Hollow promises on Lokpal

"Why is the Indian government adamant about 

keeping junior officers out of Lokpal?

The answer lies in the fact that money made at

lower levels is channeled directly to political parties"

Arvind Kejriwal

in

"Too many hollow promises"

The Times of India, Pune, India

July 12, 2011

The cat is out of the bag!!

                              me

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Rescue Indian farmers

The role of micro finance companies offering loans to the poor has come under the lens even as a farmer, under pressure to repay his debt, committed suicide in Nizamabad district on Wednesday. In Guntur, a woman attempted to end her life, as she was upset over her humiliation by MFI (micro finance institution) agents. And in yet another case, two members of a self-help group were booked in Srikakalum over the suicide of a woman on Tuesday.

Private micro finance institutions' (MFIs) vision of "eradicating poverty" is far removed from reality, say finance experts. They say MFIs are no better than moneylenders, who lend to the poor at a higher rate of interest, or almost the same as a moneylender, and turn this into a profitable venture. Banks, which are meant to reach out to the rural poor but choose to fund MFIs instead, have only contributed to the debt crisis the poor are facing in Andhra. 

 

The controversy sparked by suicides and harassment of the rural poor by micro finance institutions has the Self-Employed Women's Association (Sewa) founder and Ramon Magsaysay award winner Ela Bhatt worried. But some of the steps being proposed by CM K Rosaiah to check the MFIs like limiting the interest rates charged by the MFIs to 8% and make as non-bailable offences the employment of coercion and unethical practices to recover loans from the rural poor appear to be far from reality.

"The MFIs are charging an interest rate of up to 50% at present. And they themselves are taking loans from banks at more than 11.5%. How can the state persuade RBI to ensure that MFI interest rates for loans be restricted to 8%? Secondly, the unlawful practices resorted to by the MFIs can be dealt with by the existing sections of IPC. The government should work out effective steps instead of making such populist assertions," said a micro finance expert.

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Nuclear liability bill

The “Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010” is presently under consideration of the Indian Parliament. The changes sought in the draft forwarded by the Parliamentary Standing committee need to be carefully looked into.

Suppliers liability: The formulation of Clause 17 (b) proposed in the amendment is worse than the provision contained in the original bill. The new amendment proposed by the government would require proof that sub-standard equipment or material was "consequence of an act done with the intent to cause nuclear damage". Practically speaking it is impossible to prove such an ‘intent’. It would make it impossible to ascribe liability to suppliers of equipment for nuclear plants. It goes against the formulation suggested by the Standing Committee, which does not require any such proof on the intent of the supplier.

Operation of nuclear installation: The standing committee had categorically recommended that there will be no private operator of nuclear installation. After the experience of Bhopal gas tragedy and its aftermath, the government should not allow any private operator for the nuclear installation.

Limit on compensation for accidents: There should no limits put on the compensation. The compensation must be commensurate with the extent of damage.  

Nuclear industry objects to clauses in liability bill

Loopholes in the Nuclear Liability Bill

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Evaluation of inclusive economic growth

Dr Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, is the main contributor to the pre-Budget Economic Survey for 2009-10. The 420-page document, tabled in Parliament on 25 February 2010, has on its cover a diagram depicting the concept of “coupons equilibrium”, a theory that plays an important role in providing the micro-foundations for Keynesian macroeconomics. Dr Basu turned a new leaf, defining the parameters to evaluate the inclusive economic growth, so important for the country like India. Here are the parameters proposed by Basu:

(a)Economic growth: Instead of GDP measure the growth in per capita income of the bottom 20% (quintile) population.

(b)Food coupons: Help the poor directly, instead of trying to control process. He suggests that the subsidy on the food should be given directly to the household or the farmer, respectively, instead of giving to the public distribution system or the fertilizer manufacturer.

(c) Labour rights: Create market conditions that result in greater demand for labor sothat their demands can be realistically met by the market forces.

(d)Food inflation: During the periods of high food inflation, release small quantities of food grains in multiple locations at prices substantially below the market, instead of distributing grains through millers and traders.

(e)Cost cutting: Instead of managing then nitty gritty, create conductive environment to manage the costs.

(f) Social awareness: Spread awareness about the positive social qualities for progress. Societies endowed with personal integrity and trustworthiness have natural advantage geared to progress, as the third party regulation is not needed.

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Why should India be concerned about climate change

As expected, last week was dominated by the climate change meet at Copenhagen. Let us take a bird’s eye view of the last week’s developments.

Swine flu:

After the initial hesitation, the government included private hospitals in the fight against swine flu. But lately, they are facing flak from the government once again. So far, there are 670 deaths due to swine flu in our country and according the Health Ministry most of it is due late reporting for which they hold private doctors responsible. Two things are obvious: (a) private doctors require training on the modalities, (b) better coordination between the government and private agencies is required

Climate change at Copenhagen:

A tonne of carbon dioxide emitted in India is the same as a tonne of carbon dioxide emitted in the U.S., but that isn't making climate negotiations any simpler in Copenhagen. India has displayed flexibility in its climate change position by offering to adopt the international guidelines under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), while reporting to Parliament on its unsupported domestic efforts to deal with climate change. This move can be viewed as a significant step. It conveys to the global community that India’s reporting would be at international standards, at the same time the government would be able to tell the domestic audience that it has not submitted to international review.

