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Will electric vehicles reduce pollution? Data driven thinking in the Indian context

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This article is not from my area of expertise but from my area of interest.  To clear the context for my readers, I am not trying to calculate the carbon footprint from the production of IC engine vehicles or their electric counterparts. I am just trying to understand if using electric cars will reduce pollution in my country. For ease of comparison, I will use Nexon EV and its IC engine counterpart which uses petrol as fuel. Electric vehicles, similar to your mobile phones run on electricity stored in batteries. If they have to be clean, then it is very important that the source of your electricity is clean. The current pool of grid electricity in India consists predominantly of electricity produced from coal-fired power plants.  According to sources from the ministry of power website, out of the installed capacity in India, 58.5% of installed power generation capacity is fossil fuel-based (of which coal-based power plants alone contributes to 50.7% of the total installed cap...

Friday, June 24, 2022

Fridays are the most meaningful days in a week. I got up early. It’s a Friday. I have to be on time to catch the 7pm bus to Angamaly - the place where wife stays with my little one. Have to each there, spend two days playing with my little one and kill the tiredness of the week. Every Friday recently has been so, everything has to fall in place so perfectly so that I can be on time for the bus, I have to finish my work in time and then beat the Chennai traffic. Finished my morning chores. Rushed into the kitchen, heated up some left over food for breakfast. Stuffed myself with it. Dressed up. Grabbed the bike key and on my way out,once again I checked the bag I had packed for the evening, just to be double sure I haven’t missed out any items from my standardized list of contents for my regular weekend trip. Locked my door and left for office carrying my laptop bag. I was among the first to reach office. Pulled my chair, switched on my laptop, took out my ‘todo’ list. Checked my pending...

Your kid, his school bus and a near miss - Welcoming the start of another academic year

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Sharing my experience from three days ago. It was around 8am on a regular weekday.I was returning from the sports center driving my two wheeler at a speed of 30kmph (trust me, it is impossible to drive at speeds above 30 on those roads if you love your spine). It was a narrow road, a school bus was at a safe distance ahead of me. It stopped abruptly not at the side, exactly at the middle of the road and thereby occupying at least 60% of the space on the road). I was also in a hurry as I had to reach my room, get ready and return to my office by 9am. In my mind I was cursing that badminton match that went longer than usual. I honked and overtook the vehicle. All this time there was a kid who was 4 or 5 years of age standing still at the right end of the road in school uniform holding his mother's hand. I continued to drive through the right side of the stopped school bus and then to my surprise found the kid leaving his mother's hand and crossing the road. I was shocked a...

Wireless, no strings attached

No feelings and I faked a smile Nothing even as I shook hands I pulled my heart out to see Yes, it beats But I never wore her on my sleeve anymore I exist, I do Five hundred miles away From where my soul smiles Yes, we exist dear life. Love, even as you forget to live Spread love, melt boundaries