The light bulb moment

“Lighting big common areas in apartment complexes is draining us dry, but the offer from Philips to switch from compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and tubelights (linear fluorescent tubes) to light-emitting diode (LED) lights seems good,” says Amit Jain, director general of Federation of Apartment Owners Association in Gurgaon.

Let solar shine

Chinese suplex

Companies that mine rare earth elements, which power mobile phones and car batteries, keenly await the outcome of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan in mid-November. The two countries are likely to reach an agreement that would facilitate setting up of a rare earth-processing plant in India by Japanese auto giant Toyota Tsusho. This could open a new business chapter for both the countries.

Letters - April 30, 2012

Give coffee a chance

Losing light

The scheme sounded promising when it was launched. Replace all 400 million incandescent bulbs across the country with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). This will save 10,000 MW per hour, sufficient to light 100,000 houses with four CFLs each. But three years on, the Bachat Lamp Yojana of the Centre has failed to take off in most states, let alone deliver.

Let there be CFL

Arnab Pratim Dutta

Flicker of solar light in Chhattisgarh

Suntechnics shop in ambikapur district Read full story: Hope flickers Photograph by: Surya Sen      

Flicker of solar light in Chhattisgarh

Sukhwanti Bai's 1 day old goats trying to eat Surya's jeans Read full story: Hope flickers Photograph by: Surya Sen      

Flicker of solar light in Chhattisgarh

Local grocery shop in barnawapara sanctuary also uses a separate panel Read full story: Hope flickers Photograph by: Surya Sen      

Flicker of solar light in Chhattisgarh

Chetan Pradhan is the local school teacher. All of his students pass the exam since solar lighting came Read full story: Hope flickers Photograph by: Surya Sen