An Article Regarding "ECO-FRIENDLY AIR COOLING"

Denizens of the city are seeking a refuge from the summer heat in air-conditioned surroundings is spite of inflated electricity bills. It is natural that alternative methods of cooling the atmosphere will flash through their minds. Now a natural air- conditioning system has been discovered which will not require a high degree of investment and is available all the time. It happens to be the first of its kind in the world. It is known as the Natural Cooling System (NCS) devised by Biodiversity Conservation (India) Limited. It utilizes native technology and architectural forms borrowed from ancient periods.

In mechanical air-conditioning systems, natural air is drawn and chemicals and catalysts used to cool it, whereas the NCS leads the surface air into the earth for a depth of five meters from the surface. The temperature under the earth at a 5 metre depth from the surface level will always be stationary and at least a few degrees lower.

The idea is based on the general principle that hot air moves to the top while the cool air settles down at the bottom. The hot air that is on the surface of the earth is taken downwards to the earth while the cool temperature under the earth will change the hot air into cool air. Through this method we are trying to do away with the sick building disorder that comes from regular ACs circulating stale air the whole day long with only 8 per cent of fresh air coming in, but this system uses 100 per cent fresh air twenty four hours

This mode can be used not only in used in stand-alone houses but also in cooling apartments. What about rooms that are not in regular use? In each house there is a valve to regulate the flow of air. Anyone who does not want the cool air can close the valve and the room will revert to normal temperature.

Intending to provide the facility to over 100 houses we have dug trenches 12 ft deep and 15 ft wide and placed a network of 5 kms of Another suggestion from the pipes under the ground.

Some people may have some reservations about pipes running parallel to walls as spoiling the appearance of the building. There is no truth in this as these flats look like any other flats. The air in the rooms is cool in summer and warm in winter. The night air is used to cool the room and hot air in the afternoon is used for ventilation.

In addition to its other advantages, this method is free of ChI oro Fluoro Carbon (CFC) and Hydro Chi oro Fluoro Carbon (HCFC). There are no emissions and no chemical is involved in letting the earth cool the surface air naturally.

BANKS NEED TO EXPAND THEIR CLIENTBASE

There should be an addition of at least 250 new accounts by banks from cultivator and non-cultivator households for every branch each year from their rural and semi-urban branches. This has been recommended by the committee on financial inclusion appointed by the finance ministry. It also said that retired bankers, government officials and ex-servicemen should be taken in by banks as business correspondents to bring about better financial inclusion committee is that NABARD should give micro-finance in urban areas. It also suggested that Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) should be brought in to mobilize savings.

The committee noted that out of a total of 89.3 million farmer households, 45.9 million farmer households in India (51.4%) do not have access to credit from institutional or non-institutional sources. Formal credit is not accessed by over three- fourths of the households as a survey reveals. It was also proposed by the committee that pensioners, retired bankers, government officials and ex-servicemen should be brought in by banks as business correspondents (BCs) to effect better financial inclusion.

MFIs are presently occupied mainly in lending so as to improve inclusion in urban areas and there has been a suggestion from the committee that the NABARD Act be amended to give microfinance services to the poor in urban areas. It was clarified that the committee did not favor using money lenders as business correspondents. Banks ought to try and have a business correspondent contact point in every one of the 6,00,000 villages in India. Banks should try to expand branch networks in under banked areas so that their outreach would be broadened.

In order to provide funding support initially to give an impetus to financial inclusion two funds have been proposed to be established by the committee i.e., The financial inclusion promotion and development fund and the financial inclusion technology fund with an initial outlay of Rs 500 corer each.

Forty percent each of the corpus would be contributed by the government and the RBI and the balance 20% would be contributed by NABARD. It was suggested that a part of the amount of the fund be utilized to consolidate the self-help group (SHG)-bank linkage. As there are multiple authorities, (centre, states and the Reserve Bank) taking part in implementing these recommendations, there has been a suggestion from the committee that the National Mission on Financial Inclusion made up of representatives of all stake holders be constituted and this should help in bringing about financial inclusion in a specific time frame.

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