
भेय धयती अफ योती है ,
भोती शभरे तो गहना है .
छाती ऩय अऩनी जफ खद के,
गगयते फच्चों को सहती है . Piyush Arora is an alumnus of
NPTI,
त हय को जीत सभझता है , He is currently working with PWC
जफ अऩनों से ही रडता है ,

Parikalp
World’s Best Medicine

भैं एक केऩदटव ऩॉवय प्राॊट, त 250 भेगावाट का जनये टय

पॉवर मॅनेजर की ज़ुबानी पक्नन की िारीफ
है ,
अये ओ ऩॊडडताइन, भेयी हाइ वोल्टे ज राइन,
भैं गचम्पनी से ननकरता धआॉ हॉ त इरेक्रोजटे दटक
गजसे भें ये ड हॉट है तेये चेहये ऩय ब्रॅ क जऩॉट है !
प्रेशसपऩटे टय है !
अये तेयी वजह से ही तो भेयी पॅशभरी मे जटे फर है ,
भैं आयजीजीवाई को तयसता गाॉव औय त आयएऩीडीआयऩी
तेयी गथी हई छोटी जैसे एरयमर-फनच्ड-केफर है !
मोजना
त जफ-२ भजकयाती है धडकन की यें ज फढ़ जाती है , भझे रयॊग पेस््सॊग भें ्करड कयरे त भझे भत छोडना त
अचानक गजसा होकय अनिेड्मल्ड इॊटयचें ज कय जाती है ! भझे भत छोडना !

अये भैं गरी भें जरता रटट हॉ त हाइवे की योडराइट है , नवनीत वशिष्ठ
भैं खडखद कयती ब्रराइन त एएय-इॊडडमा की फ्राइट है ! उजाड प्रफॊधन (2009-11)

३२ की हो गमी है त फपय बी जैसे २४ सार की एज है ,

भैं टॉयें ट ऩॉवय की ददहाडी त ऩीडब्ल्मसी का ऩैकेज है !

त एकदभ गोर चऩाती है औय भैं जैसे गीरा आटा हॉ,

त एक कम्पप्रीट डीऩीआय औय भैं केवर फेसराइन डाटा हॉ !

तेये बफना कछ नहीॊ त रयएस्क्टव भैं एस्क्टव ऩॉवय हॉ,

त सऩय हीटे ड जटीभ है औय भैं कशरॊग टॉवय हॉ !

भैं कॅक्टस का ऩौधा हॉ औय तभ परों की भारा हो,

इतनी सॊदय हो जैसे सीडीएभ से फना डारा हो !

भैं इरेक्रो-भेकेननकर भीटय सा नघसट यहा तभ एएभआय

सी पाजट हो,
भैं कोमरे की भारगाडी हॉ तभ एक्सप्रेस सऩय पाजट हो !

भैं डफती अनफॊडल्ड मटीशरटी, तभ फ्रेंचामज़ी का भॉडेर हो,

भैं जटे ट फोडड की वेफसाइट, तभ एभओऩी का ऩोटड र हो !

Parikalp
Funny Quotes

"I find television very educating. Every time Arey yaar- Rohit Chaturvedi
somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room
and read a book."(Groucho Marx)
Earlier- The Sun never sets in Great Britain

"Dad always thought laughter was the best Now- The Sun never sets in Room No. 233- Arun
medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of Mehta
tuberculosis."(Jack Handy) Contributor: Arun Mehta

"2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2."-unknown

"A fool and his money are soon venture capital"-

Some Finance guy I presume

And God said let there be light and there was light,
but the electricity board said he’d have to wait till
Thursday- Unknown

