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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

MINING HURDLES: VEDANTA

Amidst speculation of a possible alternative to Niyamgiri, Gandhamardhan hill may once again become the soft target for Vedanta. Ajit Nayak reports on the possibility of history repeating itself

The government too is keen to close the chapter by immediately making alternative arrangement for Vedanta. At the same time it does not want to give Congress a reason to accuse BJD of going out of their way to help Vedanta resources. Meanwhile, the Congress is desperate for an issue to stain the ‘clean-image’ of Naveen Patnaik and is prepared to make an issue in case of an alternative arrangement for Vedanta. “We know government is planning to hand over Gandhamardhan to Vedanta. But we will not allow the government to do so”, senior Congress leader and former Law Minister Narasingh Mishra said.

Talking of Gandhamardhan, one is reminded of the local tribal movement that took place 28 years ago to protect their environment. Bharat Aluminum Company (BALCO), then a public sector company (now a part of Vedanta), got the government’s approval to start mining at Gandhamardhan. But the movement popularly known as ‘BALCO Hatao’ forced the company to roll back. Even after 28 years, reminiscence of the movement is alive in the shape of ruined buildings and half constructed colony of the BALCO. The Gandhamardhan hill range, equally rich in biodiversity and bauxite , was the platform for one of India’s famous mass-struggles to conserve forests and livelihood. A five year long battle resulted in BALCO winding up its operation to mine 213 million tonnes of bauxite. It was the then Congress government of the state which allowed BALCO to mine Bauxite in Gandhamardhan in 1982. The chief minister JB Patnaik faced the opposition of the people when he came to lay the foundation stone of the company at Padmapur in 1983. The people’s opposition forced the government to cancel the lease given to BALCO. “It was possible because of the selfless struggle of the people. Even today applications of at least 25 companies for mining lease are pending with the government. The government should declare the area as ‘no-mining zone’ to end the chapter for ever”, says Yuba Parisad’s convener Pradeep Purohit. “The mountain range is a source of livelihood for more than 10 thousand people of the tribal community. Instead of going for mining, the area can be developed with eco-tourism and eco-based industries”, says former parliamentarian and leader of BALCO movement Bhawani Sankar Hota. He adds that people are ready to fight once again if government tries to allow mining of bauxite in the forest range. While the state government of Orissa is contemplating on allowing mining at Gandhamardhan, Chhattisgarh government is willing to spend `2 crores in facilitatating the hospitality of the devotees and tourists coming to the place (‘Papanasini dhara’ at Nrusinghnath hill). In such a situation people are willing to shed their blood to save the environment of Gandhamardhan like 28 years ago.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

The railway minister isn't doing as badly as her immediate predecessors

Mamata Banerjee is drawing flak for neglecting the ministry, but as a response to an RTI query from TSI (a Planman Media publication) shows, the railway minister isn't doing as badly as her immediate predecessors. A report by Vikas Kumar

Nitish Kumar does not seem to be lagging far behind. He issued 414 passes during his first one-year tenure in New Delhi's Rail Bhavan. On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee, during her first term as Railway Minister, issued no more than four passes.

Nitish probably took a leaf out of Mamata's book and improved his record during his second term. He issued no free pass from 2001 to 2004. This discussion will remain incomplete without mentioning Lalu Prasad Yadav, who issued 352 passes, out of which 134 passes were issued in a single year span of 2008-09.

A senior level officer, on condition of anonymity, told TSI, “During Nitish Kumar's second term, some steps were taken to improve safety standards of the railways. However, during the Lalu Prasad regime, safety concerns were put on the back-burner in a mad race to generate revenue. Modernisation of the railways was put on hold. The negative impact of that trend is being felt now.”

Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who filed a separate RTI regarding the Ministry of Railways, says, “No recommendation has been made by the Railway Minister for her personal staff.” On the other hand, another RTI response revealed that Lalu Prasad had made free lifetime passes for himself and an assistant. When Mamata assumed office she cancelled all these passes. She also drastically reduced VVIP quotas on all Bihar-bound trains. The RTI response also revealed that she does not use the official vehicle that she is entitled to as railway minister.

A hue and cry after a major mishap is nothing new for the railways. Lalu Prasad said, “One should see why such accidents are taking place. This is a big lapse.” However, the Rs 17,000-crore fund for the railways has remained unutilised. Ramavatar Singh, general secretary of the Railway Workers' Union, says, “Two years ago, there were 7,000 gangmen in Delhi. Today it is only 800. This is the situation in every department of the railways. How can we assure safety?”

Mamata can be criticised for not devoting enough attention to her Ministry, and it is true that the railways is suffering as a result, but her track record is much better than many of those who have handled the ministry in the recent past.

