चेतना और आत्मा:

चेतना और आत्मा: 

चेतना और आत्मा, दोनों ही अत्यंत गहन और जटिल अवधारणाएं हैं जिनके बारे में सदियों से दार्शनिक और आध्यात्मिक विचारक चर्चा करते रहे हैं। दोनों एक-दूसरे से गहराई से जुड़े हुए हैं । 

चेतना वह है जो हमें अपने आसपास की दुनिया और स्वयं को जानने और समझने में सक्षम बनाती है। यह हमारे विचारों, भावनाओं, अनुभवों और संवेदनाओं का समूह है। चेतना शरीर से जुड़ी हुई है और शरीर की मृत्यु के साथ समाप्त हो सकती है।

जबकि आत्मा को अक्सर एक अमर, शाश्वत और अविनाशी तत्व के रूप में देखा जाता है जो शरीर से परे है। यह चेतना का स्रोत माना जाता है और शरीर के नष्ट होने के बाद भी जीवित रहता है। आत्मा को अक्सर आत्मज्ञान और मोक्ष की खोज से जोड़ा जाता है।

दोनों के बीच अंतर

 * स्थायित्व: चेतना शरीर से जुड़ी होने के कारण अस्थायी है, जबकि आत्मा को अमर माना जाता है।

 * स्वरूप: चेतना विचारों, भावनाओं और अनुभवों का एक समूह है, जबकि आत्मा को अक्सर एक सार्वभौमिक चेतना या ब्रह्म के अंश के रूप में देखा जाता है।

 * अनुभव: चेतना व्यक्तिगत अनुभवों से जुड़ी होती है, जबकि आत्मा को एक सार्वभौमिक अनुभव के रूप में देखा जाता है।

चेतना और आत्मा, दोनों ही जटिल और बहुआयामी अवधारणाएं हैं। दोनों के बीच का अंतर स्पष्ट रूप से परिभाषित करना मुश्किल हो सकता है। यह एक ऐसा विषय है जिसके बारे में सदियों से विचार किया जा रहा है और शायद हमेशा विचार किया जाएगा।

महा पराशक्ति

महा पराशक्ति 

शाक्त परंपराओं के अनुसार, त्रिपुर सुंदरी आदि देवियां महापराशक्ति की भौतिक अवतार हैं। वह आसुर को नष्ट करने के लिए इस ब्रह्माण्ड के ऊपर अन्य ब्रह्माण्ड मणिद्वीप से आईं, बाद में कामाक्षी पराभट्टारिका के रूप में कामकोटि पीठ में निवास करने लगीं। उनके निवास को चित्रात्मक रूप से श्री चक्र के रूप में दर्शाया गया है।

 इस ब्रह्माण्ड के ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, शिव उसके अधीनस्थ हैं और उनकी शक्ति के बिना कार्य नहीं कर सकते। इस प्रकार, शक्तिवाद में महा पराशक्ति को  सर्वोच्च देवी और प्राथमिक देवता माना जाता है क्योंकि वह आदि पराशक्ति की निकटतम प्रतिनिधि हैं जो आगे चलकर पार्वती के रूप में अवतरित हुईं। इस मत के अनुसार कोई व्यक्ति जिस भी देवता की पूजा कर रहा है, अंततः, वे आदि पराशक्ति की पूजा कर रहे हैं।

उन्होंने धर्म की रक्षा के लिए समय-समय पर विभिन्न अवतार लिए। उच्चतम क्रम के योगियों के अनुसार, महा पराशक्ति वह शक्ति है जो अंबा के रूप में कुंडलिनी में निवास करती है, वह आकार में 3+1/2 कुंडल है और जब कुंडलिनी को हर इंसान की त्रिकास्थि हड्डी से एक उच्च एहसास द्वारा उठाया जाता है जिस आत्मा की कुंडलिनी भी जागृत होती है, वह मानव की रीढ़ की हड्डी के माध्यम से सभी चक्रों मूलाधार, स्वाधिष्ठान, मणिपुर, अनाहत, विशुद्धि, आज्ञा और अंत में सहस्रार चक्रों से ऊपर उठती है और आत्मा को सर्वव्यापी शक्ति (या सामूहिक चेतना) से जोड़ती है। दिव्य तीन नाड़ियों, इड़ा (बाएं चैनल- तमो गुण), पिंगला (दायां चैनल-रजो गुण) और सुषुम्ना (केंद्रीय चैनल-सत्व गुण) पर, कुंडलिनी सभी बाएं और दाएं चैनल को संतुलित करते हुए केंद्रीय चैनल से गुजरती है। इस प्रकार इड़ा पिंगला और सुषुम्ना भी महा पराशक्ति की ही ऊर्जाएं हैं । 