Parikalp
Travelogue
And then it all began... a journey from Kolkata to
Kandhamal
It was pin drop silence then. The HR had just
announced some of us who were allocated the BT
project were being sent in an unpaid leave for six
months. British Telecom (30% stake holder in Tech
M), the UK telecom giant, withdrew a huge project
from Tech Mahindra, whom I worked for, and hence
the decision. We were promised to be called back
but, somehow, I could not buy the idea and
resigned.
I started preparing the basics of electrical
engineering- my domain of study which,
unfortunately, I had left studying after I got placed
in the IT before the 6th semester. But, somehow,
within a short span of time I made it to NHPC as
Engineer (Electrical). Actually, it was a rural
electrification project under RGGVY. Eventually, I
was posted in Kandhamal district of Orissa.
Considering the distance from Bhubaneswar (219
KM), I inferred that it was the only reason why
people were reluctant to join there. I was wrong
though. I heard that it was a Naxal infested area. I
got a taste of it just a few months later.
Anyway, after a hectic 7 hours bus journey covering
an entire night, I reached there. The place was the
district headquarters, called Phulbani. It was mostly
hilly area covered with thick forest and intersected,
unevenly, by non-perennial rivers. I was allotted six
blocks, consisting 952 villages executable as per the
DPR. With an official vehicle and a JE, I started
visiting the sites very often. It was then, for the first
time in my life of 22 years, I came in direct contact
with some part of rural India; got introduced and
then accustomed to their life and lifestyle. Initially, I
was apprehensive about it. Who would like a place
where even mobile network was unavailable for
most of the time in a day? But then, gradually, I
became a part of it. Life in those remote pockets
amidst forests and hilly terrains fascinated me to
work up to the limit of my potential. It was a
challenging job though. A part of my work was to
design the layout of the transmission and
distribution lines up to 33 KV. All these required a
lot of travelling and communication with the
natives. Even without knowing their language I took
them in confidence. I realized it was one’s body
language or goodwill that speaks, not the dialect. In
various villages I witnessed ruins of a lethal
communal riot, which took place in 2008, between
Hindus and Christians following the murder of
certain Hindu Leader. With no industry around and
due to remote location, it was indeed one of the
most backward districts of India. This very fact,
paved the way for a certain group to rise- the
Maoists! I still remember the day when I was
stopped midway by a group of people who said
armed training were going around in the area. We
could not go further. It was sort of a stern order.
Later, quite a few times, I noticed those red colored
banners and posters on the trunk of trees or
cottages. It all contained messages either to indulge
villagers for certain meetings or warning against
entertaining the police under any circumstances. Let
me recall an incident jus after Operation GreenHunt
was started in two districts of Orissa, (namely,
Koraput and Malkangiri). For monitoring certain
erection work I had to go to a place called Raikia,
110 km away from the district headquarters. I was
accompanied by my driver. After we reached there I
was looking for the way to certain village but I
couldn’t spot anyone nearby whom I could ask. A
man, quite old, saw our car but then suddenly ran
away. In those few seconds I noticed fear with
trembling emotions in his eyes. “People are helpful
here but what happened suddenly”? I wondered.
Parikalp
The path ahead was rocky, not suitable for vehicle. I
got down n started walking. After walking half a Km I
saw a few cottages. All of them seemed vacant but
then, suddenly, I confronted seven or eight people
blocking my way. They were asking me something in
their native language. “I couldn’t understand what
you all are talking about”, I wanted to say. But
couldn’t. They were not at all co-operating; it was
not ignorance but waywardness. It was unnatural. I
understood only one word ‘police’. Keeping my
nerves cool, I tried to explain my situation politely. I
clarified why I was there. They seemed to
understand my point. I could notice terrified faces
peeping from the muddy doors and windows
watching me in utter disbelief. I came to know then
that previous night a group of around 60 armed
Naxalites visited the village. They torched a lorry,
another 50 meters away from where I was standing,
carrying materials for some activities under PMGSY
(Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana) and killed
someone accused to be an informer. The news did
appear in the local morning newspapers but I missed
it. Even, they forcibly had dinner in the village which,
later I heard, was be a regular phenomenon. I also
understood that the old man who ran away once
seeing the vehicle, actually, thought it to be Police
one. He didn’t want to get a bad name.
I have left NHPC two months back. Still, sometimes,
