*Runaway failures: a tale of failed airport projects -2* *Soft landing on Sriperumbudur*
It is difficult to ascertain at this point in time when the idea of another airport for Chennai - at Sriperumbudur - was first ideated; but in May 2007, the then Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi did announce that his government had identified 4,820.66 acres of land for the proposed airport. Coming from him as scam after scam in later years led to his party, the DMK, comes as no surprise. But by February 2010 the Greenfield project was shelved. With modernisation of the Chennai airport and taking into consideration traffic growth, the state and union governments decided not to go ahead with the Sriperumbudur project. The main roadblock was the fact that the state government itself realized that many major cities in the world operate with one airport and Chennai really did not have the traffic volume to justify a second airport. Full story: http://goanspirit.com/index.php/lead/299-runaway-failures-a-tale-of-failed-airport-projects-2 *Something phony about Lusofonia* *Lionroars -9* To host the 3rd Lusofonia Games in November this year (God only knows why Goa needs to bear this colossal expenditure) an amount of Rs 46,51,33,742 is being spent to refurbish the much revamped Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at Fatorda. In fact the only medal Goa is going to get has already been bagged. The Nehru stadium gets the gold for being the most overhauled stadium within the Lusofonia fraternity. This will also bring back that lost-somewhere smile to your face, the fact that the approved nine disciplines are – athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, football, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball; not chess. Yes, NO CHESS, the only game Goa excels at which this state could have insisted on being the host. Full story: http://goanspirit.com/index.php/bits-bytes/301-lion-roars-9 *In politics, age is just a number* By his reckoning, Modi who turns 63 in September has two years to go (*the PMs term is five years*). Advani’s red herring a few days heaping fulsome praise on MP chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (who is only 54) – he said Chouhan had to struggle to bring up a state like MP which was part of the notorious underdeveloped BIMARU unlike a developed state like Gujarat – stirred controversy. But he is very eligible going by Parrikar’s yardstick. But as Parrikar said, Nos: 2 and 3 are just in queue, it’s all about No: 1, who should be NaMo according to the Goa CM. Many of BJP’s leaders pass Parrikar’s test - Sushma Swaraj (61), Arun Jaitley (60) Raman Singh (60), CM of Chatisgarh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan (54), CM of Madhya Pradesh and Manohar Parrikar himself is a spring chicken at 57. But again in Parrikar’s words (back in 2009), “At present Advaniji's innings is matured. It is like Sachin Tendulkar. However matured innings he may play, sometime he will have to stop playing. It is like a pickle which takes a year to mature. But if it is kept for two years or so, it gets rancid.” Last heard Sachin Tendulkar who has turned 40 has not retired although the number of times he has to confront the R question is embarrassing. He’s taking the quote by Rahul Dravid, a cricketer and a gentleman, who, when he hung up his boots said, “Age is just a number.” Not just Sachin, all politicians are taking this dictum seriously. *And as far as Goanspirit is concerned, at 40, a cricketer is as old as a dinosaur, 6,500 years even it doesn’t matter. * Full story: http://goanspirit.com/index.php/news-summary/300-in-politics-age-is-just-a-number Waste Management in Germany: Polluter Pays - 2<http://goanspirit.com/index.php/writer-s-flow/298-waste-management-in-germany-polluter-pays-2> http://goanspirit.com/index.php/writer-s-flow/298-waste-management-in-germany-polluter-pays-2 Thus, the basic principle of “the polluter pays” consequently means the consumer pays, i.e. the public. Taking a short look at nuclear waste and the threats of accidents as witnessed in Fukoshima proves that far beyond the obvious expected fees for the consumers there can be totally unforeseen damages and subsequent costs of tremendous extents. The German nuclear industries, mainly the big power generating companies (E.on, TWE, EnBW and Vattenfall) are legally forced to set aside a sum of more than 30 Billion Euro for whole site contraction and disposal of nuclear waste, in addition to an annual 2.3 Billion Euro as tax for nuclear fuel elements. Yet, nobody knows what the cost will be for the required sustainable nuclear waste repositories and for the treatment of all sorts of contaminated materials, as even the German Federal Court of Auditors remarked. A study published by Greenpeace estimated the costs for the comprehensive opt out that the German government decided for 2022 at 40 Billion Euros. ( http://www.contratom.de/2012/04/11/greenpeace-versorger-haben-zu-geringe-atom-rucklagen/ ). -- Lionel Messias Editor, *Goan Spirit*, *Goa's Spirited Online Weekly Magazine.* Worked for the best: Goa Today, Gomantak Times, Herald, Mid-Day, The Pioneer, Indian Express (Bangalore), Economic Times (Chennai, Hyderabad), Newstime (Hyderabad), Gulf News (Hyderabad) Website:www.goanspirit.com 125-E, Bellem, Velsao, P.O. Cansaulim, Goa 403712 Tel: 0832-2884484 Mob:9822152164