काली देवी आदि पराशक्ति का तीसरा अंश हैं। वह शक्ति, आध्यात्मिक पूर्ति, समय की देवी हैं, साथ ही ब्रह्मांड के विनाश की अध्यक्षता भी करती हैं। वह मानव जाति को मोक्ष प्रदान करती है। वह पार्वती का अवतार और शिव के अवतार महाकाल की पत्नी भवानी दुर्गा हैं। उन्होंने महामाया के रूप में भगवान महा विष्णु को मधु और कैटभ नामक राक्षसों का वध करने में मदद की। उन्होंने ही कौशिकी के रूप में शुंभ और निशुंभ का भी वध किया था, जो अज्ञानता के प्रतीक हैं। इन्हें योगमाया के नाम से भी जाना जाता है। दुर्गा सप्तशती के अनुसार उन्हें तामसी देवी और चंडी देवी भी कहा जाता है। वह लाल या काला वस्त्र पहनती है और तमस गुण की स्वामी है।

फोटो- महा पराशक्ति देवी , मलेशिया 

श्री महापराशक्ति Pachai Amman Temple, Malaysia (90 फ़ीट विग्रह)

Obama Announces $3.4 Billion Investment to Spur Transition to Smart Energy Grid

Obama Announces $3.4 Billion Investment to Spur Transition to Smart Energy Grid
Oct 27, 2009 2:10 PMDOE