Why should India be concerned about climate change? The three main ‘categories’ of impacts, namely those on agriculture, sea level rise leading to submergence of coastal areas as well as increased frequency of extreme events. Each of these pose serious threats to India. Read this article and more such interesting articles. Help India become Carbon Neutral.

China and the US were placed at the bottom end of a worldwide national ranking of performance on climate protection published on Monday, 14 December 2009. Compiled by Germanwatch, a think tank and the Climate Action Newtork (CAN), an alliance of environment pressure groups, the annual Climate Change Performance Index ranks countries based on their climate protection performance, comparing 57 industrialised countries and emerging economies.

Money laundering:

A team from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that sets benchmarks for legislation on money laundering, is in India to assess the country’s legal and enforcement framework. The assessment, which ends on Friday, 18 December 2009, will set the ball rolling for New Delhi’s membership of the elite body.

Illegal activities such as drug trafficking, trade in weapons and white collar crimes can generate large sums of money. Money laundering refers to the act of making these gains legitimate by disguising the source of money, changing its form or moving it to a location where not many questions are asked.

Storing power in the grid:

The distribution of electricity to millions of consumers is a difficult task because while the amount of electricity generated is relatively fixed over short periods of time, the demand for electricity fluctuates throughout the day. A highly efficient electricity grid that can easily harmonize energy production with energy consumption is needed to answer this problem. Read my recent blog post on the subject

Danish Island:

The Danish island of Samso has become one of the first industrialized places on Earth to qualify as completely energy self-sufficient. Should we aim at converting our villages into the so called ‘Danish Islands’ using appropriate renewable technology ?

India’s first commercial MW power plant:

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah on 15 Dec 2009 (Tuesday) inaugurated country’s first commercial 2 mega watt Solar Power Plant in Punjab’s Amritsar District.

Cement and concrete:

Those working on cement and concrete may have a look at my recent blog post on International Journals on Cement.

See you next week

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Waste collection & recycling: example for municipalities from UK

The councils are being focused upon in a new scheme designed to improve recycling rates in the UK. The Local Government Association (LGA) is backing a project from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to get councils to commit to increasing their environmental efforts.

WRAP

a) WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.

b) Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. WRAP also receives funding from Advantage West Midlands.

c) Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business and Markets, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.

d) More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk

LGA

The LGA is a cross-party organisation which represents over 350 councils in England.

A ten-point voluntary agreement called the Waste Collection Commitment has been drawn up by WRAP and councils are being urged to sign up.

1 - Explain clearly what services you can expect to receive;

2 - Provide regular collections;

3 - Provide a reliable collection service;

4 - Consider any special requests that individual households may have;

5 - Design our services and carry out collections in a way that doesn’t produce litter;

6 - Collect as many materials for recycling as we can and explain to you what happens to them;

7 - Explain clearly what our service rules are and the reasons for them;

8 - Tell you in good time if we have to make changes to your services, even temporarily;

9 - Respond to complaints we receive about our services; and

10 - Tell all our residents about this commitment to collecting waste.

Waste collection and recycling is a serious problem in Indian cities. The effort made by UK government provides a good model for adoption by the municipal corporations.

Is India a flawed democracy ?

The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2008 Democracy Index ranks India 35th among the 'flawed democracies' of the world. As citizens, should we reject these findings, as most of our politicians have done promptly. The agency has used some 60 indicators to assess. Let us make our own assessment, using some of the major indicators.

Civil Liberties: We enjoy full civil liberty. However, thousands of innocent people languish in jails without any trial for years.

Political Culture: The politics in the country is polarised on caste, region and religious lines. The parliament sessions are marked by chaos. The members often do not sit in the House. What can you expect, when criminals become legislators!

Public Participation: The most dangerous feature of our democracy is the public apathy. The 50% of the population, i.e. women, do not have adequate representation in the governance. The people do not vote; as a result the legislators are mostly elected on the minority vote.

Government: The Indian government machinery is known for its corruption and inefficiency, world over.

Under these conditions, if someone calls India a flawed democracy, it is not too much off the mark

Vote for India

The schedule of the parliamentary elections in India has been announced. I view vote as a means to strengthen democracy. I have a three point programme for all voters, especially young voters:

(1) Exercise Your Constitutional Right: All eligible citizens must register and vote.

The intelligentsia in India have a strange apathy towards elections in general and voting in particular. Those who do not vote have no moral right to criticise the Government.

(2) Vote for Secular Politics: Eliminate those who seek vote on account of caste, creed, language, region and religion.

The governance can be improved only by choosing right candidates through the democratic process.

(3) Make the right choice: Vote for those whose character is above the board and those who speak for development only

View other blogs authored by Dr J D Bapat