tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post643398120230535999..comments2024-03-23T23:52:14.690+05:30Comments on DefenceNet: Defence News from Sri Lanka: Fighting rages south of KilinochchiDefenceNethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11553575476849786179noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-68004752915273757912008-10-24T08:56:00.000+05:302008-10-24T08:56:00.000+05:30This is a fantastic blog and I have added you to m...This is a fantastic blog and I have added you to my link list. Keep up the good work!Casey Brown-Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10191343133314666720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-41168633523541059772008-10-24T04:53:00.000+05:302008-10-24T04:53:00.000+05:30puliNo one really cares how the Tamils came to be ...puli<BR/><BR/>No one really cares how the Tamils came to be anywhere, as long as they are capable of decent co existance with others. I've seen how you guys cook up theories, wank on them and end up believing in your own imagined story many times over. There was even a nice old Doc in my area who started by claiming the 'Three kings' were Tamils and then gradually progressed to claim Adam was a Tamil. You guys have no future because you are genetically fcked up, the majority, if not all.<BR/><BR/>There's going to be a day after the end of this war. How you guys deal with that day will be upto your people. We will deal with it any which way.TropicalStormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18110816350260622487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-51436896604409234322008-10-24T03:53:00.000+05:302008-10-24T03:53:00.000+05:30How did Tamils come to Lanka?by Ilaya Seran Sengut...How did Tamils come to Lanka?<BR/><BR/>by Ilaya Seran Senguttuwan<BR/><BR/>Minister Champika Ranawake – that wise man of the JHU who appears to have a superior opinion on almost everything under the sun - is reported to have said last week “Tamils came here after being chased away by the Moguls in South India .”<BR/><BR/>This is pretty thick stuff and a new one from Ranawake. His Chintanaya mentor Nalin de Silva gives another twist when he says the Tamils first came to Jaffna 400 years ago with the Dutch for Tobacco cultivation.<BR/><BR/>There will be many more gems from the Minister in the future as there were in the past. Mr Ranawake must re-hash his studies in Indian history and get to learn pronto the furthest Moghul presence reached the South was no more than today’s Andra Pradesh and Karnataka – both non-Tamil States.<BR/><BR/>It is well known Ranawake owes his position in government inter alia for spewing racial and religious hatred over a period of time. Unless the President restrains him this reincarnation of KMP Rajaratne, RG Senanayake and Cyril Mathew can cause incalculable harm to the country - as Mathew did.<BR/><BR/>I am reminded here of what Disraeli had to say of Gladstone in their days “He is inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.”<BR/><BR/>Yesterday, a popular Tamil daily here quoted popular Indian academic and Tamil Poet Shri Vairamuthu as follows - on the occasion when leading figures in the film Industry in Tamilnadu took to the streets in sympathy with the large number of suffering Tamils civilians in the Wanni -<BR/><BR/>“The ancient Tamil was born on the sacred earth that is part of what is now called Sri Lanka . Today in the soil of his birth unarmed men, women, children are killed by the thousands from the ground, the sea and the air mostly by deadly automatic weapons. Thousands have perished thus while the Indian government has watched helplessly. Bombs are rained on them indiscriminately. For sometime now every effort is made to remove him (Tamil) from his original soil. What is Sri Lanka now is part of the lost landmass of Lemuria that went under a massive quake of the sea in times long past. There is historical evidence to this. There is going to be an election in Sri Lanka next year. The Buddhist Sinhala supremacists there are convinced if conditions are created to remove the Lankan Tamil by then the Sinhalese will win handsomely and the menace of the Tamil will be overcome for all time. This is what has been happening there for some years now although the Rajapakse government tries to fool the world with all kinds of mis-information. We Indians cannot stand and watch innocent Tamils killed in this cruel manner”<BR/><BR/>I am only quoting what poet Vairamuthu is reported to have said – without comment. Clearly, there is a fear what is now happening in the Lankan Tamil areas is a planned effort to decimate Tamils from Lankan soil. This is why the militant organizations here gained emotional support from Tamilnadu - Prabhakaran not excluded - to offer resistance against this alleged genocide.