World's top 10 electricity producers, India 5th

World's top 10 electricity producers, India 5th

The world is already in the grip of a major power crisis. With the developing nations' appetite and demand for more energy, the situation is likely to get even worse if steps are not taken to find alternate and clean/green sources of energy
Almost all natural resources that are used to generate power -- oil, gas, even water -- seem to have limited availability. Thus alternative sources of energy --  wind, nuclear, solar -- might be the way out for the developing as also the rich countries.
After the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, many nations pledged to reduce their carbon emissions. Developing countries, including India and China, believe it is the responsibility of wealthy industrialised nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States to cut more carbon emissions as they have already achieved a certain standard of living.
As India and China, and indeed other nations, grow towards attaining better lifestyles and living conditions for their populations, their appetite for electricity will only rise further.
The total electricity production in the world in 2008 stood at 19,950,3917,395,212 kWh (kWh, or kilowatt hour, is a unit of energy equal to 1,000 watt hours), while the total power consumption was 17,109,665,000 gigawatt hours. The per capita power consumption in the world was 297 watts: almost six times the Indian average.
So which are the world's largest producers and consumers of electricity?
1. The United States of America
The world's largest producer of electricity is indeed the United States of America. In 2008, America produced a gigantic 4,110,259,050,000 kWh of power.
The US is also the world's largest consumer of electricity. In 2007, it consumed 3,872,598,000 megawatt hours of electricity, but its per capita power consumption, at 1,460 watts, it is not the highest in the world.
Countries like Iceland (3,152 watts), Norway 2,812 watts, Finland (1,918 watts), Canada (1,910 watts), Qatar (1,757 watts), Sweden (1,692 watts), Luxembourg (1,549 watts), Kuwait (1,540 watts) among others have a much higher per capita power consumption than the United States does.
2. China
China, the world's fastest growing major economy, is undeniably a global economic powerhouse. In a testimony to its growing clout, China's nearly $5 trillion economy surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy in June 2010.
While the global financial crisis was a catastrophe for most economies, it was more an opportunity than a calamity for China. It is an energy-hungry nation, and its rapidly growing economy required more and more reserves to keep it going. That is why the Asian giant has been buying into natural resources and reserves globally.
Bolstered by massive stimulus measures and improving domestic output, China has clocked a staggering economic growth rate of almost 10 per cent for several years.
The Asian giant is the world's superpower in hydropower generation and its total electricity production in 2008 was 3,221,798,270,000 kWh, second only to the United States.
Even in power consumption, China ranks second in the world. In 2009, it consumed 3,650,600,000 gigawatt hours of electricity. At 277 watts, its per capita power consumption is almost five times that of India.
3. Japan
Japan, which is the world's third largest economy, produced 1,009,445,000,000 kWh of electricity in 2008 making it the world's third largest generator of power, ahead of Russia and India.
Japan's total electricity consumption in 2008 was 1,007,067,000 gigawatt hours, with a per capita power consumption of 868 watts. It is the world's third largest consumer of electricity.
4. Russia
Russia is the world's fourth largest producer of electricity. In the year 2008, the Russian Federation produced 982,998,790,000 watts of electricity.
Russians consume 840,380,000 gigawatt hours of electricity making them the fourth highest users of power. The per capita power consumption in Russia is 785 watts, which is more than 15 times what an average Indian consumes.
5. India
India faces a power crisis of such magnitude that it can be termed as one of the biggest threats to the nation's economic growth and progress. Today, decades after Independence hundreds of Indian villages still do not have electricity, especially in the rural areas.
Among the cities, with the sole exception of Mumbai, almost all Indian cities suffer daily power cuts, affecting industry, business, education and life in general.
And this, despite the fact that India has the fifth largest electricity-generation capacity in the world. It has an installed capacity of over 152 gigawatts (1 gigawatt is equal to 1 billion watts).
In 2008 (which are the latest figures available), India produced 787,546,450,000 kWh of electricity, which is about 4 per cent of the total power generation in the world. Only four other countries produce more electricity than India.
India is also the world's fifth largest consumer of electricity. In 2007, India consumed 568,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity, which works out to an average of about 51 watts per person.
Comparatively, the per capita electricity consumption in the United States is 1,460 watts, and in China it is 700 watts.
India has amongst the lower per capita power consumption rates in the world. Only Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Congo, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sudan, Cameroon, Nepal, and some other sub-Saharan countries have lower power consumption than India.
6. Canada
Canada produced 614,227,000,000 kWh of power in 2008. It ranks as the sixth highest consumer of electricity in the world.
Canada, however, is the seventh largest consumer of power. In 2008, it consumed 536,054,000 gigawatt hours of electricity, at a per capita rate of 1,910 watts (37 times that of India).