President Barack Obama today announced the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, funding a broad range of technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. The end result will promote energy-saving choices for consumers, increase efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, according to Obama.
The $3.4 billion in grant awards are part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and will be matched by industry funding for a total public-private investment worth over $8 billion. Applicants state that the projects will create tens of thousands of jobs, and consumers in 49 states will benefit from these investments in a stronger, more reliable grid. Full listings of the grant awards by category and state are available An analysis by the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that the implementation of smart grid technologies could reduce electricity use by more than 4 percent by 2030. That would mean a savings of $20.4 billion for businesses and consumers around the country, and $1.6 billion for Florida alone -- or $56 in utility savings for every man, woman and child in Florida.
One-hundred private companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and other partners received the Smart Grid Investment Grant awards today, including FPL, which will use its $200 million in funding to install over 2.5 million smart meters and other technologies that will cut energy costs for its customers. In the coming days, Cabinet Members and Administration officials will fan out to awardee sites across the country to discuss how this investment will create jobs, improve the reliability and efficiency of the electrical grid, and help bring clean energy sources from high-production states to those with less renewable generating capacity. The awards announced today represent the largest group of Recovery Act awards ever made in a single day and the largest batch of Recovery Act clean energy grant awards to-date.
Today’s announcement includes:
Empowering Consumers to Save Energy and Cut Utility Bills -- $1 billion. These investments will create the infrastructure and expand access to smart meters and customer systems so that consumers will be able to access dynamic pricing information and have the ability to save money by programming smart appliances and equipment to run when rates are lowest. This will help reduce energy bills for everyone by helping drive down “peak demand” and limiting the need for “stand-by” power plants – the most expensive power generation there is. Making Electricity Distribution and Transmission More Efficient -- $400 million. The Administration is funding several grid modernization projects across the country that will significantly reduce the amount of power that is wasted from the time it is produced at a power plant to the time it gets to your house. By deploying digital monitoring devices and increasing grid automation, these awards will increase the efficiency, reliability and security of the system, and will help link up renewable energy resources with the electric grid. This will make it easier for a wind farm in Montana to instantaneously pick up the slack when the wind stops blowing in Missouri or a cloud rolls over a solar array in Arizona. Integrating and Crosscutting Across Different “Smart” Components of a Smart Grid -- $2 billion. Much like electronic banking, the Smart Grid is not the sum total of its components but how those components work together. The Administration is funding a range of projects that will incorporate these various components into one system or cut across various project areas – including smart meters, smart thermostats and appliances, syncrophasors, automated substations, plug in hybrid electric vehicles, renewable energy sources, etc. Building a Smart Grid Manufacturing Industry -- $25 million. These investments will help expand our manufacturing base of companies that can produce the smart meters, smart appliances, synchrophasors, smart transformers, and other components for smart grid systems in the United States and around the world – representing a significant and growing export opportunity for our country and new jobs for American workers.
The planned effect of the investments announced today, when the projects are fully implemented, will:
Create tens of thousands of jobs across the country. These jobs include high paying career opportunities for smart meter manufacturing workers; engineering technicians, electricians and equipment installers; IT system designers and cyber security specialists; data entry clerks and database administrators; business and power system analysts; and others. Leverage more than $4.7 billion in private investment to match the federal investment. Make the grid more reliable, reducing power outages that cost American consumers $150 billion a year -- about $500 for every man, woman and child in the United States. Install more than 850 sensors - called ‘Phasor Measurement Units’ - that will cover 100 percent of the U.S. electric grid and make it possible for grid operators to better monitor grid conditions and prevent minor disturbances in the electrical system from cascading into local or regional power outages or blackouts. This monitoring ability will also help the grid to incorporate large blocks of intermittent renewable energy, like wind and solar power, to take advantage of clean energy resources when they are available and make adjustments when they’re not. Install more than 200,000 smart transformers that will make it possible for power companies to replace units before they fail thus saving money and reducing power outages. Install almost 700 automated substations, representing about 5 percent of the nation’s total that will make it possible for power companies to respond faster and more effectively to restore service when bad weather knocks down power lines or causes electricity disruptions. Power companies today typically do not know there has been a power outage until a customer calls to report it. With these smart grid devices, power companies will have the tools they need for better outage prevention and faster response to make repairs when outages do occur. Empower consumers to cut their electricity bills. The Recovery Act combined with private investment will put us on pace to deploy more than 40 million smart meters in American homes and businesses over the next few years that will help consumers cut their utility bills. Install more than 1 million in-home displays, 170,000 smart thermostats, and 175,000 other load control devices to enable consumers to reduce their energy use. Funding will also help expand the market for smart washers, dryers, and dishwashers, so that American consumers can further control their energy use and lower their electricity bills. Put us on a path to get 20 percent or more of our energy from renewable sources by 2020. Reduce peak electricity demand by more than 1400 MW, which is the equivalent of several larger power plants and can save ratepayers more than $1.5 billion in capital costs and help lower utility bills. Since peak electricity is the most expensive energy – and requires the use of standby power generation plants – the economic and environmental savings for even a small reduction are significant. In fact, some of the power plants for meeting peak demand operate for only a few hundred hours a year, which means the power they generate can be 5-10 times more expensive than the average price per kilowatt hour paid by most consumers.

Some Latest NEWS

“Scientists Convert Nuclear Energy to Power without Steam”-

For years, researchers have been in search of an economically feasible method of converting nuclear energy directly into electricity. Now, University of Missouri researchers are developing an energy conversion system that uses relatively safe isotopes to generate high-grade energy. A system that directly converts nuclear energy into electricity would be cheaper than current nuclear conversion technology.