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07324001511912298615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-15923127580937145122008-10-23T02:34:00.000+05:302008-10-23T02:34:00.000+05:30reo mag foreverIn the 1970's when the Brazilians s...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>In the 1970's when the Brazilians started their ethanol program, had only 10 varieties of sugar cane, and the average ethanol yield per hectare was 2000 litres.<BR/><BR/>Today the same fields are producing 6000-7000 litres of ethanol per hectare. <BR/><BR/>This is because there are over 550 varieties of sugar cane as a result of selected breeding overtime. Some of these sugar cane varieties are designed to produce a lot of ethanol, others to thrive on poor soil, others to survive severe drought, etc etc etc...<BR/><BR/>About 20 of the almost 600 varieties, are the mainstay of the highly productive Brazilian ethanol program.<BR/><BR/>**** The dry zone of Lanka(75% of the island) is more suitable to grow sugar cane, than the wet zone. Too much rain is not good, thats the reason why the Brazilians don't grow sugar cane anywhere near the amazon forest. ****GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-63642695638411246512008-10-23T01:59:00.000+05:302008-10-23T01:59:00.000+05:30reo mag forver"Total Bagasse output from sugar can...reo mag forver<BR/><BR/>"Total Bagasse output from sugar cane crushing is approx 30% of the input - as you have rightly said it has many uses, but you can not have all that with the same residue - it will be enough for either fertilizer, fuel ( maybe to support the facility ) or other uses but not for everything. So again - you need to weigh in all the factors together before concluding."<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Yeah, so how about using it for fertilizer alone.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-31300894081364675462008-10-23T01:58:00.000+05:302008-10-23T01:58:00.000+05:30reo mag forever"The second method you have explain...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>"The second method you have explained is about increasing the "sugar yield" but we are discussing about increasing the "Sugar cane yeild". They are two different issues."<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/>That was my mistake. In my previous all my "sugar cane yields" is actually for sugar yields. You know just the sucrose content etc, not the stalks.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-70352403507584277172008-10-23T01:56:00.000+05:302008-10-23T01:56:00.000+05:30reo mag forever"25% of the land are of Sr Lanka is...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>"25% of the land are of Sr Lanka is available for farming ?? You need to disclose the source !!"<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>source #1<BR/><BR/>"http://www.bioenergysrilanka.org<BR/>/www/files/beasl/beasl_agm_2008<BR/>_press_release.pdf"<BR/><BR/>source #2<BR/><BR/>"http://www.nri.org/projects/<BR/>biomass/conference_papers/the_<BR/>biomass_energy_sector_in_sri_lanka.pdf"<BR/><BR/>Source #3<BR/><BR/>"http://www.kanabona.com/kanabona<BR/>/?q=dendro_beasl_agm_2008<BR/>_keynote_extracts"GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-22767141206951584342008-10-23T01:52:00.000+05:302008-10-23T01:52:00.000+05:30reo mag forever"Previously, your main argumen...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>"Previously, your main argument to have sugar cane --> Ethanol was <BR/><BR/>a. to continue the war to eradicate the LTTE without further financial constraints. <BR/><BR/>b. to carry out war for a longer span of time <BR/><BR/>Right now, the government does not have "some money" to invest "$400 million dollars" on just one project such as this which has been a failures in the past - No investor would want to put in money unless government takes the tab. Can you remember how difficult it was for the government to secure the USD 500 Mn bond issue with HSBC ? and the interest rate?"<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>I never said that the one and ONLY reason we need to sugar cane ethanol is because of the war. It will benefit us in the long term economically if we don't have to rely on the volatile regions for energy. <BR/><BR/>Of the estimated $400 million, about $150 million is to plant the sugar cane fields, the rest is for the ethanol mills. $400 million over 4 is better than $2 billion year.