Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, passes away

Neil Armstrong, the first man to land on the Moon, has died at the age of 82.


As commander of the Apollo 11 Mission, Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon on 20 July 1969.


Earlier this month, he underwent heart-bypass surgery to relieve blocked coronary arteries.

Understanding the CAG Report on CoalGate

Between 2004 and 2011, the government allocated 218 coal blocks to private sector and public sector companies (including ultra mega power projects). Of these, the major allocations were made between 2004 and 2009 with only two allocations being made in 2010 and 2011. 21 allocations made during the period have since been cancelled.

These coal blocks were given away for free. This was done in order to increase the total coal production in the country. The government owned Coal India Ltd., which accounts for 80% of the total coal production in the country, hasn't been able to produce enough to meet the growing energy needs of the country.

Between 1st April, 2004 and 31st March 2012, the production of coal by Coal India has increased by just 65 million tonnes to 436 million  tonnes. This means a growth of 2.3% per year on an average.

Hence, to increase the overall production, the government gave away coal blocks for free so that power plants, including captive plants, are not starved of coal.

The CAG (Comptroller & Auditor-General) put the losses on giving away these blocks at Rs 1,86,000 crore. They used a certain methodology to arrive at this figure. First and foremost, the blocks given to the public sector companies were ignored while computing losses. Secondly, only open-cast mines were considered while calculating these losses, underground mines were ignored.

The coal that is available in a block is referred to as geological reserve. But due to various reasons, including those relating to safety, the entire coal cannot be mined. What can be mined is referred to as extractable reserve. The extractable reserves of these blocks (after ignoring the public sector companies and underground mines) came to around 6,282.5 million tonnes. The average benefit per tonne was estimated to be at Rs 295.41.

As Abhishek Tyagi and Rajesh Panjwani of CLSA write in a report dated 21 August 2012, "The average benefit per tonne has been arrived at by first, taking the difference between the average sale price (Rs 1,028.42) per tonne for all grades of CIL(Coal India Ltd.) coal for 2010-11 and the average cost of production (Rs 583.01)  per tonne for all grades of CIL coal for 2010-11. Secondly, as advised by the ministry of coal vide letter dated 15 March 2012, a further allowance of Rs 150 per tonne has been made for financing cost. Accordingly, the average benefit of Rs 295.41 has been applied to the extractable reserve of 6,282,5 million tonnes calculated as above."

Using this very very conservative methodology, the losses were calculated to be at Rs 1,85,591.33 crore (Rs 295.41 x 6,282.5 million tonnes) by the CAG.

These coal blocks, after being handed over for free, have been producing very little coal. Guidelines issued by the coal ministry call for captive blocks to start production within 36 or 42 months.  According to CAG, these blocks were producing around 34.64 million tonnes of coal as on 31 March 2011. This is minuscule in comparison to the extractable reserves of 6,282.5 million  tonnes that these blocks are supposed to have.

The government of India gave away coal blocks for free.  The CAG needed a method to calculate the losses on account of this. And it went about it in the best possible way. It essentially assumed that if the government had sold the coal that could be extracted from these mines it would have made around Rs 1,86,000 crore. In fact, by not taking into account the blocks given to public sector companies and and the underground mines, CAG underestimated the quantum of the loss.

The CAG can be criticised for not taking the time value of money into account. But the moot point is that whatever the assumptions made to calculate the losses, the resulting number would have been very big. And that is something that the government cannot shy away from.

Between 2006 and 2009 the Congress-led UPA government gave away 146 coal blocks to private and public sector companies for free. These blocks had geological reserves amounting to a total of around 40 billion tonnes of coal.

The CAG, in its report, points out that India has geological reserves of coal amounting to around 286 billion tonnes. Of this nearly 40 billion tonnes, or nearly 14 per cent, was given away free.

The fact that this time around the allegations relate to the time when no less than the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, headed the Coal Ministry, has forced the government into even more of a defensive posture. And particularly since, after the draft report of the CAG came out and anti-corruption activists had tagged Manmohan Singh to the list of 15 Ministers they had wanted investigated on corruption charges, the government’s response points to a touchiness beyond the ordinary.

Source : Firstpost, Indian Express

Microsoft unveils Office 2013

Microsoft Corp unveiled a new version of its Office suite tailored for tablets and other touch screen devices.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer presents Office 13

Q. Who is the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp.?
A. Steve Ballmer. And Bill Gates is the chairman.


Q. What are the new main features of Office 2013?
A. It is a based on cloud-computing (that is, all your documents and settings are stored on the Web, by default). It is touch-friendly and designed for tablets and computers with Windows 8 as their operating system. It also incorporates Skype, the video-calling service that Microsoft bought for $8.5 billion in 2011.


Q. What is meant by Cloud Computing?
A. Cloud computing refers to a growing trend toward providing software, storage and other services from remote data centers over the Web instead of relying on software or data installed on individual PCs.


Q. What is the name of the cloud-computing service of Microsoft?
A. SkyDrive

Sunita Williams and two astronauts dock Russian spacecraft at ISS

 Record-setting Indian-American cosmonaut Sunita Williams along with two other astronauts today docked their Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the International Space Station for a four-month stay.

Q. Who are the other two?

A. Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer  Akihiko Hoshide.

Q. What is the record set by Sunita Williams?

A. She holds the record of the longest spaceflight-195 days-for women space travelers. 

Q. Where did the spaceflight take of?

A. From baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

Q. What is going to be her position in the crew?

A.  In the space, she will become commander of Expedition 33


Q. When was she selected by NASA?
A. In 1998. Second woman of Indian origin to have been selected by NASA for a space mission after Kalpana Chawla.