Killing fields
The suicide of Jamuna Ramdas Ade, a farmer of the Banjari community, is eloquent testimony to the plight of cotton farmers in Vidarbha. Banjaris have always had the reputation of being resilient
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Crusaders of science
A conference for the common good the mainstream media ignored
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South America unites
A new community of nations is to be formed
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SC notice on GM trials
on october 26, the supreme court asked the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (geac) of the union government to explain why it allowed fresh trials of gm crops. The direction comes on a
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Shady seeds
Illegal Bt cotton traders nabbed
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Cold furnaces
West Bengal kilns asked to shut down to save mangoes
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The elusive crane
Keoladeo no longer gets its famous Siberian visitors When it was declared a sanctuary in 1971, Keoladeo used to host more than 230 bird species. It was the celebrated winter home for the
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In Court
Asbestos crimes: In an exemplary verdict in the US, seven present and former executives of WR Grace & Company, an asbestos firm, were recently indicted for a 26-year conspiracy. They were charged
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The Marriott's sea lounge
<img src="../files/images/20070228/22_1.jpg" ="claim" align="top"/><br>
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Deep despair
20,000 workers die in China s coal mines every year
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Nothing for local communities
Economic considerations override conservation priorities in India s biodiversity act
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Happiness happens
Bhutan redefines development
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Sylhet chamber chooses lands for special economic zone
Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has selected 1,000 acres of land for setting up an special economic zone in order to attract investment especially from the non-resident Sylheties. The special economic zone, adjacent to Fenchuganj-Tamabil Bypass Road Link, will provide land and other infrastructural facilities to the entrepreneurs to set up manufacturing and other industrial units. "We will submit the proposal to the government for acquiring the land,' said SCCI President Junnun Mahmud Khan. He said the chamber has completed a feasibility study on setting up a special economic zone or an industrial park in Sylhet division from where a large number of expatriates are living mainly in the UK and USA. The SCCI has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BBCCI) in 2006. Under the deal, the BBCCI will bring together the non-resident Sylheties to invest in the economic zone. It is expected that 65 percent land of the zone will be provided to the expatriates. According to the feasibility study, Sylhet has available land, abundant natural and forest resources to set up an economic zone or industrial park. There is an ample scope to increase production of various agricultural commodities. In Sylhet division, there is also scope to increase fish production through undertaking aggressive programmes and activities. Sylhet has economically significant storage of minerals for industrialisation. Natural gas, limestone, sand stone and sand, glass sand and coal are available in this region. Some supports should be provided to the non-resident Sylheties to encourage investment. The supports include investment security, one-stop services cell for registration, licensing and regulatory formalities, prompt and easy access to physical infrastructure like plots and utility connections, access to institutional support for identification of the reliable and good local partners, strong access to business support services such as banks, insurance and shipping, easy access to reliable expert and consulting services, access to amenities and recreation facilities, and cargo shed and jet fueling station in Sylhet airport, the study said. In the economic zone, there will be scope for establishing power plants, agro processing units, re-rolling mills and steel casting mills, said Nasim Hussain, senior vice-president of SCCI. As the seven sister states of India are very near from Sylhet, the entrepreneurs or the investors will have an easy access to the seven sisters to export their products, he said. "We are hoping to get a huge response from the Sylheti expatriates,' he added. Sarwar@thedailystar.net
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Sinosteel project to start in April
SINOSTEEL, the $16-billion state-owned Chinese steel major, will start work on its proposed unit in West Bengal in April. The new unit due to come up in the port town of Haldia will be Sinosteel's first manufacturing presence in India. Sinosteel, which plans an investment of Rs 200 crore, will manufacture cold forged steel rolls used in cold rolling mills. "Construction work on our plant in West Bengal will start from April. We have got possession of 30 acres at Haldia on which the plant will come up. We have already placed orders for equipment which will be shipped from China,' Sinosteel India MD Hangseng Wang said. He is in the city to attend a steel seminar. The meet will focus on bringing steel and allied sectors of China and India closer. The Haldia unit will have a capacity of 5,000 tonne and will meet one-third of the requirements in the Indian steel industry. The investment in West Bengal is a part of the $2-billion package being readied by Sinosteel for stepping up its manufacturing presence in India. As part of this project, Sinosteel had signed an MoU last year with the Jharkhand government for a 2-million tonne (mt) integrated steel plant. "All necessary approvals from external affairs, finance and steel ministry have come through. We would like to start work as soon as we get the land,' Mr Wang said. Sinosteel, which is into mining, design and manufacturing of steel plant equipment, has been involved in construction of almost all major plants in China. The proposed project is likely to come up in Silli-Chandil area near Ranchi. Sinosteel is looking at 300 mt of iron ore reserves for which the company will apply for a mining lease. "However, we will not wait for getting a mining lease before we start our operations. Instead, we will stick to our schedule. If necessary, we would source iron ore from private mines in and around the area,' Mr Wang added. China, which produced 489 mt of steel in 2007, is the largest steel producer in the world. "We can do a lot for the fast growing Indian steel industry,' Mr Wang added.