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-62180973056090329272008-10-22T17:06:00.000+05:302008-10-22T17:06:00.000+05:30Golderneagle25% of the land is the correct figure ...Golderneagle<BR/>25% of the land is the correct figure to have this sugar plantation if we are to make any use for the country. I think we have sufficient rain but unlike the Kanthale this has to be controlled by a private firm that is already in this bussines.I remember the way the Kanthale plantations were run. It was badly run and it was over staffed by political cronies who spent time in their quarters or out side the plantation. According to the Brazilin person who did a feasibility studies he found that the climatic conditions are fine but the water resources had to be better organized. Initial investment will be high but the dividends will increase as year past with better management.kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14237448680173590312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-41833053448971095052008-10-22T12:20:00.000+05:302008-10-22T12:20:00.000+05:30Goldeneagle,"We have poor record because we d...Goldeneagle,<BR/><BR/>"We have poor record because we did not try it the right way."<BR/><BR/>Following are the key reasons for the failures <BR/><BR/>1. Deteriorating "sugar cane" yeild - not the sugar yeild ! ( some were explained in my previous post such as deteriorating fertility, unsuitable soil conditions and changing climatic patterns - do we have solutions for these that will not create new problems ?) I have discussed this further in detail below<BR/><BR/>2. All the previous attempt from Kanthale to Hinguara were just expensive, inefficient and unproductive projects based on the out dated concept of substituting imports through domestic industries to save forex but projects went wrong because the planners did not take the suitability of the industry in to consideration before venturing in and also due to poor understanding of simple monetary economics !<BR/><BR/>We can not just look at the total import figure and pick the industries ( that other countries have become successful ) to venture in without at least considering the geography, economy and the comparative advantages of the country. For instance, Brazil has a total land area of 8,511,965 sq km but ours is only 65,610 sq km - I'll discuss this later with more stats.<BR/><BR/>"it will take some money to get this ethanol thing started but compared to our annual cost of importing fuel its nothing.<BR/>A $400 million dollar investment over 4-5 years is what we are looking at. Compared to the $2 billion annual fuel bill, it ain't so bad is it?"<BR/><BR/>Previously, your main argument to have sugar cane --> Ethanol was <BR/><BR/>a. to continue the war to eradicate the LTTE without further financial constraints. <BR/><BR/>b. to carry out war for a longer span of time <BR/><BR/>Right now, the government does not have "some money" to invest "$400 million dollars" on just one project such as this which has been a failures in the past - No investor would want to put in money unless government takes the tab. Can you remember how difficult it was for the government to secure the USD 500 Mn bond issue with HSBC ? and the interest rate ? <BR/><BR/>The other issue is the environment factor - what would be the cost ? I dont have statistics for that - Im not saying that Ethanol is not an answer, it a very good answer but large scale production in Sri Lanka is just not practical.<BR/><BR/><BR/>"According to the government estimates we have about 1.6(about 25% of the country) million hectares of marginal and degraded farmland available. We can use these lands."<BR/><BR/>25% of the land are of Sr Lanka is available for farming ?? You need to disclose the source !!<BR/><BR/>According to industry statistics published on Annual world ethanol production by Renewable Fuels Association, Brazil has over 48,000 sq km of land in use for sugar cane but that is only 0.5% of the total land area - even with that they have many environmental and social issues - how bad would it be if we use 25% of land ?<BR/><BR/><BR/>According to CB statistics, available total land area left is approx 14% and we already have permanent crops covering approx 15%. Deforestation, soil erosion, threat to the wildlife populations by poaching, commercial agriculture and urbanization are already at alarming levels - Do you know how many people die from elephant attacks ? I do not think we can afford to allocate another "25%" of the land area for one commercial agriculture project. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"There are two reasons that our sugar cane yields are low. Back then 30 years ago when Brazil started their ethanol program, they suffered the same problem." <BR/><BR/>and the two reasons<BR/><BR/>As i explained in my previous post and in this post, the main question reamis the same, is this practical and viable considering all the implications ? Can we allocate this much of land for one project which has proven to be unproductive unless fertilizer and chemicals are used ? Do we have funds/reserves ? when we have so many other more greener and suitable options ?