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CITY4 THE HINDU MONDAY, JULY 4, 2011CHENNAI

MUSIC DANCE DRAMA

Carnatica andSri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha(Ph: 9444018269, 43024024)Presents Nallis BhakthiSangeet Utsav 2011 Devotionthrough Music Presented byBala Abirami Builders at Na-rada Gana Sabha, TTK Road,Alwarpet, Today at 4-45 p.m.Haridasa Sankeerthana byVIDYA BHUSANA SWAMIJIwith V.V.S. Murari – Violin,Murugaboopathi – Mrudan-gam. At 6-15 p.m.: Harikathaby Kalyanapuram ARAVA-MUDACHAR. Topic: Naraya-na Theertha Yatindra. At7-35 p.m.: Bakti Pravaham byABHISHEK RAGURAM withAkkarai Subbulakshmi –Violin, Patri Satishkumar –Mrudangam, AnanthaKrishnan – Tabla. Rasikas in-vited. Sponsored by NALLICHINNASAMI CHETTY.

Kartik Fine Arts, 24997788Today at 6-30 p.m. KartikRajagopal Hall 3/2, SringeriMutt Road, R.A. Puram,Chennai-28. A Tribute to S.

Rajam Group Singing bySrinivasa Ladies Club. All areWelcome.

Nadopasana Music TrustToday 6-30 p.m. SangeethaKalanidhi SIKKIL NEELA &MALA CHANDRASEKAR —(Flute Duet) with M. A.Sundareswaran, R. Anan-thakrishnan & H. Sivara-makrishnan, P.S.H.S. Scl.,Ch-4. All Welcome.

MISCELLANEOUSDivya Dinangal 108,9940092992Today @ Asthika Samajam,Alwarpet, 6-30 p.m. withYACD, Sri Krishna SweetsPresent Chathurthi Disco-urse by Thiru RAMACHAN-DRAN. All are Welcome.

Madras Sanskrit College & TheSamskrta Academy, MadrasSrimad Bhagavata Sapta-ham, Upanyasam by Para-noor Mahatma Sri SriKRISHNAPREMI SWAMI-GAL, Today 7-00 p.m. Bhaga-vata Moola Parayanam from6-30 a.m. Sanskrit College,Mylapore. All are Welcome.

CINEMA ● ARTS ● EVENTS

Names of bus shelters

There are a number of busshelters on various M.T.C.bus routes in the city andsuburbs. In most shelters,the name of the shelter is notwritten on them.Owing to this, even a regularcity commuter findsdifficulty in specifying thename of the bus stop in orderto get a ticket, let alone anewcomer to the city. Thenew commuter is forcedeither to buy ticket up to theend point of that route or toget down one or two stopsbefore his actual bus stop.This is due to his inability toname the exact bus stop.Hence, each bus shelter maybe notified by name in orderto make it convenient tocommuters. Each sheltermay have an informationboard with details on busroute numbers, starting andend points of that bus routeand, importantly, the route.Many commuters are wellversed with route number ofa particular area, but they donot know the route throughwhich the bus is going on.Will the authorities do theneedful?

V.K. PappiahMoulivakam-Porur

Avoid playing on streetsStreets have narrowed downbecause of parking ofvehicles on either side. Boysplaying cricket on the streetsadd to the misery of passers-by. I have my own experienceof being hit by the balls.The boys would apologise,some of them would also waitfor the people to passthrough and then continuethe game. Still, the risk ofserious injury is presentwhen they play powerfulshots. In the circumstances, theboys would do well to avoidthe streets for playing cricketand move to playgrounds.Residents’ associations canalso pitch in and prevail uponthem to do so.

S. SourirajanWest Mambalam

Provide mini bus/vanfacilitiesWe live in the interior part ofDandeeswaram Nagar inVelachery. To catch a bus, wehave to walk all the wayeither to Dandeeswaram Busstop or go to Velachery BusTerminus, which is a nearly10-minute walk to catch thebus. If the transportdepartment can considerimplementing mini bus/vanfacilities, it will be helpful forthose staying in these areas.Auto service is expensive andwe cannot shell out Rs. 30 fora small distance of hardly 1-2km.Authorities concerned canimplement these types ofservices on a pilot schemeand they can regularise theseservices in Velachery andalso to other parts ofChennai based on theresponses from the public.They can also considerimplementing vehicles suchas Tata Magic share autossince the noise pollution isnil.

Ravi PurushothamanVelachery

SBI ATM at PozhichalurIn the State Bank of India atPozhichalur, on most days,cash is not available. There isa notice board at theentrance of the ATM,displaying “No Cash”. Theresidents, especially senior

citizens, are put to difficulty.The very purpose ofinstalling an ATM isdefeated. The authoritiesconcerned should takeimmediate steps to see thatthe cash is available at alltimes, especially during daytime.