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Friday, February 8, 2013

INDIAN ARTISANS: CHASING DREAMS

Indian craft sector is in need of social entrepreneurs who have a vision and a strong will to revive crafts and help artisans build a sustainable model for times to come. By Swati Sharma

Industry experts too feel that though the Indian handicraft industry has a bright future ahead, it is still clogged with several issues like inadequate infrastructure, effective polices, et al. “Every country does its best to promote and safeguard its works and artisans behind it, then why not in India?” questions Adarsh Kumar, Executive Director, All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA). In fact, in collaboration with Aid to Artisans (ATA), an international NGO that works in over 110 countries, AIACA is now in the process of forming a global community that unites artisans, organisations & experts, which in turn will work towards enhancing incomes of artisans and giving them more opportunities by exploring new commercially sustainable models of livelihood.

Further, organisations like Dastkar, a registered NGO, too are working towards creating self reliant craft groups (in villages of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar) who are not only able to take responsibility of their own design, production, accounting and marketing, but are also free from the shackles of money lenders and middlemen. Even well-known designers, including Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, et al, are now taking initiatives to promote this dying heritage of India. For instance, Nitin Bal Chauhan, a fashion designer and artist who graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, in 2002, chose to work for the upliftment of the crafts of Himachal Pradesh. Later, he formed an NGO by the name of 'Sewa Himalaya'.

Although government organisations like Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) and All India Handicrafts Board (AIHB) are there to take care of the interests of artisans, but it's not enough. "The problem is the government is still looking at the sector from the lens of welfare measures. What is needed is a reorientation to look at the sector from the point of view of building business competitiveness," says Kumar.

This will mean looking at policies that promote access to credit, brand building expenditures, design & copyright issues, tax incentives for investments in building supply chains & retail outlets that promote crafts. But a still fragmented nature of the crafts industry reveals that there is a little political pressure for policy reform for the sector. And unless that happens, India's rich cultural heritage can't really get a bigger space in the world craft map.

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

The European Central Bank to analyse who all are next in the felicitation parade

Though EU & IMF have agreed on an audacious $956 billion bailout plan for the Euro zone to control the sovereign debt crisis that started with Greece, it won’t be of much help. B&E talks to experts across continents, including the European Central Bank to analyse who all are next in the felicitation parade by Manish K Pandey

Then again, Spain isn’t far behind too (Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in fact has mentioned, “The biggest trouble spot isn’t Greece, it’s Spain.”). With the unemployment rate hovering over 20% and the budget deficit at 11.2%, the possibility of Spain being the next epicentre can’t be ignored. And if that happens, it would be really difficult for policymakers to handle the chaos in the euro zone as Spain’s economy (which is fourth-largest in the Euro zone) accounts for about 12% of Euro-zone GDP. While rating agency S&P has already downgraded Spain’s debt to AA from AA+, even the yields on Spanish 10-year bonds are touching their highest level (4.27%) since 1999.

Though both the nations have decided to cut upon their spending to bring down spiralling budget deficits (while Spain plans to cut its budget deficit to 9.3% of GDP this year from 11.2% in 2009, Portugal plans to slash it to 7.3% of GDP, from 9.4% in 2009), it will take them years before that actually happens.

Eszter Miltényi from the European Central Bank draws a bleak picture to B&E while also commenting, “The latest information shows that the correction of the large fiscal imbalances will, in general, require a stepping-up of current efforts. Fiscal consolidation will need to exceed substantially the annual structural adjustment of 0.5% of GDP set as a minimum requirement by the Stability and Growth Pact. The longer the fiscal correction is postponed, the higher is the risk of reputation and confidence losses.” The Spanish Central Bank apologised to B&E for “not being more helpful” while refusing to answer “political subjects.”

While a communiqué sent to B&E by the US Department of the Treasury (which says that the determined & consistent implementation of the financial programme by Greece, combined with this exceptional assistance from the member states of the Euro-Zone and IMF will help restore financial stability in Greece and promote market confidence) shows that there is that political will to the solve the problem, numbers demonstrate that the task is really tough in reality.

“$765 billion is what would be needed to prevent defaults in all of three (including Italy) of Europe’s weaker southern tier economies,” says a report from IHS Global Insight. No doubt, EU & IMF have agreed on an audacious $956 billion bailout plan for the Euro zone to hold back the escalating sovereign debt crisis that started with Greece, but then one should not forget that both EU and IMF have had a hard time mobilising even the $57.34 billion promised to Greece, leave alone the $956 billion promised package. And evidently, what is in reality required is almost twice that figure (close to $2 trillion) for the European Union to survive this new wave of post-recessionary economic collapse.

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Is it too little... and too late?

Reforms in coal sector, on which India’s power generation is heavily dependent, have seen a faint light on the distant horizon courtesy reform proposals in this budget. B&E’s anchal gupta argues that the steps may be too small considering the delay and a lot more needs to be done, quickly.

“Not a penny off the pay, not a second on the day.” This blunt reply by the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), the national union of mine workers to coal mine owners was a spark that ignited the chain reaction culminating in the famous 1926 General Strike in the United Kingdom. Mine owners, under the veil of a soaring pound, hurting exports and low productivity of mines decided on wage cuts to normalise profits. Despite massive subsidies to the coal mine owners, the wage cuts were implemented. The strike began on May 3 and lasted for 10 days. In the aftermath, coal mining was forever transformed in UK with the extra labour being sucked out and productivity rocketing from below 100 tonne per miner per annum to over 300 tonne by the World War II.