<BR/><BR/>The second method you have explained is about increasing the "sugar yield" but we are discussing about increasing the "Sugar cane yeild". They are two different issues. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"Most of Brazil's sugar cane is grown in a state/province called Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo only gets about 1200mm of rain fall every year, most of that falls on the wet season. Almost all of Brazil's sugar cane is rain fed not irrigated. The dry zone in lanka also gets about 1200mm of rainfall per year."<BR/><BR/>Previously mentioned IMS Holdings project targeted Uva province with the required weather, soil conditions and elevation and i explained why it was rejected. Practically, where in Sri Lanka are you proposing to allocate a land with less impact on the environment and the biodiversity ?<BR/><BR/>"The Brazilians tackle the problem of land degradation, by using the "bagasse" that is the fibrous left-over of the sugar canes after the ethanol extracting process, as fertilizer This use of the bagasse as a green fertilizer passes alot of the nutrients that is used up when sugar cane is grown back to the earth. Bagasse is also burned to generate electricity of run the ethanol mills, plus it can also be used to make paper, paper plates etc"<BR/><BR/>Total Bagasse output from sugar cane crushing is approx 30% of the input - as you have rightly said it has many uses, but you can not have all that with the same residue - it will be enough for either fertilizer, fuel ( maybe to support the facility ) or other uses but not for everything. So again - you need to weigh in all the factors together before concluding.<BR/><BR/><BR/>"Did you know that we grow sugar cane in 15,000 hectares, and it only cover 10% of the country's sugar consumption?"<BR/><BR/>Did you know that we spent little over USD 1 Billion in 2007 just to import food items Sugar Wheat and Rice ?<BR/><BR/>"We import the other 90% of the required sugar. We need to plant another 135,000 hectares of sugar cane to cover all of our annual sugar consumption. Compared to this only 65,000 hectares are needed to replace all the annual petrol consumption with ethanol."<BR/><BR/>World has moved on from this type of thinking of being self sufficient. Countries are now working on their comparative advantages to create competitive advantage over other countries and gain/create surplus over their trade balances. We spend billions of rupees to import motor vehicles, why don't we manufacture them here ? Why don't we make our own textiles in Sri Lanka and save USD 1.6 billion we spend on importing them ? <BR/><BR/>We can not go back to 1971 and start producing everything we need, we have over 90% literacy rate and so many educated people - we should be working on making use of them and moving to knowledge based ventures and service industries that can bring in more forex with more yeild. Destroying the environment ( what is left of it) and trying to save forex through a concept that has worked in Latin America or Australia may not be the right solution, we need to look in to the big picture. We can have another discussion on saving forex if you like - but in a different blog !Reo.Mag.Foreverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13239581111719727141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-20852263398789249852008-10-22T09:24:00.000+05:302008-10-22T09:24:00.000+05:30Tamil Rebels Target Sri Lankan ships loaded with m...Tamil Rebels Target Sri Lankan ships loaded with military hardware<BR/>[Wednesday, 2008-10-22 03:07:36]<BR/>Tamil Tiger rebels carried out a suicide attack on two Sri Lankan ships off the northern Jaffna peninsula early today.<BR/>The vessels beleived to be carrying supplies to military in the north, where the military is attacking the remaining bases of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam<BR/>LTTE rebels rammed an explosives-laden boat into one of the vessels outside the port of Kankasanthurai, sinking it, Agence France-Presse reported, citing an unidentified defense official. A second vessel also came under attack and damaged very badly. <BR/><BR/>IS THAT?CriMeWatChhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05945749903851875379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-46386313829220031162008-10-22T08:17:00.000+05:302008-10-22T08:17:00.000+05:30UPDATE: Tiger Suicide Attack Hits 2 Merchant Ships...UPDATE: Tiger Suicide Attack Hits 2 Merchant Ships -Sri Lanka<BR/><BR/><BR/>(Updates with details of second vessel attacked, quotes, background)<BR/><BR/>COLOMBO (AFP)--Tamil Tiger rebels carried out a suicide attack against two merchant ships off northern Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula Wednesday, the defense ministry said.