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Building code made stronger
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Lax easing: Change system, share benefits
In the absence of stringent laws and strong institutions, mining remains one of the most unregulated of activities in the country despite its huge social and environmental fallouts. It may be
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We fought, the government gave in
The Gandhian couple who fought against shrimp farms
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Managing water locally a good model
In the Water and Sanitation Project implemented by the Tamil Nadu government with assistance from the Danish International Development Assistance, the institutional foundation for providing water supplies lies within the framework of the Panchayati Raj sy
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Forest commission report on forest rights bill validates government's stand
Forest commission fails to innovate
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Low procurement stares depleted silos
FOOD MANAGEMENT: Foodgrain stock at 19.2 MT on January 1 this year is 4% lower than the buffer norm of 20 MT. The Economic Survey 2007-08 points to the lower than normative foodgrain stocks for the third consecutive year, caused mainly by the decline in procurement of wheat and rice and their increased offtake under the targeted public distribution system. The foodgrain stock stood at 19.2 million tonnes (MT) as on January 1, 2008, comprising 11.5 million tonnes of rice and 7.7 MT of wheat, respectively. This stock is 4 per cent lower than the buffer norm of 20 MT. Last year, only wheat stock was short of buffer norm. While wheat stock of 7.7 MT is 500,000 tonnes lower than the required norm, the rice stock stood at 11.5 MT, that is 300,000 tonnes lower than the norm. According to the survey, the main reason behind the decline in stocks was due to lower procurement in both wheat and rice. The survey attributes the decline in wheat procurement to low production, lower market arrivals, high market ruling prices, negative market sentiments due to low stocks in the central pool, and aggressive purchase by the private traders. It acknowledges that the increase in government procurement price by Rs 150 a quintal during the 2007-08 marketing season helped wheat procurement to a small extent. The procurement rose by 20.65 per cent to 11.1 MT but the government had to contract imports of 1.8 MT at high rates to meet the consumption requirement. This was the second consecutive year of wheat import. However, rice procurement also fell marginally to 26.3 MT during 2006-07 from 26.7 MT during 2005-06. However, in the ongoing 2007-08 season, procurement till December has been marginally better than the previous season's corresponding purchase. The increase in paddy procurement price by Rs 125 a quintal has helped rice availability in the central pool this year. The regulation of rice export by putting a price cap has also contributed. The offtake of both wheat and rice increased marginally in the April-December period of 2007-08. Wheat offtake during the period was 8.2 MT (against 7.7 MT in the previous year's corresponding period) while the rice offtake was 16.7 MT (versus 15.9 MT in the year before).
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Now, a small car for Rs 99K
Rajkot company in talks with Australian firm. The Tata group may have set a trend in automobile history with the Nano, the world's cheapest car. Now, a Rajkot-based diesel engine maker is working on a small electric car with foreign collaboration that is likely to be priced at Rs 99,000. The manufacturer, Fieldmarshal Group, is planning to enter the small car market in partnership with an Australian technology- and project-development firm. The car, which appears to be a classic commuter vehicle, could have a maximum speed of 70 to 80 km and is being designed to have lightweight batteries and low manufacturing costs. Under the terms of the joint venture, which is to be signed soon, the Australian company will take the lead role in bringing international foreign investors for the project. The foreign collaborator has already developed a concept car specifically for the Indian market that could be manufactured at Fieldmarshal's plant at Rajkot. It is learnt that the Australian company is looking at an arrangement by which Rajkot would house the primary plant and assembly plants could be set up in other parts of the country. The joint venture is also planning a 24-seater electric bus. Early discussions have revolved around setting up separate companies for the car and bus projects. The initial focus will be on domestic markets but exports are also on the cards considering the booming market for electric vehicles. Once it is on the roads, Fieldmarshal's electric car would be another offering after the Reva, which became the highest selling on-road electric vehicle globally last year on the back of tax exemptions and subsidies given to electric car-owners by governments. In the UK, owners of electric vehicles are exempt from paying parking fees, congestion taxes, sales and road tax. The French government has also introduced free parking for electric vehicles, low road tax and 100 per cent depreciation for companies. No taxes are imposed on electricity used for charging the cars. At present, the Fieldmarshal group, which is known for its flagship company PM Diesels, manufactures diesel, petrol and LPG auto-rickshaws at its new facility at Shapar near Rajkot. It has a capacity of 1,000 rickshaws per month and rolls out 450 vehicles per month. It has exported 1,500 vehicles in the last six months, selling petrol rickshaws to Egypt, Sudan and Nigeria and diesel vehicles to Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The company expects exports to account for 40 per cent of revenues in the next two years.
