The President of India's speech.

The President of India's speech.

*The President of India DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad *

Got 10 minutes for our country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.

Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke.
The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon ¡ (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .

Why don't YOU spit Paan (sirih) on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay , Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.

This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.'
So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'
Let's do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam

FUEL | maximise value for your money !

This is a Message received from a friend:I don’t know what you guys are paying for petrol… but here in Durban, we are also paying higher, up to 47.35 per litre. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money’s worth for every litre. Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline, where I work in Durban, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel; the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.

ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKKIE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD.

Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening…. your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role. A 1degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

WHEN YOU’RE FILLING UP, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER OF THE NOZZLE TO A FAST MODE. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, Compiled by Ramesh Patel on 16.03.2008 @ 10:00Hrs. Page 1 of 2 Compiled by Ramesh Patel on 16.03.2008 @ 10:00Hrs. Page 2 of 2 middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return.

If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less worth for your money. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine.

Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated, so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

ANOTHER REMINDER, IF THERE IS A FUEL TRUCK PUMPING INTO THE STORAGE TANKS, WHEN YOU STOP TO BUY, DO NOT FILL UP - most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope, this will help you get the maximum value for your money.

1001 petua jimat minyak

Kenaikan harga petrol dan diesel mulai Khamis lalu pastinya membuatkan para pemandu dan penunggang terdiam sejenak, mencongak-congak kaedah atau cara paling efektif untuk menghadapi beban lonjakan harga emas hitam tersebut.

Walaupun keadaan seperti ini bukan pertama kali berlaku, namun masih ramai pengguna kenderaan masih belum melaksanakan secara aktif dan agresif segala kaedah untuk mengurangkan belanja pembelian minyak.

Dalam halaman Enjin minggu ini, penulis cuba berkongsi kaedah dan cara yang difikirkan paling efektif, mampu dilaksanakan dan berkesan agar poket tidak terlalu nipis sebelum akhir bulan akibat belian yang terlalu tinggi untuk mengisi perut kenderaan menerusi perubahan sikap dan kemampuan teknologi.

Antara yang paling mudah untuk dilakukan ialah jangan memandu secara agresif, berlumba-lumba dan terkinja-kinja terutama ketika berhenti di lampu isyarat atau terperangkap dalam kesesakan jalan raya dan meletakkan kenderaan di tempat yang teduh.

Jangan memecut sesuka hati dan mengehadkan kelajuan pada paras had yang ditetapkan sama ada di jalan negeri, persekutuan atau lebuh raya kerana semua maklum mengenai peningkatan revolusi per seminit (rpm) akan menjana kenaikan tahap pembakaran.

Selain itu, kurangkan jumlah barang atau muatan dalam kenderaan agar kenderaan menjadi ringan dan tidak memerlukan bahan bakar yang banyak untuk membolehkannya bergerak serta memastikan angin dalam tayar kenderaan sentiasa berada pada tahap yang optima.

Barang-barang seperti buku dan dokumen perniagaan, fail cukai pendapatan, alat memancing, beg golf, komponen alat ganti, surat khabar lama dan segala macam khazanah perlu ditinggalkan di rumah atau di kitar semula sahaja.

Kalau boleh kurangkan juga pemasangan penghawa dingin terutama ketika waktu malam yang boleh membantu menjimatkan pembakaran minyak kerana selain menjimatkan minyak, langkah ini turut membantu memelihara alam sekitar menerusi pelepasan karbon.

Rancang juga perjalanan anda terutama ketika balik kampung atau pergi bercuti, cuba elakkan pemanduan di kawasan yang sesak, jalan raya yang sedang dalam pembinaan dan berbukit agar masa menjadi lebih singkat dan jimat minyak.

Pada masa yang sama, kurangkan komitmen untuk memandu dengan memilih untuk berjalan ke destinasi yang dekat seperti kedai atau restoran selain menggunakan medium pengangkutan lain seperti basikal.

Jadual Pemandu juga dinasihatkan melakukan servis kenderaan mengikut jadual penyelenggaraan yang ditetapkan kerana enjin yang tidak diselenggara dengan baik boleh menyebabkan kos bahan bakar sehingga sehingga 50 peratus.

Tukar air filter sebelum ia menjadi kotor dan gunakan minyak enjin yang asli dan bersih dan ditukar setiap tiga hingga lima ribu batu selain memastikan gas cap ditutup dengan ketat sehingga bunyi klik kedua.

Langkah berkongsi kereta ke destinasi tempat kerja yang sama atau car pool memang boleh menjimatkan minyak dan sekali gus mengurangkan kesesakan lalu lintas sesuatu kawasan, misalnya bandar raya Kuala Lumpur apabila tiba waktu puncak.

Kempen kongsi kereta ke tempat kerja selama ini gagal dilakukan kerana faktor sikap dan mempunyai agenda kehidupan yang berlainan selain selesa dengan keadaan bersendirian di dalam kereta sendiri, namun kini ia mungkin tidak sesukar dahulu dalam keadaan semasa.

Selain mengamalkan sikap yang betul dalam menyelenggara dan corak pemanduan, kecanggihan teknologi pada hari ini juga boleh membantu mengurangkan belanja minyak.

Antara yang popular ialah pemasangan tangki gas asli iaitu penggunaan gas asli sebagai ganti bahan api petrol walaupun harga gas itu lebih kurang minyak petrol tetapi mampu memberi pemandu lebih kilometer kerana ketumpatannya.

Namun, kelemahan gas asli di negara ini pada masa sekarang ialah kos pemasangan yang agak mahal bergantung kepada jenis kereta yang dipandu kerana semakin tinggi teknologi kenderaan yang dipandu, maka semakin rumit jugalah sistem pendawaian yang menjurus kepada peningkatan kos pemasangan tangki gas asli sepenuhnya.

Pada masa yang sama, ruang bonet kenderaan akan menjadi terhad kerana saiz tangki gas asli yang agak besar akan memenuhi sebahagian besar ruang.

Industri automotif negara juga sudah mula menerima kemasukan kereta-kereta dengan enjin hybrid yang direka bentuk untuk kecekapan penggunaan minyak dan aliran rendah.

Sumber: Utusan Online:- 8 Jun 2008/ 3 Jamadil Akhir 1429