7. Germany
Germany, with a 2008 electricity production of 589,042,000,000 watts, is the world's seventh largest producer of electricity.
At a consumption rate of 547,326,000 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2008, Germany is the sixth largest power consumer. Its per capita consumption is 822 watts.


8. France
France is the world's eighth largest producer of electricity. In 2008, it generated 539,022,000,000 kWh of electricity.
France's per capita power consumption is 851 watts, and it is the world's eighth largest consumer of electricity at 447,233,000 gigawatt hours.
9. Brazil
The BRIC nations have a huge power generation and consumption capacity. After China, Russia and India, Brazil too ranks among the top 10 power generators. In 2008, Brazil produced 448,913,750,000 kWh of electricity, making it the world's ninth highest power generator.
Brazil also consumes a hefty amount of electricity. In 2007, it consumed 403,029,000 gigawatt hours of electricity, making it the world's ninth largest user of power. Its per capita consumption is 226 watts.
10. South Korea
South Korea generated 415,970,000,000 kWh of electricity in 2008, making it the world's tenth largest power producer.
The Asian economic major is the world's 10th largest power user. It consumed 386,169,000 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2007, with a per capita usage of 879 watts.

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New Zealand named most peaceful country on earth

New Zealand has been named the most peaceful country on earth in the annual Global Peace Index.

The index is based on the ranking of 144 nations on the basis of how peaceful they are.
The Kiwi nation’s relatively low rate of violence, decrease in military spending, and the election of a conservative coalition government last year are being credited for winning it the top position in the index.
"The centre-right National Party has a strong popular mandate and a robust parliamentary majority by New Zealand''s standards, putting the new Prime Minister, John Key, in a good position to push through his agenda," news.com.au quoted the report as stating.
New Zealand also topped the list because of its homicide rate and the level of respect for human rights.
It has replaced Iceland, where incidences of violence and violent demonstrations have increased following the collapse of banking in the country.
Denmark, Norway and Iceland came second, third and fourth, respectively, followed by Austria and Sweden.
New Zealand''s National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies has pronounced the index a pretty good reflection of countries in which people want to live.
"If you look at the top 20, they are all small nations based on strong welfare principles, all with good and relatively uncorrupt governance," said Professor Kevin Clements, the director of the centre.
Australia was 19th, sandwiched between Switzerland at 18th and Chile at 20th, and an eight-spot improvement on last year.
Iraq was at the bottom of the list, sitting below Afghanistan, Somalia and Israel, followed by Sudan, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Pakistan, Russia and Zimbabwe.
Britain made 35th place, a slight improvement on last year, while the US came in 83rd, six places up the ladder from 2008.

Why is Nepal's 'Taj Mahal' hidden from honeymooners?

When New Delhi resident Ketaki Gupta visited Nepal on her honeymoon this year, the bubbly copywriter and her sales executive husband Nitin dutifully visited popular tourist destination Pokhara city, the casinos, and the hallowed Pashupatinath temple, as recommended by their travel agent.

Travellers enjoy the the view of Mount Everest at Syangboche in Nepal.

"It's after I went back home and met a chance traveller from Nepal that I came to know about Nepal's 'Taj Mahal'," the 28-year-old bewails. "Why weren't we told about it earlier? We would have loved to visit it."
It's not only the Guptas who were in the dark about the ideal destination for honeymooners. Thousands of Indian tourists who flock to Nepal every year remain glued to the beaten track, with little knowledge about other exciting destinations in the tiny neighbouring republic that however has an incredibly rich range of places to visit and do.
As Nepal celebrates its Tourism Year 2011 with a campaign to bring one million tourists, the emphasis is on promoting neglected destinations with intense potential.
The 19th century Tej Mahal in western Nepal, known as Nepal's Taj Mahal, is also a tribute to love, built by an aristocrat who was also the grandfather of Vijayaraje Scindia, the Rajmata of India's erstwhile princely state of Gwalior.

Holiday makers watch a one-horned rhinoceros crossing the Rapti River in search of food at Sauraha forest, Nepal.

Located in Tansen, a quiet town at 4,300 m above sea level and known as Nepal's Darjeeling, Tej Mahal, popularly called Rani Mahal, was built by Khadga Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana in 1897.
It was a tale of love in the times of intrigues, danger and banishment. The ambitious Rana, a general of the Nepal Amy, plotted the assassination of his uncle, Ranadip Singh Bahadur, with his brothers but once the deed was done, he was banished to Palpa in western Nepal by his wary brother Bir, who succeeded the slain ruler.
Rana was also stripped of his title as commander in chief of the army and later died in exile in Banaras.
During his disgraced exile in western Nepal, he is said to have consoled himself by strolling with his wife Tejkumari along the banks of the Kali Gandaki river and the foothills which offered a scene of breathtaking beauty.

Tourists take pictures at Sarangkot in Pokhara.