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Govt. to strive for growth with low inflation
Even as there were no easy ways of balancing high economic growth with low inflation, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Government would strive to peg the overall growth rate at near nine per cent while containing the inflation rate at close to four per cent. In his post-Budget interaction with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Mr. Chidambaram said: "The goal is to have a growth close to nine [per cent] and inflation close to four [per cent]. That is why we assume 13 per cent [nominal] GDP growth.' Pointing out that in this exercise, while the Government sometimes succeeded and also missed the target at other times, he said: "In a country where economy is growing close by over eight per cent, close to nine per cent, there is bound to be some inflation.' Inflation in India, he said, was caused by supply-demand mismatch between food items and the oligopolistic tendencies in some industries. Besides, the growth in money supply was yet another reason which, in a sense, was a reflection of the high growth the country was experiencing. However, to keep the India growth story intact, Mr. Chidambaram pointed to the numerous measures announced in the budget for 2008-09. "I think we have announced a number of measures that are intended to ensure that the growth story is intact... I am betting on your [corporates] growth. I am bullish on your growth. I hope you are as bullish as I am about the growth story,' he said. Projecting that India Inc. would provide Rs. 5,50,000 crore next year by way of taxes, excluding personal income-tax, Mr. Chidambaram noted that while steps had been taken to provide more money to the consumer for spending, the fiscal stimulus to the economy would come from the cuts in excise and customs duties and the Central Sales Tax. "Unless my friend Shubhashis Gangopadhyay [Adviser to Finance Minister] and other economists are hopelessly wrong about their economics, all these make up for the text-book prescription for higher growth,' he said. These measures together, including the across-the-board excise cut from 16 per cent to 14 per cent, were a powerful combination to keep the growth story intact. "I have taken the first step to signal the whole country, especially States, that I prepare to look forward in order to accommodate my financial interests with the final number [for goods and services tax], and you can prepare to accommodate your financial interests with the final number,' Mr Chidambaram said.
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Black fever afflicts 22 persons in State
In all, 22 persons have been found suffering from black fever in the State and the disease has been dealt with utmost care and hence has not spread beyond Chapaidong locality of Panikhaiti area in the city. Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated this in the State Assembly today. The Minister was replying to a motion moved by Dr Aditya Langthasa (AUDF) during the Zero Hour. He also expressed the apprehension that the re-appearance of the disease might have some links with the migrant labours from North Indian states like Bihar. The outbreak of the disease in Chapaidong locality was reported on February 13 last and the patients were taken to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital on February 14 and 15. But they fled the hospital when they were told that bone marrow substance test was needed to be conducted on them to confirm the type of their fever, he said. However, with the help of the test kits brought by a team of doctors from the Assam Medical College (AMC) the type of the fever could be determined. Black fever was found afflicting 13 of the 19 patients tested for confirmation. By this time, another team of doctors from Patna also arrived in the city, said the minister. Following this, mosquito nets were distributed and DDT also sprayed in the locality. Injections have been administered to the affected people and doctors with vans have also been deployed in the area for treating the patients. The Health Department has by now procured the test kits The doctors from Patna have also expressed satisfaction over the measures taken by the State Health Department to tackle the situation, he said. The Minister said that new areas were seemed to be vulnerable to diseases, which were eradicated in the State long back. This is may have some links with the people migrating to the State from other parts of the region and country. For, black fever and polio were eradicated from the State long back. But outbreak of these diseases has now been reported from some parts of the State. Recently two cases of polio were reported from Karimganj district. Even malaria, which was brought under control in the State resurfaced with 50 of the State's people who went to the neighbouring states to work as miners returning diseased and they died of the disease. In the case of black fever also, it is feared that the sand fly might have come to Chapaidong locality with the seasonal labours coming from Bihar, he said. State Government is making communications with the Governments of the neighbouring states on matters related to malaria and directed the Health Department to keep strict vigilance on the areas where the habitations of the seasonal labours are located, the minister said.