Venice to use algae for 50% of its electricity-

The city of Venice has announced a plan to utilize algae in a different way than we're used to hearing about. The Italian city plans to produce 50 percent of its electricity needs from an algae-based power plant instead of fossil fuels.
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/...ectricity.html

Decentralize the Grid: Practical or Unrealistic?-
The US electrical grid is a century-old “machine” built for a singular purpose: to power the development and industrialization of the nation’s economy. It is designed to deliver electrons from centralized power producing plants through transmission wires to end consumers. This archaic, unidirectional architecture is unreliable, inefficient, and unsafe.
http://blog.cleantechies.com/2009/03...r-unrealistic/

A Field of Light Sabers, Powered By Ambient Electricity-
Richard Box was an artist in residence in the physics department at Bristol University, and he got the idea to plant his fluorescent crop after hearing a colleague describe playing light saber games with a fluorescent tube beneath power lines in his backyard. So he arranged with a local farmer into letting him set up this extraordinary scene, to recreate the light saber game times a thousand.
http://io9.com/5204842/a-field-of-li...nt-electricity

Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies-
Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.
The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090408/...yberattack_usa
http://theitsecurityguy.blogspot.com...ower-grid.html

Estimation of life expectancy of Transformers

Estimation of life expectancy of Transformers :
The evaluation of the life expectancy of a transformer is a key reason for having follow-up and diagnosis systems. This preoccupation is closely related to the need of the suppliers of electricity to predict the time of replacement in order to maximize the useful life of the equipment, as well as minimizing the risks of failure leading to power reliability problems.

The ultimate question to answer is how many years are left before the equipment has a failure?

The evaluation of the life expectancy is often subject to a number of erroneous interpretations .First, it is important to define what we agree upon as end of life.

The end of life is attained when the transformer is incapable of fulfilling its functions. Certain organizations distinguish between technical, planned and economical end of life. The tendency is to give too much importance to the technical end of life. It is rare that a transformer is replaced for only technical reasons; the main reasons to retire a transformer from service are related to costs. The operational expenses must be minimized. These reasons are of a planning nature (modification to load profile, voltage changes, etc.)

Second, we should distinguish between the life expectancy of the insulation and that of the transformer. It has often been the case where the transformer was kept in service several years after the insulation was classified obsolete. It is implicit that the life expectancy of the insulation is not that of the life expectancy of the transformer.

The technical life expectancy of a transformer is determined by several factors. It depends upon design, historical events, operating conditions, its actual state and future conditions.

Most of the present methods put too much emphasis on the condition of the insulating material. We could easily appreciate that not only temperature, load and water content have an effect on the capacities of a transformer to fulfill its functions but also the number of short-circuits, over-voltage, design weakness, repairs and moving, etc.. To be able to use a multi-factor evaluation, it is necessary to have an indepth understanding of the interrelations between the internal components. Once this is acquired, the historical information of the transformer will be needed. It is, therefore, important to gather the information as quickly as possible at the time in order to easily access it.

The eternal question is, "How long will my transformer last?". In order to answer this question we have extracted data from a survey of 251 transformers used by small and medium sized industries. From this survey, we have the transformer size and age profile with which we can estimate the life span of your transformer.

Figure 4 represents the transformer size profile of the survey. It indicates that most transformers in use by small to medium sized industries are in the 500- 2500 kVA range.

From Figure 5 the variations which we observe are probably due to cycles in the economy. Characteristically, these small to medium sized industries are more prone to these economical cycles.

The decrease in the number of transformers more than fifty years old is probably due to the closing of small and medium sized industries. If the decrease was cause by a mechanism failure, the curve would have been less abrupt. Instead, the decrease would be spread over two decades The author is warning you not to use the curves from that reference for estimating the probable life span of your transformers.
In many countries power transformer kept off from service after completion of 20 or 25 years although with satisfactory test results. It is safe practice.

