No bilateral meeting between Manmohan and Gilani in Bhutan
(PTI)
No bilateral meeting has been fixed so far between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Bhutan during the SAARC Summit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Thursday.
“As of now, no such meeting has been set up between the Prime Minister and Gilani,” she said, adding Dr. Singh will be having separate meetings with leaders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan besides Afghanistan.
Maintaining that the situation was not ripe for resumption of the composite dialogue, stalled in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, Ms. Rao said India wants action against the perpetrators and dismantling of terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
“The situation has not really changed in that regard because we need action in terms of movement in the Mumbai trials in Pakistan.
“The levels of infiltration still are cause of concern in the last few months and terror infrastructure and activities of terror groups from territories controlled by Pakistan is a matter of serious concern,” she said when asked if the situation was ripe for restarting the dialogue process.
She also said the Pakistan has not got back to India on the dossiers handed over to them at the Foreign Secretary- level talks here in February containing information against terrorists and terror groups involved in anti-India activities including mastermind of Mumbai attack and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.
Asked whether India has received any request from Pakistan for the meeting in Thimpu, Ms. Rao said “there has been no request from Pakistan as of now.”
Asked about the possibility of any interaction between Dr. Singh and Mr. Gilani, she said “I do not really want to forecast, what is going to happen but let me say, dialogue is always useful. It helps clear the atmosphere. Especially between neighbours such as India-Pakistan, dialogue is the really the way forward.”
Dr. Singh leaves for Thimpu on April 28 for the two-day SAARC Summit which has climate change as its central theme.
Ms. Rao made it clear that there was no change in India’s position that “dialogue represents a concrete method to move forward in our relationship” with Pakistan.
“And that is the approach we took at the recent FS-level talks with Pakistan. There is no change in that position,” she said.
Dr. Singh will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will arrive here on April 26 on his way to Bhutan. The Prime Minister is expected to convey India’s concern over the Taliban targeting Indians in that country.
“We are constantly vigilant and seized of the matter,” Ms. Rao said when asked about reports of fresh security threats to Indians in Afghanistan.
On the Summit, Ms. Rao said it was being held for the first time in Bhutan and marks the 25 years of establishment of SAARC.
Two agreements will be signed at the Summit relating to environment and trade in services, she said.
The Trade in Services pact will enable the realization of the region’s immense potential in areas such as health, hospitality, communications, computer and information services and air transport.
The SAARC Convention on Environment was expected to promote cooperation among the member countries in the field of environment and sustainable development.
She said the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Secretariat, proposed by India in 2008, will be inaugurated in the forthcoming Summit.
The Summit is also expected to endorse the rules, regulations, academic and business plans of the South Asian University in New Delhi.
Over the years, SAARC has emerged as a model of regional cooperation in dealing with issues of regional concern such as poverty, food security, trafficking in women and children, terrorism and drugs.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Development of Railway Infrastructure at Indo-Nepal Border
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed in February, 2010 between the Government of India and Government of Nepal regarding development of railway infrastructure at five border points along the Indo-Nepal border. The details of these lines with cost involved as per the survey reports is as under :
S.No.
Proposed Rail Links
Distance
Latest Estimated Cost
From
To
(in Km)
(in Rs. Cr)
1.
Jogbani
Biratnagar (Nepal)
18
243
2.
Jayanagar
Bijalpura (Nepal and its extension to Bardibas
68
447
3.
Nepalganj Road
Nepalganj (Nepal)
12
149
4.
Nautanwa
Bhairahawa (Nepal)
15
176
5.
New Jalpaiguri
Kakarbhita via Panittanki (Nepal)
46
358
Out of the above works, Jagbani-Biratnagar new line and Jayanagar to Bijalpura Gauge Conversion and its extension upto Bardibas have been prioritized and to be taken up in first phase. Detailed engineering survey for Jogbani-Biratnagar has been completed. Detailed engineering survey for Jayanagar-Bardibas has also been taken up.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
AKS/HK/LK/TR
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed in February, 2010 between the Government of India and Government of Nepal regarding development of railway infrastructure at five border points along the Indo-Nepal border. The details of these lines with cost involved as per the survey reports is as under :
S.No.
Proposed Rail Links
Distance
Latest Estimated Cost
From
To
(in Km)
(in Rs. Cr)
1.
Jogbani
Biratnagar (Nepal)
18
243
2.
Jayanagar
Bijalpura (Nepal and its extension to Bardibas
68
447
3.
Nepalganj Road
Nepalganj (Nepal)
12
149
4.
