Malls and More

With powercuts being what they are in India, Tamilnadu right now is in such a state that there is mandatory powercuts daily even in Chennai daily, does it make sense to have American Style Malls? In my thinking malls are one of the most wasteful ways to promote commerce. Given the heat in India, huge buildings which won't use Sunlight to light up but use up all sorts of lighting even during daytime. Air-conditioning the whole building, instead of just the individual shops is even more power consuming.
When we cannot provide 24 hours electricity even to industry to keep up production, the rationale for these huge electrified caverns are as ridiculous as building a ski resort in Dubai. The oil money has made the sheikhs reckless with money, but we mimicking US will only lead to further deteriorate the power situation in India.

Some interesting reads
This one is from Pakistan. It blew my mind. Before we all thump our chests about our great culture and how backward Pakistan is, let us realize that we aren't far behind.
From Outlook India

Hymenoplasty or restoration of ruptured hymen is sought after because of the importance Pakistani men attach to marrying virgins
The rising demand for it is proof of the society’s sexual liberation
Total cost: Rs 40,000; time taken for surgery: 30 minutes to two hours
Post surgery, the person must wait for three months to have sex. Intercourse leads to bleeding.
In the West, though, women resort to hymenoplasty to pep up their sex lives. It costs $2,000.

I had earlier asked a question here asking if we should be investing in real estate in India right now. I think here is some answer.
From Economic Times

Property prices across the country have seen a correction by 20 to 40 per cent, Rohtash Goel, chairman Omaxe Developers and president of the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) told reporters here.

"We are asking our members to reduce rates. The reduction will be up to 5 per cent for existing projects, 10 per cent on new projects and 15 per cent for the affordable housing section," Goel told reporters.

In my opinion, this correct is still modest compared to the bubble we saw happen in this industry. There is still more weight to be shed. There is no reason why a plot of land in a place more than 1 hour outside chennai (or any major metro) without any roads, watersupply, decent electricity, schools or bus service should cost 20-25 lakhs.


This is exciting for space buffs. The Red planet has water and it apparently even snows up (or is it down) there.

The recently departed Phoenix lander dug up water ice and even spotted falling snow from its position in the northern polar plains. And now data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter point to vast glaciers buried beneath thin layers of crustal debris, much closer to the equator.

The findings, published today in Science, come from the spacecraft's shallow radar, or SHARAD, which is able to penetrate the surface and examine what lies beneath. In this case, SHARAD indicated that two long-visible mid-latitude features, one of which is roughly three times the size of Los Angeles, are almost completely composed of water ice.