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Massive India power outage affects 600 million--... hundreds of miners trapped
MarketWatch ^ | July 31, 2012, 7:42 a.m. EDT | By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

Posted on 07/31/2012 11:01:47 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — A massive power outage in northern and eastern India left 600 million people, about half the country’s population, without electricity Tuesday, according to reports.

The outage, which further aggravated a grid failure that had disrupted life in the country’s north for several hours Monday, reportedly stranded travelers and commuters, trapped miners and caused traffic jams.

While authorities struggled to restore power, about 300,000 passengers were stranded in more than 300 trains across eight states, as electricity- grid failures crippled operations across six railway zones in the country, according to a report in The Times of India.

Hundreds of coal miners were trapped in Burdwan, about 180 kilometers (112.5 miles) northwest of Kolkata metropolis in eastern India, the AFP reported.

The outages, among the world’s most widespread power failures, occurred as electricity grids serving the country’s northern, eastern and northeastern regions failed at around 3:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

India’s Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said efforts were in progress to resume electricity supply at the earliest, particularly to essential services, the report said.

(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: india

1 posted on 07/31/2012 11:01:55 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Hundreds of miners trapped. Yet they still found the time to break out in a dance for no apparent reason.


2 posted on 07/31/2012 11:06:07 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I guess this means there are lots of help desks down also. Hope and pray your computer stays good and no trouble with software :)


3 posted on 07/31/2012 11:10:08 AM PDT by hoskinsr3106
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To: hoskinsr3106

My thought exactly! How many companies in the USA are shut down by this? I wonder how many will rethink THAT decision now.

Cannot imagine such a widespread outage happening here - Pray it never happens.


4 posted on 07/31/2012 11:25:31 AM PDT by RebelTXRose
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To: RebelTXRose

The average Indian company is well protected from power failures because they happen so often. All the IT companies have more than 100% standby diesel generators. Often they operate when the utility brown’s out or goes off frequency.
Often these units run several hours a day. Most shops have standby and the more expensive apartment buildings have standby..some 100% so you don’t even loose A/C. Government and govt owned transportation is less likely to have standby..or if they do..it is poorly maintained. A US company..Cummins..is the largest supplier of diesel engines for large gensets in India. Their stock is way up today on a good earnings report..


5 posted on 07/31/2012 11:39:04 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: RebelTXRose

The average Indian company is well protected from power failures because they happen so often. All the IT companies have more than 100% standby diesel generators. Often they operate when the utility brown’s out or goes off frequency.
Often these units run several hours a day. Most shops have standby and the more expensive apartment buildings have standby..some 100% so you don’t even loose A/C. Government and govt owned transportation is less likely to have standby..or if they do..it is poorly maintained. A US company..Cummins..is the largest supplier of diesel engines for large gensets in India. Their stock is way up today on a good earnings report..


6 posted on 07/31/2012 11:39:06 AM PDT by Oldexpat
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
This is actually a relatively predictable result due to actually 'RUNNING OUT' of coal for existing and new power generation due to colossal self-inflicted fuel supply mismanagement by the Indian government regulators.

To understand this background see India Struggles to Deliver Enough Power at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/business/global/india-struggles-to-deliver-enough-electricity-for-growth.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Some quotes from this article:
ELLORE, India — India has long struggled to provide enough electricity to light its homes and power its industry around the clock. In recent years, the government and private sector sought to change that by building scores of new power plants.

India has tried to built new power plants, like the one partly completed in the state of Andhra Pradesh. But there is often no fuel to run the plants. Companies like Sowmya Industries are hampered by power shortages.

But that campaign is now running into difficulties because the country cannot get enough fuel — principally coal — to run the plants. Clumsy policies, poor management and environmental concerns have hampered the country’s efforts to dig up fuel fast enough to keep up with its growing need for power.

A complex system of subsidies and price controls has limited investment, particularly in resources like coal and natural gas. It has also created anomalies, like retail electricity prices that are lower than the cost of producing power, which lead to big losses at state-owned utilities. An unsettled debate about how much of its forests India should turn over to mining has also limited coal production.......

7 posted on 07/31/2012 11:53:36 AM PDT by dickmc
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

As Rush pointed out - this has put about one tenth of mankind without electricity.

And he also pointed out that only recently democrats were holding India up as an example of a nation with a superior infrastructure to our own.


8 posted on 07/31/2012 12:04:33 PM PDT by Iron Munro ("Jiggle the Handle for Barry!")
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To: dickmc

Windmills and solar panels to the rescue!


9 posted on 07/31/2012 12:31:47 PM PDT by technically right
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

CHINA comes to mind!


10 posted on 07/31/2012 3:22:53 PM PDT by Tigen (I shall raise you one .)
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To: Oldexpat

Wow - I forgot about back-ups...Thanks for the info.


11 posted on 07/31/2012 3:23:38 PM PDT by RebelTXRose
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To: technically right

ROFL!


12 posted on 07/31/2012 9:18:55 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?)
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To: hoskinsr3106

IT companies in India have their gasoline or other generators so that they stay online despite the frequent blackouts... your help-desk will stay available.


13 posted on 08/01/2012 12:04:07 AM PDT by Cronos (**Marriage is about commitment, cohabitation is about convenience.**)
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To: Iron Munro
“democrats were holding India up as an example of a nation with a superior infrastructure to our own”

No one is holding India as a example of superior infrastructure. Indians themselves complain about the lack of infrastructure. Rush is an idiot. But good to know at least he can do some basic match. He's been stuck on the “one tenth of mankind” thing like a broken record.

14 posted on 08/01/2012 8:48:55 AM PDT by ravager
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To: hoskinsr3106; Cronos
Most IT companies are actually in the South...Bombay, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai which are unaffected.
15 posted on 08/01/2012 8:54:29 AM PDT by ravager
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To: ravager
Rush is an idiot. But good to know at least he can do some basic match. He's been stuck on the “one tenth of mankind” thing like a broken record.

Did you confuse your left and right again and lurch off to the wrong forum?


16 posted on 08/01/2012 9:10:45 AM PDT by Iron Munro ("Jiggle the Handle for Barry!")
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To: Iron Munro
If you are wrong, being left or right isn't going to make a difference.
17 posted on 08/01/2012 9:17:05 AM PDT by ravager
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