NUMERICAL RELAYS

NUMERICAL RELAYS
The distinction between digital and numerical relay rests on points of fine technical detail, and is rarely found in areas other than Protection. They can be viewed as natural developments of digital relays as a result of advances in technology. Typically, they use a specialised digital signal processor (DSP) as the computational hardware, together with the associated software tools.
The input analogue signals are converted into a digital representation and processed according to the appropriate mathematical algorithm. Processing is carried out using a specialised microprocessor that is optimised for signal processing applications, known as a digital signal processor or DSP for short. Digital processing of signals in real time requires a very high power microprocessor. In addition, the continuing reduction in the cost of microprocessors and related digital devices (memory, I/O,
etc.) naturally leads to an approach where a single item of hardware is used to provide a range of functions (‘one-box solution’ approach). By using multiple
microprocessors to provide the necessary computational performance, a large number of functions previously implemented in separate items of hardware can now be
included within a single item. Table 7.1 provides a list of typical functions available, while Table 7.2 summarises the advantages of a modern numerical relay over the static equivalent of only 10-15 years ago. Figure 7.7 shows typical numerical relays, and a circuit board is shown in Figure 7.8. Figure 7.9 provides an illustration of the savings in space possible on a HV feeder showing the space requirement for relays with electromechanical and numerical relay technology to provide the same functionality. Because a numerical relay may implement the
functionality that used to require several discrete relays, the relay functions (overcurrent, earth fault, etc.) are now referred to as being ‘relay elements’, so that a single relay (i.e. an item of hardware housed in a single case) may implement several functions using several relay elements. Each relay element will typically be a software routine or routines.

The argument against putting many features into one piece of hardware centres on the issues of reliability and availability. A failure of a numerical relay may cause
many more functions to be lost, compared to applications where different functions are implemented by separate hardware items. Comparison of reliability and availability between the two methods is complex as interdependency of elements of an application provided by separate relay elements needs to be taken into account.
With the experience gained with static and digital relays, most hardware failure mechanisms are now well understood and suitable precautions taken at the design
stage. Software problems are minimised by rigorous use of software design techniques, extensive prototype testing and the ability to download amended software into memory (possibly using a remote telephone link for download). Practical experience indicates that numerical relays are at least as reliable and have at least as good a record of availability as relays of earlier technologies.

Substation Control and Automation (SCADA)

SCADA System :
RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) installed in distribution & transmission substations and SCADA system can make substations unmanned and remote monitoring and controlling substations possible. In Power Systems SCADA has widespread application in generation, transmission, distribution and substation automation.

SCADA Technology
1. High ReliabilitySCADA system design can realize high reliability & availability.
2. Monitoring SubstationsAutomatic monitoring and displaying of substation condition can be conducted based on the information from RTUs.
3. Operation of Substation equipmentManual operation by operators and automatic operation by SCADA system are possible.
4. Automatic MessageSCADA system can edit messages about fault information, etc. and messages are reported to related offices automatically.
5. Substation Operation Supporting FunctionVarious information needed for substation operation (operation record, load status record, etc.) can be generated automatically.

ADVANTAGES:
1. Eliminates operators working on shifts in substations. Assuming 8 operators in 132 KV substations. The annual expenditure per operator is about Rs. 2 lakh.
2. Eliminates manual error in meter reading and calculations.
3. Eliminates data transmission by post or fax.
4. Automation, state of art technology and reliability
5. remote operation on circuit breakers and line isolators.On line real time monitoring of substation at HQ.

The Hardware
The substation control system, being responsive to a plurality of status input signals from various power system assemblies includes a plurality of input/output modules, each having a fiber-optic transceiver capability, wherein wire connections are used to communicate the status signals from the power system assemblies to input contacts of the respective I/O modules. The output signals from the I/O module are applied to a fiber-optic line. The system also includes a plurality of logic processors, each responsive to the signals on a fiber-optic line from a plurality of input-output modules for application to a plurality of protective relay devices, which provide protection operations and generate output signals. The logic processors also have a part in the overall protection arrangement. The output signals are communicated back to the power system assemblies for local control and protection thereof and to SCADA systems for remote control thereof. If the control panel have electronic meter with optical port/RS232 port it can be connected to SCADA computer through serial data transmission port with mux/demux.

The Software
The complete engineering and SCADA development is through a single software running on Windows. The software has unlimited tags, trends, graphical displays and has a built in Sequence - of - Events recording (SOE), which is very essential for fault diagnosis. The data such as KWH, KVA, KW, FREQ, VOLTAGES, LOAD CURRENT, KVAR etc are displayed on Excel Spread sheet. The data can be stored and displayed on the intervals as desired (instantaneous, real-time, every 15 minutes, half hourly, hourly, daily etc).Different curves such as voltage profile , load duration are also displayed. The SCADA Software will be linked with EMS/RMS software so that the system is more versatile.