India leads in Auto technology - Car run by Air power

TThere is an old saying in India not to build castles in the air... meaning too much hot air in your talk, that myth is about to be busted. India is building cars that run on air power; compressed air. 

This is one small step for mankind, but a giant leap for independence from fossil fuels. I am sure, air impact studies will be done, environmental effects will be considered, but we are moving forward.

Hopefully we will manage our planet responsibly.

In my weekly article at Dallas Morning News, I wrote, "If Senator Mulla Santorum had attended science classes; he would have known how fertile lands become deserts, or how irresponsible management of waste can cause our water to be destructive to health, and how the soil erosion (alluvial) can rob the food productivity. If we don't take care of mother Earth, she would deprive us of her fruits. It is a mutually respectful relationship with Earth, and not a Bam, slam, thank you maam kind of relationship."

We are all a part of one interconnected and interdependent system. Keeping its equilibrium is our responsibility for our own survival as a part of the whole.

Hope you are as excited about the innovation as I am. 

This Air Car almost sounds too good to be true. We'll see in August. 2012

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/53641/tata-mini-cat-air-powered-car-on-sale-from-mid-2012

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. All his work is indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net 

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The following is an excerpt from Tata Motor company.

News of Tata's air-powered "Mini CAT" car first surfaced way back in 2008, and even now it remains one of the most contentious articles on the TMR website.

Now, the Indian owner of Jaguar and Land Rover, and producer of one of the world's most affordable cars - the Nano - has confirmed that the Mini CAT will hit showrooms in August.

The Mini CAT is made mostly from fibreglass, with a bonded (glued) tubular chassis rather than welded. And power, of course, is provided entirely by compressed air.

Fuelling the car costs only as much the electricity needed to power the compressor - around $2, Tata says.

After a 'fill', which takes around three to four hours at home or only a few minutes at a suitably equipped service station, the Mini CAT is supposedly good for around 300 kilometres.

Developed jointly with ex-F1 engineer Guy Negre and his outfit Motor Development International, the Mini CAT will be priced from around $8000, or around four times the price of the Nano city car.

What will the Oil Companies do to stop it?
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It is an auto engine that runs on air. That's right; air not gas or diesel or electric but just the air around us. Take a look.[cid:_2_09DF50AC09DF4B70000A4D62CA25791F]

Tata Motors of India has scheduled the Air Car to hit Indian streets by August 2012
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The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy N. For Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons and make the car go. The Air Car, called the "Mini CAT" could cost around 365,757 rupees in India or $8,177 US.

The Mini CAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis, a body of fiberglass that is glued not welded and powered by compressed air. A Microprocessor is used to control all electrical functions of the car. One tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, turn signals and every other electrical device on the car. Which are not many. The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power.

There are no keys, just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100 KM, that's about a tenth the cost of a car running on gas. It's mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car, a factor which makes it a perfect choice for city motorists. The car has a top speed of 105 KM per hour or 60 mph and would have a range of around 300 km or 185 miles between refuels. Refilling the car will take place at adapted gas stations with special air compressors. A fill up will only take two to three minutes and costs approximately 100 rupees and the car will be ready to go another 300 kilometers.

This car can also be filled at home with it's on board compressor. Itwill take 3-4 hours to refill the tank, but it can be done while you sleep. Because there is no combustion engine, changing the 1 liter of vegetable oil is only necessary every 50,000 KM or 30,000 miles. Due to its simplicity, there is very little maintenance to be done on this car.

This Air Car almost sounds too good to be true. We'll see in August. 2012

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/53641/tata-mini-cat-air-powered-car-on-sale-from-mid-2012

Israel Palestine commitment, part 2

Israel's security and justice to the Palestinians are directly proportional to each other. Hundred percent security for Israel comes with 100 percent justice to the Palestinians. A majority of people in the conflict understand this, but the leadership runs aground with short sighted false perceptions.

Huffington post on Israel Palestine solutions : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/commitment-to-israelpales_b_1263793.html

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Mike Ghouse is a writer, thinker and a speaker on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace and building a cohesive America, links to details at www.MikeGhouse.net.

