Dear readers,

Inventions seek to simplify life. An intrinsic desire to make each task cost, energy and time efficient has given the world its greatest discoveries. The journey towards higher efficiencies hasn’t ended and millions of talented people across the world are striving to make life easier. Very soon we may find hydro powered technology replacing oil with water as the new fuel, a budget airline to Mars and computerised space vehicles zipping through galaxies. As of now, however, we still remain highly dependant on our fossil fuel reserves, especially hydrocarbons.

India has concertedly tried to perform well in every sector since its Independence. A gamut of public sector undertakings (PSUs) were set up, but enterprises such as IndianOil, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Gas Authority India Ltd, Oil India Ltd, Bharat Petroleum, among others have stood ground for decades, grappling with issues of procurement, production and pricing, buffering the Indian consumers from the aftershocks of world upheavals. The private players, entering the fray 1998 onwards, have at present begun to show better performance records, blessed as they are with cutting edge technologies. PSUs in the hydrocarbons sector on the other hand work within the limitation of capacity additions, especially in the case of refineries, rather than new installations. In the near future we can thus envisage a competitive edge of brand-power over PSUs. This issue of G‘nY reviews the hydrocarbon status in India and seeks to unfold its importance in our lives.

The issue also explores new rules on handling hazardous wastes. Although hazardous wastes are increasing by leaps and bounds within the country, it is the import policies that need to be reviewed over and above the number of disposal facilities being created. Without training backed by state of art laboratory facilities, custom officials are unable to detect certain hazardous wastes. Moreover, it is claimed that treatment storage and development facility (TSDF) available in the country need a certain viable proportion of wastes to be processed and in some cases to make them operationally viable import of even e-wastes among others may be allowed. Such inclusions are alarming.

We have also presented a few travel articles to entice the explorer in you. Sirpur, is a must read, as it is an exceptional account of new excavations in our country.