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Cautious optimism
The central theme of Economic Survey 2007-08 is maintaining the strong economic growth momentum of the recent period. With the annual GDP growth exceeding 8 per cent since 2003-04, the economy has moved decisively to a higher trajectory. The official forecast of 8.7 per cent for 2007-08 accords with this trend. But the figure suggests a slight deceleration, considering that the first six months of the year recorded a growth of 9 per cent or more. For 2008-09, most official forecasts have pegged the rate at 8.5 per cent or less. The key task is to regain the upward push so that the economy averages a 9 per cent or even higher growth towards the end of the 11th Plan. There are both positive and negative factors that would shape the near-term outlook. Macroeconomic fundamentals continue to inspire confidence. A sharp acceleration in the domestic investment and savings rates has sustained the high growth. Buoyant tax revenues have helped in fiscal consolidation so far. The budget will show if the government's finances are on track to meet the goals set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. Inflation however remains a major worry. Over the past year global factors, notably the high prices of oil, food and other commodities as also the turmoil in financial markets have clouded the external environment. Appreciation of the rupee and a slowdown in specific segments of industry as well as in infrastructure are some of the other major areas of concern. For sustaining economic growth at high levels, policy makers are up against several challenges. Additional reforms are obviously needed. Capital inflows, especially those relating to direct investment, are expected to continue in the medium-term. Combating inflation has become more complex in the context of recent structural changes in the economy and its increasing globalisation. Among the important factors to be reckoned with are the high tariffs on agricultural products, the large share of food in the consumption basket, and the slow modernisation of agriculture and allied activities. Inadequate availability of infrastructure continues to be a major constraint on the supply side. Highlighting the need to improve social sector and human development outcomes at the level of the States, the Survey lays stress on improved delivery mechanisms for the success of programmes such as the NREGP and Bharat Nirman. In a departure from the past, Survey 2007-08 has sought to provide a more rigorous analysis and a conceptual framework, and has added a new chapter that covers subjects of topical interest. That along with the proposal to release background papers will help in disseminating timely economic information to a larger audience.