<BR/><BR/>The number of casualties wasn't immediately clear.<BR/><BR/>The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, targeted the MV Ruhuna and MV Nimalawa just outside the port of Kankesanthurai on the northern edge of the peninsula, the ministry said in a statement.<BR/><BR/>Jaffna is controlled by the government, but cut off from the rest of the island by LTTE-held territory and supplied entirely by ship or plane.<BR/><BR/>"The attack is viewed as another cowardly attempt by the terrorists to deny essential supplies to the civilians living in war-affected areas," the statement said.<BR/><BR/>Defense sources said initial reports suggested that one ship was sinking, and that there was fighting between naval troops and a unit of Tamil Tiger rebels.<BR/><BR/>An earlier report had said one vessel sank after being rammed by an explosive- laden boat.<BR/><BR/>A defense official said naval reinforcements had been rushed to the area.<BR/><BR/>The attack came as the military kept up a major ground offensive against the Tigers in northern Sri Lanka.CriMeWatChhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05945749903851875379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-4023578797338828922008-10-22T06:26:00.000+05:302008-10-22T06:26:00.000+05:30A Documentary about the Sinhala Only state terrori...A Documentary about the Sinhala Only state terrorism ... <BR/><BR/>http://www.tamilwin.com/view.php?2eIWnp00bHj0W2edQG7r3bch9EW4d4E2h3cc27pO3d420QH2b02nLW3eShyamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00491643194712962581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-52728293446074505402008-10-22T05:17:00.000+05:302008-10-22T05:17:00.000+05:30TropicalstormYes, the vehicles need to be modified...Tropicalstorm<BR/><BR/>Yes, the vehicles need to be modified because of the corrosive nature of ethanol.<BR/><BR/>This modification will cost about $250 dollars per car. And there are about 1.5 million vehicles that run petrol(not diesel) in the country.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-74790278504719327522008-10-22T05:11:00.000+05:302008-10-22T05:11:00.000+05:30reo mag forever"Imagine how much we can save if we...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>"Imagine how much we can save if we can stop rice and sugar imports?"<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Did you know that we grow sugar cane in 15,000 hectares, and it only cover 10% of the country's sugar consumption? <BR/><BR/>We import the other 90% of the required sugar. We need to plant another 135,000 hectares of sugar cane to cover all of our annual sugar consumption. Compared to this only 65,000 hectares are needed to replace all the annual petrol consumption with ethanol.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-67417416914072373882008-10-22T05:07:00.000+05:302008-10-22T05:07:00.000+05:30reo mag forver"We also have to consider the amount...reo mag forver<BR/><BR/>"We also have to consider the amount of labor requirement for such a large scale project but still the most important factor is the effects on environment."<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>The larbor requirements can be a problem. But 50 sugar cane harvesting machines from Australia can solve that problem.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-23105460422282797622008-10-22T05:04:00.000+05:302008-10-22T05:04:00.000+05:30reo mag forever" Further, our Sugar cane yeil...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>" Further, our Sugar cane yeild per hectare which is approx 55 t/ha on average( Sevenagala & Pelwatte ) is much lower than Brazil ( Based on statistics published by CB & SC Research ) and all our past attempts have been very bad or failures (due to many reasons including changing climatic conditions)and this yield will systematically reduce over time with the deterioration of soil fertility - use of fertilizers for a large area of land will only lead to chemical pollution. GM plants would be a solution but i think they are still in labs."<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>There are two reasons that our sugar cane yields are low. Back then 30 years ago when Brazil started their ethanol program, they suffered the same problem. <BR/><BR/>How did they fix it? There are two reasons, first they started to developed and planted the right varieties of sugar cane on the right types of receptive soils. This increased the average sugar cane yield.<BR/><BR/>Second, they let their sugar cane fields go through a dry season every year. The dry season is important because the sugar cane stalks will mature during this season, thereby increasing the sugar yield. Too much rain will prevent the sugar cane stalks from maturing properly, hence narrower stalks and lower yields.