Indians chart New World waters

Feb 17, 2012 Indians chart New World waters By Raja Murthy NEW DELHI - Christopher Columbus, who thought he had discovered India when he ran into North America sailing for a new spice route, might be even more convinced these days, with Indians set to become the largest segment of foreign workers and second-largest number of students seeking visas for the United States. In a year in which immigration polices are stormily featuring in the debate for the November elections, United States President Barack Obama appears singing a different visa tune from when assumed office four years ago. India had the highest American visa rejection rates in the world in 2009, a year after Obama became president, according to a US immigration report this month. Visa rejections for Indians rocketed up eight-fold to 22.5% of applications from 2.8% the previous year. On January 19, Obama ordered a streamlining of the visa process to increase travel to the US from countries like China, India and Brazil, in what might well be the largest peacetime movement of people in human history, between the world's two largest democracies and the world's most populated country. "The number of travelers from emerging economies with growing middle classes - such as China, Brazil, and India - is projected to grow by 135%, 274%, and 50% respectively by 2016 when compared to 2010," James W Herman, the Minister-Counselor for US Consular Affairs in New Delhi, informed Asia Times Online. Visa applications from India are projected to increase at 14% year-on-year until 2020, he said. Herman said India has the highest number of business visas to the US issues worldwide, and is placed second for student visas. He expects that each year until 2020, US consulates in India will process 2.1 million visa applications - over twice the population of a small country like Bhutan. Whatever the distant past, the present widening of doors has raised the hackles of Republicans. The US Congress is scheduled this month to investigate allegations that immigration officers are being pressurized to speed-up visa applications without due regard for fraud and security. The probe follows the US Department of Homeland Security issuing a 40-page report, later leaked to the public, alleging that 25% of immigration officers said they had been urged to approve dubious visa cases. One officer was even demoted for rejecting too many applications. But a spokesperson for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service denied any such goings-on. Visa quotas are blistering the presidential election year - a legacy that could perhaps be blamed on the Iranians. A certain Persian king Artaxerxes I (464-425 BC) of Achaemenis dynasty is said to have issued the world's first ever visa or passport, circa 450 BC. He gave a letter to a court official granting him safe passage to lands "beyond the river". He thus started the history of visa woes and American immigration headaches - and perhaps gifted habitual Iran-bashers in the US some more ammunition. The Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said Obama's presidential executive order on visas encourages "terrorism and visa overstays". Relaxed visa norms threaten "the integrity of [the American] immigration system", blasted Lamar Smith, US congressman from Texas who chairs the House Committee on the Judiciary. "It's outrageous that administration officials would compromise national security for their own political agenda and gain." More trouble erupted with allegedly increasing H-1B visa fraud, with the Eastern District Court of Texas issuing a subpoena to leading Indian software firm Infosys last May for alleged misuse of work visas. In 2011, nearly 700,000 US visa applications were processed in India and a record 67,105 H-1B work visas were issued, mostly to software professionals. India accounts for nearly 65% of the H-1B visa applications US embassies receive worldwide, but Indian trade associations complain that is not enough. The US embassy in New Delhi has even set up a special department to deal with H-1B visa woes. But while H-1B visa workers are suspected of stealing American jobs, other travelers from India, China and Brazil are welcomed as job creators. The US State Department estimates that every additional 65 visitors leads to one more tourism-related job in the US. Doubling arrivals from China, India and Brazil would support over 200,000 jobs, according to the Washington-based US Travel Association. Popular US Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana endeared herself even more with the US travel fraternity in 2011 when she ardently pushed for conducting tourist visa interviews through secure, remote video-conferencing technology. Regular consular access itself can be a nightmare in vast countries such as India, China and Brazil. Entire families and tour groups have to sometimes travel thousands of kilometers to the nearest US consulate just to apply for a visa. China, with over 450 cities each with over 1.5 million people, has only five cities - in Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu - with a US consulate offering tour group visa interviews. India has four US consulates - in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The video conferencing move if implemented to could increase millions more visitors from India, China and Brazil. Currently, Japan, South Korea and Singapore are the only three Asian countries among 36 nations whose citizens do not need a paper visa to stay in the US for a period of 90 days. But given the desperation of some folks in this part of the world to get to the US, it's not quite likely that Indian and Chinese travelers can in the near future land at New York's JFK airport without the US visa stamp. Even a simple tourist visa may not always appear straightforward, according to some interview experiences [1]. China saw an even bigger demand to travel to the US, with over one million visa applications in 2011, a 34% increase over 2010. Nearly 260,000 visas were processed in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, compared to 175,000 visas in 2011. Visa interview waiting times in China have shrunk to just two days at the five US visa-processing consulates. Expanding infrastructure to cope with the visa rush can brew a controversy or two, as when the US consulate in Mumbai shifted address last November. Its longtime premises Lincoln House in Breach Candy, South Mumbai, was palace of Maharaja Wankaner Pratapsinhji, king of Wankaner, a small Western Indian princely state until 1947. The palace occupying 8,345 square meters of prime Mumbai real estate was given on a 999-year lease to the US government for 1.8 million rupees (US$36,000) in 1957. A political ruckus may erupt if the US government tries selling it - and possibly violates Indian laws of property ownership for foreigners. The US consulate had not much choice but to move address in Mumbai. If Maharaja Pratapsinhji applied for a US visa circa 2011, he might be playing mobile phone games all day and night outside the US consulate in queues sometimes over 3,000 people. Local residents complained. The Maharaja's descendants, having no surviving lease documents, say they will not challenge any American sale of their ancestral property. "I look at it as one of the biggest donations an Indian citizen may have made to the world's richest nation," a descendant Digvijaysinh Jhal resignedly told the Indian Express last November. The "donation" is worth about 18 billion rupees (US$361 million) in current real estate prices. The US though has still a bit of time to decide Lincoln House's future - until the year 2956. The less royal, more spacious new American consulate in suburban Mumbai has 44 visa counters and two large waiting halls to seat 2,000 visa applicants at a time. US Embassy staffing overall across India has in fact increased by whopping 60% in 2011. But it still may not be enough to cope with Asia's rush to America, and consequent chain of events.