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AIDWA hails focus on agrarian crisis
The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has hailed Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's initiative of taking cognisance of the huge agrarian crisis and taking steps to bring relief to farmers, who include a large number of women also. In a statement, Subhashini Ali, president, and Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary of the AIDWA, said the measures for debt waiver and debt relief did not, however, address the critical issue of loans taken from private moneylenders. Secondly, many regions in the grip of crisis such as Vidharbha and Rayalaseema were dry land, where individual holdings were usually more than two hectares, eligible for relief. The crucial question of reduction in the rate of interest to 4 per cent on agricultural loans was ignored. Finally, it was not just debt relief but rejuvenation of the entire agricultural sector through a massive increase in public spending that would alleviate this crisis, the statement said. After four years, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government heeded to the voice of lakhs of anganwadi employees but their demand for an increase in wages was met only partially. Secondly, the budget did not reflect the allocations for universalisation of the Integrated Child Development Services and make 14 lakh anganwadi centres functional by the end of 2008 as per a Supreme Court directive, especially at a time when child malnourishment and infant mortality continued to remain high. Given the huge increase in the prices of essential commodities, especially wheat, rice, pulses, it was expected that the budget would suggest measures to curb inflation, which was exacerbated by the recent increase in fuel prices. Food security The statement said the UPA gave an undertaking in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to strengthen the public distribution system and move towards universalising it. However, the meagre increase in the food subsidy allocation from Rs. 31,456 crore last year to Rs. 32,667 crore was hardly adequate to ensure basic food security for more than 70 per cent of the population that lived below poverty line. "This cannot meet the needs of food-deficit States such as Kerala, as well as States that were adversely affected by the recent cuts in allocations of foodgrains,' it said. The allocations for health and education remained far below the targets set in the CMP and the decision to shift the burden of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to the States showed the lack of commitment of the Centre to implement the constitutional guarantee of right to education. "As far as gender budgeting is concerned, we welcome the fact that more Ministries had provided a gender budget analysis of their expenditure,' the statement added.
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No relief for farmers in informal sector
They are indebted to moneylenders and middlemen, and pay huge interest Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday unveiled a Rs.60,000-crore debt waiver and debt relief scheme for four crore small, marginal farmers and other institutional loanee farmers. But his proposals did not indicate any provision in the Agriculture Ministry's budgetary allocation, nor was there any explanation on resource mobilisation for the one-time waiver. The Minister later said the government would provide the banking sector liquidity, equivalent to the amount being written off, over three years. The budget ignored 42.3 per cent farmers in the informal sector who are indebted to moneylenders and middlemen and pay phenomenal rates of interest. Their debt stood at Rs. 48,000 crore in 2003 and a majority of farmers who committed suicide borrowed from the informal sector after becoming defaulters in the banking system. No new scheme Nor has any new scheme been announced in this year's agriculture budget. In fact, there have been cuts in the allocations for the National Crop Insurance Scheme and the pilot weather-based crop insurance scheme. At the same time, the Minister did not give in to the wide-scale demand for reduction in the institutional interest rate on farm loans from seven to four per cent. Announcing the never-before debt waiver scheme, Mr. Chidambaram said it was a measure of expressing the nation's gratitude to the farming community. All agricultural loans disbursed by scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions up to March 31, 2007 and overdue as on December 31, 2007 will be covered under the scheme. For small and marginal farmers with a holding of up to two hectares, there will be a complete waiver of all loans that were overdue on December 31, 2007 and which remained unpaid till February 29, 2008. OTS for others In respect of other farmers, there will be a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for all loans that were overdue on December 31, 2007 and which remained unpaid till February 29, 2008. Under the OTS, a 25 per cent rebate will be given against payment of the balance of 75 per cent. The agricultural loans restructured and rescheduled by banks in 2004 and 2006 through special packages and other loans rescheduled in the normal course as per the reserve Bank of India guidelines will also be eligible for either waiver or the OTS on the same pattern. The total value of the overdue loans being waived is estimated at Rs. 50,000 crore and the OTS relief, at Rs. 10,000 crore. Over three crore small and marginal farmers and about one crore other farmers will benefit from the scheme. The farmers, after being granted debt waiver or on signing an agreement for OTS relief, will be entitled to fresh loans from banks in accordance with normal rules