some incidents squeeze in my thoughts. After the
Raikia visit I spoke to contractors and sub-
contractors of the area. We took some local people
for the work. But just that; the erection rate was not
from the contract agreement signed in the
corporate office. It was the rate decided by
someone else. This truce had to be reached in order
to carry out the electrification activities in four
blocks. Now, when I recall those moments, I get a
strange feeling which I cannot scribble it in words.
My life there was not actually enchanting, but,
somehow, may be for a change, but in those 1.2
years, I gained an experience of a lifetime. I indeed
became a part of them and the place. I think of
those flashy multiplexes in Kolkata and those mushy
forests in Kandhamal. It is then I realize what a
journey it had been- a journey worth remembrance.
From Kolkata to Kandhamal……
Indradeep Das
MBA (Power management)
1st Year(2010-12)
Parikalp
Personality of the Month
TULSI TANTI
Ever heard of an electricity bill inspiring someone to
build a multibillion empire? Sounds weird but an
electricity bill has once shown its prowess. A textile
manufacturer in Surat, Gujarat was disgusted out of
infrastructure bottlenecks. The biggest of them all
was the cost and unavailability of power, which
formed a high proportion of operating expenses of
textile industry. His new line of polyester yarns was
doing well, but India's shaky power grid and the
rising cost of electricity offset any profits. "We were
constantly innovating, but we weren't able to
control the price of power," he says. So he decided
to generate his own. And rest is as we call it
‘History’.
The maverick about whom we are talking about is
Tulsi Tanti and the company is Suzlon. It was the
time when innovation was only a word in the
dictionary and the most successful were the ones
who dreamt very conventional, very routine. After a
few years of research, Tulsi settled on wind power,
buying two turbines to provide his energy needs.
The initial cost was steep, but the company, now
headquartered in the western Indian city of Pune,
was no longer buffeted by the seesawing cost of
fossil fuels. But his fellow men branded him as
insane with the expenditure of the turbine
exceeding that of textile business itself. But soon
Tanti was preaching to fellow industrialists about
the economic advantages of staying off the grid. He
realized that he had stumbled onto a promising
business opportunity. In a power-starved nation,
renewable energy has a favoured future.
In early 2000, the inveterate traveler read a report
on global warming predicting that without a radical
decrease in the world's carbon emissions, some of
his favourite tourist destinations, including the
Maldives, would be under water by 2050. It was
then that Tanti realized his fate lay far beyond the
latest advances in synthetic fibres. "I had a very
clear vision," he says. "If Indians start consuming
power like the Americans, the world will run out of
resources. Either you stop India from developing, or
you find some alternate solution."
Selling some family property, the Tantis put together
$600,000 as seed capital to start Suzlon. They
shopped around for technology in Europe, but no
one was willing to give it without having an equity
stake in the venture.
Finally, Sudwind, a small German company agreed,
provided Suzlon bought ten turbines. Tanti
convinced IPCL, a petrochemicals company that had
been supplying raw materials for his yarn business,
to sign up as Suzlon's first customer. Suzlon
completed IPCL's 3.5-megawatt project using
Sudwind's turbines within the three-month
deadline. Tanti claims that ten years on, this first
wind farm continues to run at 97 per cent efficiency.
But the brothers, all four engineers, wanted to
prove their technical prowess by crafting their own
turbine. Their research efforts got a boost when
Sudwind went bust in 1997. They hired Sudwind's
engineers and created an R&D centre in Germany.
The subsequent acquisition of a manufacturer of
rotor blades in the Netherlands gave them access to
technology for a key component.
Parikalp
By 1999 Suzlon had introduced its partly home
grown turbine into the market. Today the company
has three research sites, in Germany, the
Netherlands and India, which are linked together.
One important mission: to find ways of increasing
output so cost per kilowatt of energy-generated
decreases. At the same time, Tulsi Tanti is shrewdly
consolidating his hold on component supplies, a
critical success factor in this business. Today apart
from the wind power generation Suzlon is seriously
into wind turbine manufacturing, project services,
and operation & maintenance.
Suzlon today has employee strength of over 16,000
people in 25 countries. It has operations across the
Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. It has fully
integrated supply chain with manufacturing facilities
in three continents. Suzlon’s sophisticated R&D
capabilities in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, India
and The Netherlands are the evidence of his
visionary approach and holistic foresightedness. It’s
clearly a market leader in Asia. Apart from these it