Indians among world's happiest people: Poll

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/02/indians-among-worlds-happiest-people.html

 (Reuters) - Despite economic woes, wars, conflicts and natural disasters the world is a happier place today than it was four years ago and Indonesians, Indians and Mexicans seem to be the most contented people on the planet.

More than three-quarters of people around the globe who were questioned in an international poll said they were happy with their lives and nearly a quarter described themselves as very happy.

"The world is a happier place today and we can actually measure it because we have been tracking it," said John Wright, senior vice president of Ipsos Global, which has surveyed the happiness of more than 18,000 people in 24 countries since 2007.

But he added that expectations of why people are happy should be carefully weighed.

"It is not just about the economy and their well being. It is about a whole series of other factors that make them who they are today."

Brazil and Turkey rounded out the top five happiest nations, while Hungary, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Italy had the fewest number of happy people.

Perhaps proving that money can't buy happiness, residents of some of the world biggest economic powers, including the United States, Canada and Britain, fell in the middle of the happiness scale.

"There is a pattern that suggests that there are many other factors beyond the economy that make people happy, so it does provide one element but it is not the whole story," said Wright.

"Sometimes the greatest happiness is a cooked meal or a roof over your head," he explained. "Relationships remain the No. 1 reason around the world where people say they have invested happiness and maybe in those cultures family has a much greater degree of impact."

Regionally Latin America had the highest number of happy people, followed by North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. Only 15 percent of Europeans said they were very happy.

On a more personal note married couples tended to be happier than singles but men seemed to be as content as women. Education and age also had an impact with more people under 35 saying they are very happy than 25-49 year olds. Higher education also equated with higher happiness.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney,; editing by Jill Serjeant)

My Republic Day Message to Indians, happy Republic Day India!

 

January 26, 2012. Today is India’s Republic day; the day India adopted its constitution on January 26, 1950. Indeed, we are one of the few stable pluralistic democracies in the world where the rule of law is honored,  where we have learned to respect the otherness of other and accepted the uniqueness of each individual and his faith. We are not there fully, but we will make it while other nations are struggling with the idea of co-existence, we have demonstrated it for thousands of years. Democracy and liberty runs through our veins and I am pleased to submit a proposal for consideration. 

