Aravindh C.

I'm a Tamil Indian dude. I tweet mostly about:
Urbanism | nuclear energy | economic growth

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

It's funny that when India does feats like moon landing, UPI, etc people rightly cheer it

but when people ask for footpaths or cycle lanes suddenly they spew excuses like summer is too hot, we're below $4K GDP pc, etc

You grow only when you break out of constraints.

[Satvik Pendyala | 彭尚威 | సాత్విక్ | सात्विक @Satvik_Pen]

The Indian left has grasped the American left's worst Ludditism, the Indian right doesn't understand technology and hates the actual researchers, and the Indian center wouldn't know technology if it hit them in the face
India desperately needs to center tech literacy in all wings

[Indian Urbanism @IndianUrbanist]

Opposing taller buildings in Indian cities is a bizarre leftist position. It ends up punishing the poorest by making drainage, waste management, cables, electricity and public transit far costlier & worse, while forcing endless sprawl where cutting lakhs of trees becomes normal.

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

Partly explained by this:

[MINNALE ⚡️ @saaboothreee]

People in Tamil Nadu act as though they’ve been living under oppression, mistreated by the DMK government, held at metaphorical gunpoint, and desperately waiting for some saviour to rescue them from imagined horror and slavery.

[Rishika Pardikar @rishpardikar]

A good thumb rule: any analysis/ commentary on rising temperatures in cities that attributes the cause singularly to climate change is highly likely to be wrong. Reason being the fact that built environments (concrete, asphalt and glass) absorb a lot of heat

[Tamil Nadu Geography @TNGeography]

Tamil Nadu faces one of the most crucial elections in its history. With population growth stabilising & the average age now 36+, the next 10 yrs will decide: will TN remain lower-middle-class or finally rise to upper-middle-class prosperity? Need eagle-eyed focus on economy 1/3

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

@VinamraOR @IndianUrbanist This shows change in demand, not absolute demand

In reality India consumes nearly twice as much energy as Africa

https://t.co/rkQABLtmEC

[Akarsh @railmaxxer]

More proof, why indian cities need to grow vertical, design according to the wind, prioritise shade both green and gray. Stop sprawling into the forests.
Metropolises like Bangalore, will probably feel less cooler in the coming decades cause it's on a sprawling spree.

[Chennai Updates @UpdatesChennai]

Chennai & other cities in TN will keep sleeping. An earthquake prone state is building taller. Shameful!! 😑🤷‍♂️

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

@arjunsiddarths @UpdatesChennai Resources PER PERSON is the metric you're looking for. And yes, skyscrapers definitely use fewer resources compared to suburban sprawl

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

Chennai folks should stop opposing skyscrapers

Skyscrapers are good for the same reason buses, trains or nuclear plants are good. They serve more people but need less space & resources

It’s far easier to build infrastructure like metros or sewage to support vertical clusters than horizontal sprawl. Which is easier: build metro to cover 200 km² or 1000 km² ?

Services like garbage collection are also easier for vertical growth than urban sprawl

When a school kid distribute chocolates to classmates for birthday, which is easier: visiting each of their homes? or giving when they’re all in the classroom?

Our current FSI limits are akin to banning local trains or buses. Imagine how stupid & inefficient that would be!

Already TN's tax money is redistributed up north; the little that remains shouldn't be wasted on maintaining suburban sprawl

[Puram @puram_politics]

Why do Indians think skyscrapers are desirable?

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

@Sandhyapalli Yes, I agree. Infrastructure has to precede building skyscrapers.

But for that you have to keep in mind the goal of eventually building tall in the first place, so you can plan for appropriately sized infra. That vision is not there.

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

@GlennLuk I like the palindromic abbreviations of some Chinese SOEs (CRRC, CNNC, etc). Very satisfying.