has a vision of world domination in the field it is in.
All this accomplishment is the fruits of the hard
work and risk taking attitude and aptitude of its
founder, Mr.Tanti.
Tulsi Tanti is a visionary businessman and a great
leader with an aim of providing sustainable source
of energy to the planet. It is because of these
efforts that he has been awarded several awards of
international reputation. Now it’s up to us to get
inspired by such endeavours in making our society
and planet green, clean and energy sufficient at the
same time.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
 Hero of the Environment” Award by TIME
Magazine
 Silver Jubilee Global Award 2008” for his
outstanding contribution for development
of Wind Energy by Priyadarshni Academy.
 Rajiv Gandhi Award 2007” for the most
successful Industrialist in India
 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
2006” award by Ernst & Young
 India Business Leader Award 2006” by CNBC
TV18 in the category “The most promising
entrant into the big league”
 Teri alumni Award” for outstanding
Entrepreneurship in Energy – Environment
Technologies 2006 by The Teri alumni Trust
 Best Renewable Man of the Decade” which
is a lifetime achievement award from the
Foundation of Indian Industry and
Economists in 2005
 World Wind Energy Award 2003” for his
extraordinary achievements in the
dissemination of the wind energy in India
 Business Leadership Award 2002” by Solar
Energy Society of India, etc.
Gaurang Singh is a first year student of MBA Power
Management. He is a music
and literature buff.
Parikalp
E-Cafe
Music Reviews by Arun & Gaurang
Coke Studio : Season 3
What do you think is a challenge? To deliver
excellence, or to meet the expectations, or to
supersede the expectations..? I think the last one
and Coke Studio has just done that with its third
season out. It has delivered it again and with more
captivating music this time. Although the theme is
same, presenting fusion of rich subcontinent music
but season 3 has a hidden intention of bringing out
obscure genres of music. That too, with all the
suavity and elegance. We have ‘fakir’s rhythmic
kalams’ by Juman Shah; a 250 year old tradition,
then we have poetry recital by Arieb Azhar, core
Sufic Punjabi in the form of Arif Lohar, and even
Dari and Persian ballads. Innovation in the band is
accompanied by introduction of Sagar Veena and
Rubab in the band. Season 3 is an eclectic melange
of intricacies of Pakistani music. If music stalwarts of
Abida Parweeen and Tina Sani are face of the
traditional music in season 3, then ADP, Karavan,
Zeb and Haniya, and Entity Paradigm stand for the
contemporary music. The season spread over 5
episodes termed Reason, Will, Conception, Form
and Realisation bringing enriched flavours and
diversity to quench your cravings with its soulful
poignancy. It would be unfair to compare but the
standouts I feel are Meri Araj Suno, Alif Allah, Chori
Chori and Nazar Eyle. Plus stunning performances by
band and vocalists have suited the ever-evolving
dynamics of what it stands for. A MUST HEAR !!!
How The West Was Won – Led Zeppelin
How The West Was Won is a live album by the
English band Led Zeppelin that was released in 2003,
the complete album comes in a set of three compact
discs. The album comprises of some of the best
tracks of the band. Led Zeppelin are known as one of
the best rock bands of all time, with several singles
topping the charts. The band comprises of Robert
Plant (vocalist), Jimmy Page (guitarist) and John
Bonham (drummer).
If you are a hard rock or blues rock fan, then some
of the songs are highly recommended by me.
1. Stairway to Heaven: Stairway to Heaven is also
called as “Rock Anthem” and has been the most
requested song on FM stations. No doubt that you’d
have to listen to it a few times patiently , once you
understand the lyrics and the theme of the song
,you’d be hooked to it. Towards the end of the song
the guitar solo played by Page can be said to be
inarguably the best guitar solo that has ever been
played.
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2. Heartbreaker: Ever thought what it feels like
running on a guitar, listen to this single and you’d
feel as if you might actually be running on a guitar.
Sounds crazy enough!! Try it out.
3. Since I’ve been loving you: By looking at some of
the lyrics you can see what the song’s about “Since
I’ve been loving you, I’m about to lose, my worried
mind …oh yeah”. It is perhaps the best blues song
I’ve ever heard. Page cries with the guitar and Plant
actually does.
4.“Going to California”: It is a song about a search
for a woman, a very beautiful song indeed. Some of
the interesting lyrics are
” Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn Tryin'
to find a woman who's never, never, never been
born “
5. “What is and What Should Never Be”: Listen to it
on your headphones and enjoy the mellow
psychedelic music.
Movie Reviews by Gaurang
Pulp Fiction
Irony, dark humour and more irony, more dark
humour is what Tarantino fills you with, but when it
comes to Pulp Fiction it goes a notch higher. Simply