We are proud of our heritage - a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-regional and multi-linguistic society, where we have come to accept and respect every which way people have lived their lives. For over 5000 years, India has been a beacon of pluralism - it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. 

We are Adivasis, Atheists, Baha’is, Bos, Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Hindus, Jains, Jewish, Muslim, Sikhs, Tribals, Zoroastrians and every possible grouping. We are Brown, Black, White, Yellow and green with envy and phir bhi dil hai Hindustani (our heart remains Indian).

We see God as one, none and many; and in every form; male, female, genderless and non-existent, being and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names.

We may want to consciously start thinking and acting as one people, one people within a nation and a community and one people globally. It’s like home when we are conflict free.  I do hope each one of us purges any bias towards the other, there is joy in being free from ill-will. Try to be free from it this day forward… free from anything that prevents you from being a part of the whole.

Our combined philosophies believe in one world ; Hinduism describes the world as Vasudaiva Kutumbukum, the whole world is one family, the idea of Ek Onkar(one) in Sikhism, you are all created from the same couple as Quraan puts it and Jesus embraced every one regardless of who any one is... similar philosophies are grounded in all our religions.

A few don't follow their own heritage and resort to thievery, loot, murder, terrorism, rioting, rapes, infanticide and other evils that destroy the fabric of the society,  but a majority of every group goes about their own way, living their life with struggles and ease and don't even bother others. We should build upon the 99% of population and not on the less than 1% that does not follow any principles.

On this day, and every day from here forward, make a pledge to yourselves to talk about in terms of us Indians - and not Malyalee, Gujarati, Bengali.... or Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaee. Don't expect others to jump and say the same, give them the time and if you are consistent for at least a year, you will see others emulating you.

Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences. Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility. I am proud of my heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American.

I hope you take time to ponder on the following;

I propose that the parliament of India introduce a bill for every political, cultural and religious organization in India to register with the Home Ministry, state their purpose, list their assets for public scrutiny, and list the membership roster to be updated annually. Include a modified version of the 7 items into Indian Penal Code, and make it in to the law to punish the violators of the law.

Patriotism should be defined in terms of what you do to uplift the hopes of people, in terms of education to all, jobs to as many as we can in each successive year, home for every human, and a better life style to every Indian.

Every public office holder from the Peon to the President of India, and every one in between must take this pledge and live by it. Violation should disqualify him or her from holding the public office. Let it be monitored publicly.

INDIA'S PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

1. I pledge allegiance to India, indivisible nation that stands for liberty and justice for all.

2. I pledge that I honor and treat every Indian with "full" dignity.

3. I pledge that all individuals would be treated on par.

4. I pledge that I will treat all religions with equal respect, equal access and equal treatment.

5. I pledge that I will oppose any act that treats any Indian less than me.

6. I Pledge that I will work for an India, where every individual can live with security and aspire for prosperity.

7. I pledge that I will protect, preserve and value every inch of India and every human soul in India

This would be the first step towards ensuring a Just, peaceful and prosperous India, that can sustain its progress and peace.

Link to this article: http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com  

Jai Hind


Mike


Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer speaker and an activist of pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on http://www.mikeghouse.net/ 

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Stand up for a Hindu family in Norway, sign the petition

Norway is one of the nations looked up for best the civil conduct; however, they have failed to even study the culture of their inhabitants. Here Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharaya fed their child with hands as is the custom in their home land, India, and had the kids sleep on their bed. The Norway government found that to be offensive and abusive and took the child away from the family.

It has happened in Dallas with an Albanian Muslim family, where the father had her little girl sit in his lap and watch the basketball game in school, and it was reported as an abuse.  The tragedy in both places would be if the child is passed on to a foster family who would raise the child in a different faith than what the child was shown in his or her formative years.

Please sign the petition; sign this petition or click the following link

http://www.change.org/petitions/ambassador-wegger-chr-strommen-reunite-indian-family-in-norway-feeding-children-by-hand-is-not-abuse

We have to stand with all those to whom injustice is met. Please do it now.