<BR/><BR/>Most of Brazil's sugar cane is grown in a state/province called Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo only gets about 1200mm of rain fall every year, most of that falls on the wet season. Almost all of Brazil's sugar cane is rain fed not irrigated. The dry zone in lanka also gets about 1200mm of rainfall per year.<BR/><BR/>The Brazilians tackle the problem of land degradation, by using the "bagasse" that is the fibrous left-over of the sugar canes after the ethanol extracting process, as fertilizer.<BR/><BR/>This use of the bagasse as a green fertilizer passes alot of the nutrients that is used up when sugar cane is grown back to the earth. Bagasse is also burned to generate electricity of run the ethanol mills, plus it can also be used to make paper, paper plates etc...GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-20734378780305452542008-10-22T04:48:00.000+05:302008-10-22T04:48:00.000+05:30reo mag forever"can we find a 65,000 ha piece of l...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>"can we find a 65,000 ha piece of land that will not harm the environment?"<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>According to the government estimates we have about 1.6(about 25% of the country) million hectares of marginal and degraded farmland available. We can use these lands.GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-60619528810339535152008-10-22T04:44:00.000+05:302008-10-22T04:44:00.000+05:30reo mag forever"Since the oil crisis in 1973,...reo mag forever<BR/><BR/>"Since the oil crisis in 1973, Brazil has been perfecting the art of producing Sugar cane & ethanol but here we only have a very poor record - not being negative here but its gonna take lot of money, time and effort even if we import their technology. Imagine the negative impact it will have on the environment?"<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/>We have poor record because we did not try it the right way. You are right in that it will take some money to get this ethanol thing started but compared to our annual cost of importing fuel its nothing.<BR/>A $400 million dollar investment over 4-5 years is what we are looking at. Compared to the $2 billion annual fuel bill, it ain't so bad is it?GoldenEaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10097391147469779596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-2058341635493694042008-10-22T03:55:00.000+05:302008-10-22T03:55:00.000+05:30Can someone explain why the heck do we let former ...Can someone explain why the heck do we let former pro ltte RAW agents into the country ? huh ? I know we are not that stupid folks !Rajaratasurferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15877701773284721637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-55452152523746882602008-10-22T03:15:00.000+05:302008-10-22T03:15:00.000+05:30GoldeneagleI am uncertain whether Ethanol can repl...Goldeneagle<BR/><BR/>I am uncertain whether Ethanol can replace gasoline in a standard motor vehicle. Does it require any changes?TropicalStormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18110816350260622487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-53987696601014282942008-10-22T01:18:00.000+05:302008-10-22T01:18:00.000+05:30Anti-terrorist exhibition in UK highlights Tiger a...<B>Anti-terrorist exhibition in UK highlights Tiger atrocities</B><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://srilankainfocus.blogspot.com/2008/10/anti-terrorist-exhibition-in-uk.html" REL="nofollow">LINK</A>LKDOODhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18426997279106115254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-40906924445657620782008-10-22T00:43:00.000+05:302008-10-22T00:43:00.000+05:3014 dead in bomb blast in northeast Indiahttp://afp...14 dead in bomb blast in northeast India<BR/>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g1EJ74kM9IO7ZAkOHew0XVLTlxTw<BR/><BR/>Bad news for the LTTE. India can hardly demonstrate to its many terrorist separatists that, yes, terrorism do work, if you use enough bombs and terrorism, then you will be rewarded with a separate state.Infinityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01763766821191703678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-45543044610243273202008-10-22T00:20:00.000+05:302008-10-22T00:20:00.000+05:30Protigers are threatening (to kill?) Subramaniam S...Protigers are threatening (to kill?) Subramaniam Swamy. Find the link below: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/news/<BR/>index.php?action=comments&id=6744<BR/>----------------------------------<BR/>'Vivek from Canada on Oct 21, 2008 3:46:20 GMT<BR/><BR/>It’s time to send the Indian foreign policy-advisor on a long-leave.'