Swivel back to the present and India’s coal mining output still hovers at less than 200 tonne for some of its mines while the average productivity is less than one tenth of mining giants in US and Australia. And despite a new glimmer of hope in the form of proposals to reform the sector in this years’ budget, the pertinent question remains: Is it too little… too late? But for all the hype surrounding renewable energy and efficient usage, India stands tall among the planet’s most un-efficient energy user (read massive wasters). And, till date, more than 53% of our electricity is generated in power plants fueled by the black treasure hidden deep below our rocky terrains. Estimates suggest that by 2012, India will stare at more than 100 million metric tonnes (MMT) of coal shortage and around 250 MMT by 2025. Ironically, we have the world’s largest coal miner Coal India Ltd. (CIL), a Navratna PSU. The repercussions are perilous.

According to Girish Solanki, Energy analyst, Religare, “The coal mined in India has not been enough to meet the demand. The shortage has resulted in loss of electricity generation in power plants. The power companies in India imported coal in FY2009 to keep the plants running. Coal India, for the first time in history, resorted to import of coal in FY2009. Further the calorific value of coal mined in India is at 4,000-5,000 kcal/kg. substantially lower than the coal mined in countries like Indonesia which have calorific value in excess of 6,500 kcal/kg.” The impending entry of mining giant, Trimex to strike long term coal supply contracts with Indian power producers is just the beginning of the dark tunnel. Courtesy archaic laws and divided authority over every link of the value chain, much of the coal remains buried and much of India remains dark.

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Trudging towards the American ‘idle’

The Times called him “heartless, thoughtless and superficial,” yet Simon Cowell’s angry villainous chair was the glue that kept American Idol alive for many years. With Simon making clear his plans to leave, is Fox tactically forcing him to return back? by Pallavi Srivastava

“I met someone the other night who’s 28 years old, and he hasn’t worked a day since he left college because he’s pursuing a dream he’ll never, ever realize: He thinks he’s a great singer. Actually, he’s crap!” To say Simon Cowell’s supremely bloodying verbal assaults on participants on live national TV made American Idol a quasi-iconic series, is perhaps being too modest. In truth – as all truisms are supposed to be – the caustic and sarcastically sadistic Cowell had built up such a cult following that post his recent media comment marking his intentions to leave American Idol in May 2010 (Post leaving Idol, Cowell is expected to work more on the UK blockbuster series, The X Factor, which he produces, and judges too), America’s leading television network, Fox Television (owned by Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch’s company News Corp), which hosts the Idol series, is facing the real danger of seeing its rating points plummet, apart from revenues – after all, American Idol has been the biggest cash cow for Fox Television Network over the past few years.

Fox is clearly worried. Last year, when another judge Paula Abdul left the show, nobody even blinked an eye. Compare that to the frenzy now. When we contact Fox, they send a prepared statement of their Chairman Peter Rice to B&E, “Simon is irreplaceable... It’s going to be incumbent upon us to make sure that the show remains vital and entertaining and compelling, as it’s a show that has launched superstars.”

But can one man really be so important for the future potential of Fox Television? Sample this: As per Nielsen Ratings, American Idol occupies eight of the top 10 spots in the decade’s most-watched TV shows list (period 2000-2009). Season 5 of the show which aired in 2006, holds the number one position with an average of 31 million viewers (tuning-in on Tuesdays, for the performance show), while the number two spot is occupied by the same season of the Idol with 30 million viewers for the ‘result episodes’ that were aired on Wednesdays. And in all these seasons, Cowell was omni-leading-present. Had it not been for CBS’s adventure series Survivor, American Idol would have made a clean sweep of the top ten slots. For CBS, Survivor Season 2 (29.8 million viewers) and Season 6 (28.3 million viewers) were the face savers. Even amongst the top 15 shows of the decade, the Fox programme captured 11 slots of 15. Apart from the two Survivor series, the only other show that made it to the top 15 shows of the decade, was CBS’s crime drama CSI Season 5 & Season 6 (26.3 million & 26.2 million viewers respectively).

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Ah! Billion-dollar hat!

Ross Perot will ever regret ‘one’ missed chance...

Some mistakes are never compensated in life! And that perfectly holds true for Ross Perot. It was in 1979, when Ross Perot, the then head of Dallas-based EDS made an open offer to purchase a $2 million software entity known as Microsoft. Gates declined the offer as he wanted a fat-pig worth $40-60 million for his giant brainchild, but Perot bluntly walked away. Mistake made, and which will never be rectified. Cut to 2009, that company Microsoft, is valued at worth a most blinding $177.4 billion and Gates is the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $40 billion, almost twice Perot’s value. But all’s well that ends well, for even experts like Richard Ptak, Managing Partner, Ptak, Noel & Associates LLC, agree to that effect.

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