picture this. A goon (Samuel Jackson) pronouncing a
bible phrase while justifying his killing.
‘Ezekiel 25:17 the path of the righteous man is
beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and
the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the
name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak
through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his
brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.
And I will strike down upon thee with great
vengeance and furious anger those who would
attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you
will know my name is the Lord when I lay my
vengeance upon tor thee.’
This dialogue tantalizes the farcical in you. In fact
the entire movie is full of them. Whether its
henchmen musing over burger or the outlaws
discussing about giving a foot massage.
The movie moves around three stories with
characters ranging from bank robbers to drug
mafias, from hit-men to professional boxers and
from thieves to don’s wife. Movie is all about how
these unrelated characters are interwoven and how
plot culminates in a bizarre climax. Tarantino’s deft
treatment of the character and handling of the
climax makes it an all time classic.
No, you can’t take the credit away from the acting
department. Career best performances by Samuel
Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Bruce Willis, but
stands out is John Travolta where he plays Vincent
Vega, a hit-man for his mafia boss and ironically
displays honesty and loyalty.
Overall, a great movie if you have got a taste for
dark comedy. A great background music is
something which adds to the feel of the movie (Pulp
Fiction theme is a cult as you know).
The real beauty in the movie is the moral element
that is evident in spite of all bitching going on
around. Addictive, to be precise. So, go and watch it
if you haven’t, and watch it again if you have.
Parikalp
Shall We Dance
You know what sets apart the Hollywood actors
from their Bollywood counterparts? Though it’s akin
to comparing India and United States, but what
specifically sets them apart is the grace and
elegance with which the actors in Hollywood carry
their age. Be it De Niro, Daniel Craig, Brosnan or
Hanks. They are not
like Indian actors
like Dev Anands
and SRKs who
perpetually want to
appear young but
the beauty lies in
how they carry
their age with
suavity and
panache. And
Richard Gere does
it exemplarily in
Shall We Dance.
The movie is about mid life crisis when John Clark
(Gere) in spite of a handsome job and a good family
misses the spark in his life, goes on to enrol himself
in a dance class, bewitched by the trainer Paulina
(Jennifer Lopez). But slowly he falls in love with
dancing . He is a bit shy and doubtful of revealing his
new found passion to his family. But, the twist
comes when Gere’s wife catches him trying to be
youthful and gets suspicious. The movie ends in a
delightful note where he realistically goes back to
his wife and embraces her
The high point of the movie is the Gere-Lopez dance
which is immaculately performed with grace and
passion. Gere is at his charming best while Lopez is
not in a glam character but adapts a doleful
disposition out of her past relationship blues. The
characters other than leads are also smartly
portrayed. You really feel light and great after
watching the movie. It’s a decent romantic movie. I
would again mention the quality dancing and music
of the movie. It’s a mix of light emotions and surely
a good watch.
Book Reviews by Gaurang
The last lecture
‘The last lecture’ is actually based on the lecture
given by Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon. Pausch, a
computer science professor in the university
delivered this lecture when he was already
diagnosed with a terminal cancer. And ironically
enough the book is not about dying but about life,
about overcoming the obstacles, giving wings to the
dreams of others and most importantly living life to
the fullest. He talks about his childhood dreams of
being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, contributing
to Encyclopaedia,
winning stuffed
animals, being a
Disney designer
and being
captain Kirk. And
then how he
goes on to
achieve these
dreams in some
or the other
manner. Like he
learned the
lessons of life from what he wasn’t able to achieve.
What’s the best part of the book is that it’s not the
routine inspirational monologue but it’s an
interesting book filled with humour, anecdotes and
intelligence. I particularly liked the practicality and
real-life dealing of the book. It stays away from the
abstract sermons and is unputdownable.
One of the most touching lines in the book is ‘I
would rather love to die with cancer rather than hit
by a bus,because if I am hit by a bus I wouldn’t have
the time to spent with the family or to prepare for
Parikalp
my death’. The last lecture was a commercial and Istanbul. Overall, a book that needs to be reread
success and critically acclaimed throughout the over and over to savour the taste it offers.
world. So, if you are feeling low and frustrated, turn
the pages and feel the rejuvenation. Happy reading.. Gadget Review by Gaurang

Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk SONY W SERIES WALKMAN

If you are expecting a travelogue from a Nobel Prize

winner, you are absolutely prejudiced. Orhan Pamuk
has crafted a soulful childhood memoir which is
simply treat to your
senses. A museum-
in-words, it puts
across the dilemma
of identity
ambiguity of
Istanbuls as a
whole. It is Finally Sony reads the mind of the all the youth and
depiction of a city comes out with an all-problems-solved mp3 player.
torn between First of all its ultra compact with mp3 player in built
eastern (Islamic) in the ear buds. And yes, its wireless, making your
and western life easier. You can make your drive-outs in rains
ideologies. Originally written in Turkish by Pamuk, more eventful as W252 is waterproof and with 11hr
the book manages to elicit wistful nostalgia about battery backup. Coming with attractive colour
glorious Ottoman empire. In one of the chapters he options it’s got 2GB memory and Zappin which
rues ‘so poor and confused that it can never again makes it convenient to choose the song of your
dream of rising to its former heights of wealth, choice. It can prove to be a great company while
power and culture.' workouts. Available at a prize of Rs.4990, it adds to
your style quotient and certainly the music quality is
In fact, the symbolism is at its best when he
awesome.
describes the snowfall, the huzun, Bosphorus River,
dilapidated medieval age monuments and in the NOKIA C3
process conveys without conveying. Intertwined
with the meticulous portrayal is Pamuk’s Now Nokia comes up with a high
biographical account which is as beautiful as former. quality phone with Wi-Fi connectivity
Growing up in Nisantasi district reading Freud, and Qwerty keypad at the price of
Sartre, Kemal etc he portrays the himself as a only Rs.7000. Another key feature in
liberalist drinking alcohol and having a love affair, the phone is Facebook and Twitter integration. The
but deep down you can feel it’s an illusion he wants phone has all the necessary multimedia options.
you to experience. Opera works swiftly on the phone and makes
browsing fast. The negatives in the phone are its
The book is beautifully illustrated with the help of screen and camera. Otherwise it is smart budget
photographs which showcase his childhood, family buy.

Parikalp