<BR/>--------------------------------Suwaganakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11672208394024910890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079007316930841006.post-91827379218372947012008-10-21T23:52:00.000+05:302008-10-21T23:52:00.000+05:30this posting is not on defence but right now, almo...this posting is not on defence but right now, almost everything is indirectly connected to the war & defence. <BR/><BR/>GoldenEagle, <BR/><BR/>Interesting thoughts on Ethanol but in my opinion, using apprx 1% of the land area of Sri Lanka ( based on your calculations )to produce ethanol would do more harm than good. <BR/><BR/>Since the oil crisis in 1973, Brazil has been perfecting the art of producing Sugar cane & ethanol but here we only have a very poor record - not being negative here but its gonna take lot of money, time and effort even if we import their technology. Imagine the negative impact it will have on the environment ? <BR/><BR/>In 2007, a company called IMS Holdings tried to plant 23,000 hectares of sugar cane in SL to establish a 25 Megahertz power plant and a 10 million liter ethanol plant but Central Environment Authority rejected their proposal because the land they requested covered lot of endemic plants in and some of them were already in the red list classified as threatened and endangered - can we find a 65,000 ha piece of land that will not harm the environment ? <BR/><BR/>( Later IMS came up with a new proposal with an out-grower supply model to overcome the objections of pressure groups )<BR/><BR/>Further, our Sugar cane yeild per hectare which is approx 55 t/ha on average( Sevenagala & Pelwatte ) is much lower than Brazil ( Based on statistics published by CB & SC Research ) and all our past attempts have been very bad or failures (due to many reasons including changing climatic conditions)and this yield will systematically reduce over time with the deterioration of soil fertility - use of fertilizers for a large area of land will only lead to chemical pollution. GM plants would be a solution but i think they are still in labs.<BR/><BR/> We also have to consider the amount of labor requirement for such a large scale project but still the most important factor is the effects on environment.<BR/><BR/>Considering all this, I think it is not viable for us to go for such a project to save forex for the war machine (this war will not last that long anyway ) when there are so many other ways to save forex, improving the refinery facility alone will save us a lot. Imagine how much we can save if we can stop rice and sugar imports ?<BR/><BR/>This is completely out of my knowledge area but from what i have seen and read, I would like to suggest few things that may reduce our fuel consumption, <BR/><BR/>1. Improve the road system - not the normal overnight jobs but from widening the roads to highways to many other options available and minimize the congestion, this will significantly reduce the fuel consumption and increase productivity - Colombo - Matara high way will be ready by 2011, Colombo - Kandy is underway there are many many other projects but we will need more. <BR/><BR/>2. Impose mandatory testing for road worthiness for all the vehicles and take out the ones that are "unproductive" - I know what you are thinking, but practically it can be done and we have already taken the first step.<BR/><BR/>3. Improve public transport system - not the normal "intercity bus service" but a proper service that people would really make use of. This will reduce the private vehicles coming in to the city and also further reduce the road traffic - National Transport Commission has already called for proposals for "CityLiner coach service", target is to reduce the number of cars entering the Colombo City, which attracts most number of private vehicles <BR/><BR/>4. Improve the train system and make the people use more public transport than private vehicles - charge the cost + margin instead of current subsidies rates and make it a profitable business and privatize (properly) to further improve efficency. I just don't understand why we are not developing this from where the Brits left. <BR/><BR/>5. Much of the fuel is used for electricity generation, we need to change that without harming the environment, coal power is going back in time !! - I think we should look in to more environment friendly "greener" sources which are more suitable to Sri Lanka such as solar and wind power. Small scale hydro power projects can also help if they can be set up with minimum damage to the environment. <BR/><BR/>6. We have a good river and a canal system in the western province connecting many cities, govt should do a feasibility to test the viability of using them, it wouldn't cost much !<BR/><BR/>7. Change the tax structure for private vehiclesReo.Mag.Foreverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13239581111719727141noreply@blogger.com