R. RadhakrishnanPozhichalur

An appeal to MTCIrumbuliyur, which isinhabited by thousands ofcommuters spread overmany residential locations, issituated on both sides ofG.S.T. Road that leads toplaces such asVandalur,Guduvancheri andChengleput. Though several MTC busesply on this route, only alimited number of buses halthere on both directions, as aresult of which thecommuters, especially theoffice-goers andschoolchildren, are put to alot of hardship andinconvenience and very oftenthese commuters are forcedto be at the mercy of auto-rickshawmen and private cabdrivers who fleece andexploit these hapless people.While all MTC buses halt atPerungalathur, which alsohas suburban train services,why cannot MTC authoritiesdirect its crew members tostop all its services atIrumbuliyur?

E.D. KothandamEast Tambaram

TANGEDCO replyWith reference to the newsreport published in TheHindu dated June 27, it isinformed that at presentthere are around 4,600metered services in KannagiNagar, Thuraipakkam forwhich CC charges are beingpaid regularly. Apart fromthis, applications have beenreceived from around 10,400prospective applicants.On payment of necessarycharges by TNSCB, serviceshave been effected for 8,600applicants and for theremaining 1,800 applicationsservice connection cablelaying works are underprogress and the works willbe completed and serviceseffected by July 15.

G. Perumalsamy,Superintending Engineer,

CEDC/South, TANGEDCO

Passport woesRecently, I was trying toapply for a passport for mywife under Tatkal scheme.Since the passportauthorities specify threedocuments for address proof,I obtained a Proof of AddressCard from the post officeafter completing theformalities. But to my dismay when weproduced the same to thepassport office in Chennai,they rejected it on theground that it is not in theirlist of documents specifiedfor this purpose. I spent Rs.600 for theaddress card only afterverifying over phone with thepassport office whether thecard is acceptable. But when I went there, theydid not own up to the phonereply. Being senior citizens, we donot know how many moretrips we have to make to thepassport office. Even thoughI have a passport for myself,that is not considered as aproof for my wife underTatkal scheme.

R. SampathChitlapakkam

LACK OF CLARITY: In the absence of informationboards, commuters find it difficult to identify busstops and get down at the correct destination. — PHOTO: S.S.KUMAR

CHENNAI: The steady hike infuel prices over the years hasled to an increase in alterna-tives that run on electricityand are commercially avail-able to consumers. But, sub-stitutes such as inductioncookers and electric vehicles,however, continue to be pur-chased only for “conve-nience.”

A.Gowri, product promoterof an appliance company,says: “People buy inductioncookers because of the time ittakes for cylinders to be deliv-ered.” Software engineerN.Sajith agrees. “I purchasedan induction cooker as anemergency option as I didn’thave an extra gas cylinder,”he says.

Since he got his gas connec-tion, he has noticed that thecylinder lasts longer as he us-es both options. However, HRprofessional Smitha Nish-anth feels it is sometimes bet-ter to use a gas stove.

Induction cookers are en-ergy efficient as the heat isconducted magnetically tothe cooking pan and is notwasted. However, some tech-nicalities for the heating

process to be more effectiveare not explained to users.Only steel or iron vessels witha flat base can be used and thevessel should be placed on thecircle indicating the heatingpad.

Many users pay little atten-tion to the savings they makeon the energy consumptionor do not see a significant dif-ference. “I have never reallychecked my electricity bill to

see if I have saved on electric-ity,” says Mr.Sajith. But, in-duction cookers are notsubstituting gas stoves. “Bothgas stoves and inductions arein equal demand,” saysMs.Gowri.

Two wheelersThe two-wheeler market is

another segment where cus-tomers are showing interestin exploring energy-efficientalternatives. In the last cou-ple of years, several electricbike models have entered the

market. They are availablewith motor power rangingfrom 250 watts to 800 watts.If charged for six to sevenhours, these vehicles can pro-vide a mileage of 60 to 70 km.The basic models do not re-quire registration or insur-ance cover either.

Ram Kumar of Chooliame-du says, “I have a car which Itake to work. All I need is atwo-wheeler to go shoppingnear my house. I’m seriouslythinking of buying an electricbike.”

At a shop in Anna Nagar,salesperson Gopi says the cli-entele for electric bikes isgradually increasing. “Afterbooking, there is a waiting pe-riod of 30 days,” he adds.

These battery-operated ve-hicles can be accelerated upto a speed of 25 km/hour. On-ly the 800 watt vehicle cantouch 45 km/hour.

Businessman J. Venkatara-mani feels battery-operatedvehicles are an eco-friendlyoption. “I have been driving aReva car for the last five yearsand I’m thoroughly satisfiedwith its performance. Howev-er, though cost-efficient, it isexpensive as batteries need tobe changed every threeyears.”.