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse
Committed to cohesive societies.
www.MikeGhouse.net

Surya Namaskar and Muslim Response

http://www.indianmuslimobserver.com/2012/01/latest-editorial-surya-namaskar-and.html
By Mike Ghouse

The Surya Namaskar is a Hindu religious tradition, a beautiful act of bowing to the Sun and welcoming the first rays of dawn as an expression of gratitude to the energy it breathes in to life and everything about life.

India is a pluralistic society, where we have come to respect every which way one worships one, none or many representations of God. Even among Hinduism we have an amazing diversity of people who express their gratitude from no to an iconic to an abstract manifestation of that elusive creator.

The Chief Minister of the State of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan called on the schools and the public to join him in the Surya Namaskar to beat the Guinness world record set by the Kazakhs who currently hold the world record in mass prayers. The intent of performing this act with a million people was not for spiritual need, but to get on the Guinness Book of World Records; a crazy passion of Indians.

At least Shivraj Singh Chouhan did better than Rick Perry, the governor of Texas who invited the evangelist exclusively to pray for the nation’s well being in a certain way to exclude all other Americans including Christians of different denominations. Indeed he duped the evangelicals in buying their support for his bid to the Presidency.

The Times of India reported that the city’s Chief Muslim cleric Qazi Abul Kalam Qasmi said, "Parents should take a call on sending kids to school, if there is apprehension that the child may be forced." The newly appointed Qazi maintained that Suryanamaskar, which involved 'bowing before the sun', was against Islamic tenets. "If a Muslim performs the 'suryanamaskar' the child and his parents would both be accountable in the act of felony." Qasmi maintained.

Indeed, the Qazi is right; it is not an Islamic practice to bow to any manifestation of God, but the God himself the non-visible energy. Everyone should have the freedom to pray or not pray in certain way and no one should compel or look down for not participating. That is our pluralistic ethos for over 5000 years and we need to be loyal to that heritage.

An alternate way to look at the opinion of the Qazi would have been to participate in the group act, but do it in a way that works from an Islamic point of view. This would have meant that we are all in this together for a better India and better place to live cohesively. However, no one should expect everyone to jump and do what they do. It would have been a good example of working together without compromising our faith.

Prophet Muhammad had led mass Prayers for rain and famine and for other goodness of the society. Two years ago, I was planning on going to Florida and witness a pastor burn the Quraan, if he was indeed burning, I was going to pray my two Rakat (unit) Nafeel Muslim prayers next door to his Church in an open space with prior permission from the City. We all would have prayed for his well being along with several fellow Muslims. Burning Quraan was not an act of bravery but stupidity and countering it with anger would have been greater stupidity. Unfortunately he postponed his act and I had a 9/11 Unity Day event the next day in Dallas as well.

There are examples set by Prophet Muhammad for situations like this. While he was travelling to Taif, a few miscreants pelted rocks at him causing him to bleed, his associates wanted to go get the boys, but Prophet stopped them and instead asked them and the Angel Gabriel to join him in prayers and pray for their well being. This is what Jesus meant when he said, turn the other cheek.

Prophet Muhammad was the ultimate peace maker, every act of his is a model for us to learn from, and he was the consummate conflict mitigater and goodwill nurturer.

When we attend weddings, some of us are strictly vegetarian and some eat variations of meat products from fish and poultry to beef. We wear different clothing’s and drink a variety of sodas to coffee with cream or black and same goes with the tea. Do we have a problem with that? Then we should not have the problem with this either as long as the Chief Minister is not getting his wish at the cost of public funds.

The right wingers among us need to honor Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs and Hindus for their choices and each minority should not take this as an imposition in a free society. Nor any one should be negative if one does not participate.

May Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s dreams to solidify his political stand come true and those who are opposed to him politically can also hold a Chandra Namaskar to get what they want, but together, let Madhya Pradesh go on the Guinness book of world records. Bengal or any other state has a choice to out do it as well.

[Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies where no Indian has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net and his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike Ghouse is now associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Foreign Editor. He can be contacted at MikeGhouse@aol.com]