According to the legend, the queen had a premonition of her death and asked Rana to build a memorial so that her memory would stay alive in people's mind.
When she died, he is said to have built the two-storeyed memorial mansion exactly where she expressed the wish, surrounded by shrines and a layered garden.
The palace was neglected after Rana's death with his successors afraid to claim the property due to his disgrace.
It was taken over by the Department of Archaeology and given a facelift in 1998. But since then, given the protracted political uncertainty in Nepal, the Tej Mahal has neither been restored fully to its old beauty nor promoted widely.
Tansen can be visited from Pokhara and offers several other places of interest.
It has a 64-room old palace that was attacked by the Maoist guerrillas in 2006, a bustling market also famed for the handwoven Dhaka cloth, reminiscent of the intricate Dhakai saris of Bangladesh, and a breath-taking view of Himalayan ranges, including Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Machhapuchhre.
Source: Sudeshna Sarkar/IANS
Image credits: Reuters

Women are better at forgiving than men: Study

Parents forgive more than children, while women are better at forgiving than men, according to a new study.

The study into the emotional differences between the sexes and generations in terms of forgiveness was conducted by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

"This study has great application for teaching values, because it shows us what reasons people have for forgiving men and women, and the popular conception of forgiveness", Maite Garaigordobil, co-author of the study and a senior professor at the Psychology Faculty of the UPV, said.

This study is the first to have been carried out in Spain. It shows that parents find it easier to forgive than their children, and that women are better at forgiving than men.

"A decisive factor in the capacity to forgive is empathy, and women have a greater empathetic capacity than males", Carmen Maganto, co-author of the study and a tenured professor at the Psychology Faculty of the UPV, said.

The results, which were measured using a scale to assess the ability to forgive (CAPER), and a scale of forgiveness and facilitating factors (ESPER), show that there are differences in the reasons that encourage forgiveness according to people's age and sex.

Children believe that "one forgives with time", while parents point to reasons such as "remorsefulness and forgiving the other person" and "legal justice".

The authors of this study say that parents who have forgiven most over the course of their lives have an increased capacity to forgive "in all areas". Parents and children use similar definitions of forgiveness. Not bearing a grudge, reconciliation and understanding-empathy are the terms most used by both groups to define forgiveness.

However, there are greater differences between men and women. Both see "not bearing a grudge" as the best definition of forgiveness, but men place greater importance on this characteristic.

The study, which was carried out with the collaboration of 140 participants (parents and children aged between 45 and 60, and 17 and 25, respectively), highlights two key conditions for a person to be forgiven. One is for them to "show remorse" and the second is for the person who has been offended "not to bear a grudge".

The experts say the family environment plays a key role in transmitting ethical values.

"This result is especially interesting in situations where families are in crisis and no basic education can be expected of them in terms of values. This education is largely transferred to the school", the researchers explain.

The research "opens up many new questions" for the two investigators, who believe it is "necessary to study the role that forgiveness plays in psychological treatment, especially among victims of sexual abuse, physical and psychological maltreatment and marital infidelity, as well as other situations".

The study has been published in the Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología.

Couples who marry at a young age are most likely to divorce

Couples who marry in their twenties are most likely to divorce, according to official figures.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 10.5 people out of every 1,000 married Britons divorced last year, down from 11.2 people in 2008, reports the Daily Mail.

But among 25- to 29-year-olds, the rate is more than twice as high, at 21.7 men and 25.1 women out of 1,000 in the age range getting divorced in 2009.

Experts have blamed an emerging concept of the "starter marriage", which sees young couples view splitting after only five years and before they have children as acceptable.

"People obviously don't see divorce as the cataclysmic event that they might have in the past," Jenny North, head of policy at Relate, told the Daily Telegraph.

Meanwhile the official figures also showed that number of marriages ending in divorce has fallen to its lowest annual level for 35 years.

There were 113,949 divorces, a drop of 6.4 per cent in 12 months and the lowest since the mid-1970s.

Although the figures can be partly accounted for by the fact that fewer couples are choosing to marry, they suggest that those who do are increasingly likely to stay together.

Experts have claimed that the economic downturn has prevented some warring couples from divorcing because they cannot afford to separate.

What is Life?

Life is a challenge...............Meet it.

Life is a
gift...............Accept it.

Life is an
adventure................Dare it.

Life is a
sorrow...............Overcome it.

Life is a
tragedy...............Fase it.

Life is a
duty...............Perform it.

Life is game...............Play
it.

Life is a mystery...............Unfold it.

Life is a
song..............Sing it.

Life is an
opportunity...............Take it.

Life is a
journy...............Complet it.

Life is a
promise...............Fulfil it.

Life is a
love...............Enjoy it.

Life is a
beauty...............Praise it.

Life is a
spirit...............Realise it.

Life is a
struggle...............Fight it.

Life is a
puzzle...............Solve it.

Life is a
goal...............Achieve it.

Life is a
friend................Live it.