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

Coimbatore is such a cracked city

It deserves 2x the infrastructure that it currently gets, with proper footpaths, bus lanes, FSI relaxation, and metros

But in India, we don't believe in investing in successes, so all we get is mediocrity. Places like Coimbatore are ignored by both Central and State govts

Heck, Cbe even has more GCCs than every other tier 2 city

[Maahir Panchal @maahirpanchal]

Something I keep coming back to:

The precision machining cluster in Coimbatore exports to Tier-1 automotive suppliers in Germany.

The German buyer knows Coimbatore.

The Indian policy conversation doesn't.

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

@HarksenNiels The social media/news presence of Indian nuclear is limited, besides the official accounts

Maybe @Gaurav_Gullaiya can you help suggest?

@saurabhtodi writes good articles

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

Anti-nuclear folks opposing PFBR is very ironic, considering that:

1. Fast Breeder reactors solve problem of nuclear waste. FBRs can use up the longest lived radioactive wastes produced from regular reactors.

2. FBRs also increase the energy that you get from uranium fuel by up to 80 - 100x, so it reduces the need to mine uranium

Both are major wins for the environment. So why oppose?

The real reason is different from the one stated. Once you oppose a solution, the "problem" can be used to oppose nuclear in perpetuity.

This is why FBRs, permanent waste storage sites, etc always get special attention from anti-nuclear activists across the world.

[G. Sundarrajan @SundarrajanG]

கல்பாக்கத்தில் உள்ள 500 மெகாவாட் மின்னுற்பத்தித் திறன் கொண்ட மாதிரி வேக ஈனுலை(Prototype Fast Breeder reactor(PFBR), ஏப்ரல் 6ஆம் தேதி அன்று இரவு 08:25 மணிக்கு முதலாவது அணுப்பிளவு செயல்பாட்டு நிலையை (attaining first criticality (start of controlled fission chain reaction))எட்டியுள்ளது. இது தொடர்பான அறிவிப்பை பிரதமர் மோடி சமூக ஊடகங்களில் வாயிலாக வெளியிட்டார். கடந்த 10 ஆண்டுகால பா.ஜ.க. ஆட்சியில் இந்தியாவில் அறிவியல் மனப்பாங்கு குறைந்து வரும் நிலையில் ஒவ்வொரு அறிவியல் முன்னேற்றங்களையும் அத்தி பூத்தாற்போல வரவேற்க வேண்டியுள்ளது. ஆனால், அதே நேரத்தில் அபாயமிக்க சுற்றுச்சூழலுக்கும் மனித குலத்துக்கும் ஆபத்தான முன்னேற்றங்களைச் சுட்டிக்காட்டுவதும் அவசியமாகிறது. அவ்வகையில் கல்பாக்கத்தில் உள்ள ஈனுலையின் முன்னேற்றங்களை நாம் கண்டிக்கிறோம்.

முழு விவரம்:

https://t.co/81BAx6SYX8

#fastbreederreactor #kalpakkam #modi #bjpgovernment #pooovulaginnanbargal

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

3/n
PFBR helps reduce mining impact
Producing 80-100x more energy from given uranium means you need to mine less uranium

This makes nuclear even more resource-efficient than it already is:

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

India's PFBR is an ENORMOUS achievement

Why? Look at natural uranium: mostly U238 with less than 1% of U235. Most reactors can use only that 1%

PFBR converts the U238 into Pu239, which can then be used to make energy. So, you can get up 50-100x more energy from uranium

Cntd.🧵

[Anil Kakodkar @anil_kakodkar]

Today is a historic day. India has entered 2nd stage of our three stage nuclear power program with the achievement of clriticality of PFBR. Congratulations to every contributor to this critical technology that makes India only the second country to operate a large fast reactor.

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

2/n
FBRs also have another cool feature:
They solve the age-old issue of nuclear waste

How? Using an FBR will remove the long lived fission products that are radioactive for 10,000s of years

You no longer need to build expensive facilities to store nuclear waste for centuries

[Aravindh C. @arvv]

PS: Above image from @whatisnuclear

His articles are amazing: https://t.co/mWmB93S6r7
https://t.co/N8kj8ZJ243