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TDP to launch new programme for farmers
In its bid to woo the farming community, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is now planning to launch another programme across the State on the lines of Eruvaka. "The TDP has got an impressive response from the public, in particular, the farming community when our party leaders took out several road shows as part of the Eruvaka programme to enlighten farmers on the need for enhancing minimum support price (MSP) for paddy to Rs 1,000 per quintal. The party has now decided to launch similar programme with another name to raise agriculture-related issues further in the coming months across the State. And the whole objective is to exert pressure both on the Centre and State government to implement recommendations of M. S. Swaminathan Commission as well as Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) in toto and in particular, the MSP for paddy and wheat. Hence the party will launch a programme, whose name will soon be finalised,' TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu told reporters on Wednesday. He was here to attend a marriage function of TDP senior leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy's daughter. Lack of clarity Claiming credit for the Centre's decision to waive farm loans, Mr. Naidu said that the Finance Minister would not have announced it, had TDP and UNPA not taken up the farmers' cause. "As a whole, the incentives announced in the Union budget are peripheral, while certain aspects lacked clarity. For instance, the definition of small and marginal farmers is a broad one. We want the Government to adopt a new definition as there is a different definition for marginal farmers in dry land, non-irrigated and irrigated lands.' When asked whether the TDP is still committed towards an integrated Andhra Pradesh, the TDP president ducked a direct reply by taking a dig at the Congress on separate statehood to Telangana. "Let the Congress first spell out its stance on the issue clearly. As the single point agenda of the Congress is to defeat TDP in elections, the party forged an alliance with Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who left the TDP on the separate statehood agenda after he was denied a ministerial berth. The ruling party had an understanding even with naxalites and cheated both of them along with its electoral partners CPI and CPI(M).
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Solar lighting - No time to wait for grid or government
Less than a kilometer from Asia's largest Solar Termal plant, west of Bikaner, Rajasthan, lives the farmer Sabhu Khan. His hamlet is still unreached by the grid. Instead of the grid connection, he decided
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Technology and the public sector
A MAJOR preoccupation of developing countries that have undergone the colonial experience is to avoid, at any cost, the substitution of political colonialism with economic colonialism. An important
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Officials shed crocodile tears
Crocodiles today abound in captive breeding centres in India. But the government still applies to them a protection law that was relevant two decades ago when they were an endangered species.
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No screen presence
One good <font class='UCASE'>tv</font> programme on Amazonian rainforests can force politicians to take action just as much as <font class='UCASE'>tv</font> can force them to protect Kosovars
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Early education is the key to reducing birth rate
Every rupee invested on four years of primary education for girls would yield returns worth Rs 10 of investment on advertising contraceptive technology.
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Contemplating the tradition of protest
Susana Devalle's monograph, with culture and protest in Jharkhand as the backdrop and not the main focus, is a welcome departure from run-of-the-mill accounts of ethnic movements. Her attempt to
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Local breeds first
Strategies need to be worked out and implemented immediately if India is to benefit from animal conservation
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Vanishing breeds
While people worry about patenting of upmarket plant products like neem because of transnational interest, India's unique biodiversity of domesticated animals is disappearing because of lack of attention. <font class='UCASE'>Indira Khurana</font> of the
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Why are we begging for eco clean technology?
If industrialised countries were legally barred from exporting anything considered eco unfriendly, industries in the developing countries would be automatically cleaned up
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Insuring against gene erosion
Experiments by the Academy for Development of Science in Karjat have led researchers to conclude that gene banks are best created and controlled by farmers at the village level