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Deficit output behind foodgrain price rise
The State Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Dr Nazrul Hussain today told the Assembly that deficit production and increase of price at source due to rising demand were at the root of the price rise in essential commodities, especially foodgrains, in the State. Replying to a question raised by Ananta Deka of CPM during zero hour, Dr Islam said that the current price rise was a national phenomenon and affected Assam and the North-East more because of the transportation costs. The Minister said that his department was coordinating with district and subdivisional administrations for properly monitoring the developments so that unscrupulous elements could not take advantage of the situation. The situation in places like Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, etc., were also kept track of and constantly compared with that of the State. "Deficit production in rice, dal, wheat, mustard, etc., and the lowering of Government subsidies are having an impact on price rise. The recent export of 5 lakh MT rice to Bangladesh has also added to the growing demand in the source States,' Dr Islam said. "Common rice which was sold at Rs 12 a kg in Kolkata on October 8, 2007 shot up to Rs 14 on February 8, 2008. The same rice is being sold in Delhi at Rs 17 a kg. In Guwahati, common rice which fetched Rs 12.50-Rs 14 a kg in October last year, was sold at Rs 14-Rs 16 in January,' he said. The Minister further said that the rise in import prices of various edible oils was contributing to the price rise. "India imports a sizeable quantity of refined vegetable oil and refined rapeseed oil from Malaysia, and recently there has been considerable increase in the their prices. Again, mustard oil produced in the country has also become costlier,' he said. Dr Islam said that the department, during 2007, registered 726 cases regarding the public distribution system (PDS), which "showed that we are taking steps to streamline the system.' Moreover, the Bureau of Investigation of Economic Offences (BIEO) has been entrusted with the job of making an inquiry into the PDS scam that rocked the State last year. Dr Islam said that the six per cent railway fare cut for the North-Eastern States would come into effect from April only.
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Loan waiver: Cheer without fear
Holding down inflation and interest rates, energising the production function, pushing investments, saving livelihoods, and raising incomes and consumption became the principal objectives of the Budget. The waiver of farm loans is a means to the accomplishment of these goals. G. Ramachandran First things ought to come first. There is an exaggerated view that the waiver of farm loans is senseless and indefensible. The waiver has been criticised on the grounds that it would vitiate the credit culture and exacerbate moral hazard in banking. The critics have no such views when commercial and industrial loans remain unpaid or are waived and written off. The waiver of farm loans is a wholly sensible and defensible decision. The waiver at its worst estimate is expected to cost the exchequer a big sum of Rs 60,000 crore. But it will most likely trigger an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of over Rs 3,72,000 crore over the next three years. The exchequer will earn at least Rs 44,000 crore if the tax-to-GDP ratio is 12 per cent. The nominal net loss could at worst be Rs 16,000 crore. But there may be no loss at all. The loss could turn into a sizeable profit. There are three reasons for this optimism. First, the loss to the exchequer would be lower when the other robust stimuli to growth act upon the economy. Second, the waiver would break the logjam in the fallow farmlands. It will put crops back on cultivable lands that have remained fallow. A spurt in output will kill inflation. Third, lower inflation will keep interest rates low. Nonperforming assets of banks will rebound smartly. Therefore, law-abiding taxpayers and conscientious borrowers that repay loans have nothing to fear. Smartly managerial The Finance Minister has acquired a reputation for smart and conscientious fiscal management since 2006. He has managed India's fat fixed costs of running government pragmatically. He has outrun the beastly costs by taking a managerial view of tax revenues. He has stimulated tax inflows by lowering the unit excise duty rates. He has raised the threshold of the service tax. The raising of the personal tax threshold level and the slabs expands incomes that can be allocated to consumption. It expands the size of the indirect tax market as a result. Yet, it ensures that the good times of ordinary people will continue. The cut in excise duties applicable to many consumption goods and consumer durables deserves special attention. Compliant and conscientious The boost to consumption may appear scandalous. But the Finance Minister has stayed steadfastly on course to meet the requirements of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBMA). Ernst & Young, a global accounting confirm, has aptly commented that India has
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Reclaim The Power March in Copenhagen 16/12
<p> <img src="/files/u42/1.jpg" alt="" /><br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small; font-style: italic;" class="Apple-style-span"><br /> “And the riot squad they’re restless</span></p>