Electric products anoption as fuel prices riseSales of induction cookers, electric bikes pick upPetlee Peter and Sowmiya Ashok

Induction stoves may provide an energy-efficientalternative, but are they really substituting gasstoves? — PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

CITY PULSE

CHENNAI: While renewable en-ergy sources offer some alter-natives to residents in timesof power shortage and load-shedding, vehicle users sad-dled by high fuel prices do nothave too many options to turnto.

Apart from opting to usepublic transport, the onlyother viable option for mo-torists is to adopt certain fuelefficiency measures and hopefor possible savings.

Websites such as http://www.mypetrolprice.com/provide a rough estimate ofthe monthly/annual expendi-ture on fuel, based on currentprices. By tracking changes inmileage after adopting strate-gies such as maintaining anoptimum fuel efficiencyspeed of 45 kmph, sparing useof air-conditioner in case of acar, and switching off the en-gine at traffic signals, theamount of savings can becalculated.

The other ‘option’ thatseems to be increasingly exer-cised is a preference for die-sel-driven cars. The share ofdiesel cars in overall car salesis around 28 per cent current-ly, and the figure has beenclimbing steadily. It is expect-ed to touch 40 per cent by2015.

N. Krishnamoorthy, presi-dent, Dealership Line of Busi-

ness, TVS & Sons, says that ahuge shift is being noticed inthe customer preference dur-ing the last six months. “Thepreference for diesel variantsis more in the mid-sized cars,namely C segment and above,due to a whole range of op-tions the have been madeavailable by most manufac-turers in this range.

The shift is insignificant insmall cars.”

Regarding the need for bet-ter fuel efficiency standards,Mr. Krishnamoorthy saysthat since Indian consumers

are constantly aspiring forhigher power engines, the im-provements happening inthis area is not felt by users intheir monthly fuel bills.“Consumers are able to enjoybigger cars within the fuelbudgets they have beenspending earlier,” he adds.

Research in the institu-tional and industrial level isbeing carried out to enhancethe performance of engines.Studies on nano-materialsand fuel additives to improveperformance are on. Similar-ly, there is an increasing in-

terest on the feasibility ofhydrogen as fuel. But safestorage technologies are stillnot in place.

G.Sakthinathan, assistantprofessor, Department ofManufacturing Engineering,College of Engineering, Guin-dy, says “Component manu-facturers are consideringgiving a nano-coating to en-gine components to reducewear and tear. On the materi-als side, work is being carriedout to reduce the weight ofthe engine and at the sametime improve the power.”

Fewer options for vehicle-usersAjai Sreevatsan andLavanya M

The rising reliance on private transport in an era of high fuel prices is a causefor concern, particularly when traffic congestions are becoming common. — PHOTO: S.R. RAGUNATHAN

CHENNAI: The K.K. Nagar po-lice in the city on Sundayarrested Hansraj Saxena,Chief Operating Officer ofSun Pictures, on charges ofcheating a film producer tothe tune of Rs. 82.53 lakh.

Police sources, quoting a

complaint, said Mr. Saxena,on behalf of Sun Pictures,had purchased the rights forthe Tamil flick TheeradhaVilayaattu Pillai from pro-ducer Selvaraj for a prom-ised sum of Rs. 1.25 crore.

Only a portion of thepromised sum was given toMr. Selvaraj despite repeat-ed visits to Mr. Saxena’s of-

fice, they said. Mr. Selvarajlodged a complaint with thecity police commissioner onJuly 1 stating that Sun Pic-tures had pressured him in-to selling the movie.

ComplaintThe complaint was sent to

the K.K. Nagar police, whoregistered cases under four

sections of IPC, includingthose pertaining to cheatingand making threats.

A police team picked upMr. Saxena on Sunday at theChennai airport upon his ar-rival from Hyderabad. Hewas produced before a ma-gistrate, who remanded himto judicial custody, policesources added.

Official held on charge of cheatingStaff Reporter

CHENNAI: A 28-year-old man, ac-cused of robbery, fled from po-lice custody while he wasescorted to the Puzhal prison onSaturday evening.

Police sources said JogindarVarma of Delhi was arrested bythe Flower Bazaar police oncharges of the robbery andtheft. He was produced at theGeorge Town Court on Satur-day and was taken to Puzhalprison by two policemen.

The accused who was not

handcuffed gave the police theslip upon reaching the Madhav-aram roundabout. Madhavarampolice have registered a caseand a search is on, sourcesadded.

Man killedA 30-year-old man was

stabbed to death in his tinkeringshop in Kunrathur on Sunday.According to the police, Bala-murugan, the victim, wasstabbed by Murugan of thesame locality, who was in aninebriated condition.

Accused flees from custodyStaff Reporter

CHENNAI: The career counsellingfor job-oriented, allied healthcourses and MBA in HealthcareManagement was inauguratedby Akila Ganesan, registrar ofthe Sankara Nethralaya Acade-

my and the general manager ofSankara Nethralaya.

A. Mahalingam, academic offi-cer and Karthikeyan, director ofGemba Institute of HR Schoolalso participated.

Career counselling held