Indian Railways have drawn up ambitious plans for developing high speed train systems in India. The Author, who is an expert in track structure and bridges, has brought out the different track structures needed for operation of high speed trains. Various types of tracks, both ballasted and ballast-less track structures, have been covered.
Food and energy crises are real global challenges and while both issues are inter related needing global solutions, there are essential differences between the two. The developing and the poor countries who are the least responsible for both the crises, are the ones experiencing their worst impact.
The Golden quadrilaterals of the Indian Railways consisting of routes connecting the four metros and the diagonals carry over 55% of freight traffic. These routes are already oversaturated. Capacity constraints on these routes have had a major contribution to the loss of market share of railways. There is an urgent need for augmentation of capacity on these routes.
There is an increasing awareness worldwide of environmental problems threatening the sustainability of earth's life support systems, emphasizing the need for prudent and sagacious management of earth's resources. As global evnomic integration intensifies so does the incidence of trade and environment disputes and conflicts.
The subject of energy and environment are attracting universal attention now. Though pollution existed even 150 years ago but at that time, the planet could absorb the undesirable emissions. Today, we have crossed the absorption capacity and, the very survival of the planet is at stake. In 1860, all had welcomed the discovery of oil.
In a comprehensive paper, covering all aspects of e-governance, especially the scope, advantages, risks and so on, the Author sounds a note of caution against the delays in implementing the relevant projects causing time and cost overruns.
Inland waterways have played an important role in the Indian transport system since ancient times. However, in the decades after independence, the importance of this mode of transport has declined considerably with the expansion of road and rail transport.
India is poised at a very critical point in its history. It can go either way: become a leader not only in a political-economic sense but even in a cultural sense; or plunge in an upheaval that is externally or internally engineered.
In this article the author elaborates why information highway is to be treated as an infrastructure, just as roads, railways, ports, electricity etc. When transmission of information takes place along numerous media, this paper deals in particular with two modes of information highway: the internet and the mobile telephony (through data transmission).
The author who has been in the forefront of negotiations for climate change has given a first hand account of the negotiations at Copenhagen and what needs to be done now. He vividly brings out the thought process and the stands taken by various countries also highlighting the outcome of the accord which was reached at Copenhagen at the very last moment.