Nautanwa
Bhairahawa (Nepal)
15
176
5.
New Jalpaiguri
Kakarbhita via Panittanki (Nepal)
46
358
Out of the above works, Jagbani-Biratnagar new line and Jayanagar to Bijalpura Gauge Conversion and its extension upto Bardibas have been prioritized and to be taken up in first phase. Detailed engineering survey for Jogbani-Biratnagar has been completed. Detailed engineering survey for Jayanagar-Bardibas has also been taken up.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
AKS/HK/LK/TR
Travel Packages for Buddhist Circuits
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14:4 IST
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has planned to operate monthly tour packages covering important Buddhist Pilgrimage destinations such as Nagarjuna Konda, Ajanta & Ellora Caves, Sravasti, Sanchi, Kushinagar, Rajgir, Bodhgaya, etc. on demand basis.
Presently, two rail tour packages are operated by IRCTC in Orissa covering Buddhist pilgrim destinations, like Dhaulagiri, Khandagiri, Udaygiri, Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri. These packages are offered through regular train service.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
AKS/HK/LK/TR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14:4 IST
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has planned to operate monthly tour packages covering important Buddhist Pilgrimage destinations such as Nagarjuna Konda, Ajanta & Ellora Caves, Sravasti, Sanchi, Kushinagar, Rajgir, Bodhgaya, etc. on demand basis.
Presently, two rail tour packages are operated by IRCTC in Orissa covering Buddhist pilgrim destinations, like Dhaulagiri, Khandagiri, Udaygiri, Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri. These packages are offered through regular train service.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
AKS/HK/LK/TR
WASTE MANAGEMENT - Recycling what the world throws away
WASTE MANAGEMENT - Recycling what the world throws away
BY PADMAPARNA GHOSH & AKSHAI JAIN
MANDI GOBINDGARH (PUNJAB)/NEW DELHI Ranveer Jaidka takes pride in his work. “There is a little bit of steel in everybody's life,“ he says, smilingly appropriating the tag line of an advertisement.
Skipping gingerly across a blackened factory floor, strewn with practically every sort of scrap from spent shock absorbers and re- frigerator doors to crank shafts and bent cycle rims, he proclaims that nothing is waste.
Jaidka's factory in Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, is one of the 150-odd factories that recycle metal scrap from around the world.
“The WTC (World Trade Center) material was great.
High-rise buildings use good quality steel,“ he says, adding that many factories in Mandi
indgarh had bought the debris of the twin towers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As much as 15% of the scrap used at Jaidka's unit is imported. But for an industry that recycles hundreds of tonnes of imported metal scrap every year, information on and control over what comes in and where it is used, is surprisingly low.
Recently, Cobalt 60 discovered in scrap at a Delhi scrapyard caused an outbreak of radiation poisoning and raised questions on monitoring, worker safety and the environmental impact of imported scrap of all kinds. The Mayapuri episode was, however, not an isolated incident.
On 30 September 2004, a blast ripped through the factory of Bhushan Steel Ltd in Ghazia- bad, Uttar Pradesh. Ten workers were killed and a few others in- jured. An inquiry showed the scrap that Bhushan Steel had im- ported through a Dubai-based trader contained live ammuni- tion that exploded when it was being melted.
There was a flurry of activity from the administration, new rules were created and the facto- ries in the area inspected. But the situation soon reverted to normal--Bhushan Steel, with a market capitalization of Rs7,580 crore, has become one of the largest importers of steel scrap in the country.
A group of angry workers affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions gathers at their union office in Sahibabad. Upen- dra Jha of the union maintains that accidents at steel factories are still common. “There have been three in the last six months,“ he says. Most acci- dents, he adds, are not reported.
Occupational hazards According to Jha, few of the at least 100 industrial units here, which make everything from de- tergents to paper, have any safe- ty measures for the workers.
“70% of them don't even have any provision for water for the workers,“ he points out.
Though the situation is slightly better for a few workers at Gob- indgarh near the induction fur- naces where they wear plastic glasses and wrap cloth around their faces as protection against the heat and fumes, other waste handlers are not much better off.
Mukesh Kumar, a labourer who unloads scrap from contain- ers, said: “How would we know what is inside? We will only know after we open it to unload.“
The steel scrap that comes into these factories is an unsort- ed mix of steel, contaminants such as lead and cadmium, and the occasional unexploded ord- nance. Shock absorbers also de- mand special handling. “Shock- ers have pressurized motor oil inside them. If not removed, they can explode in the furnaces,“ says Jaidka. The oil that's removed is sometimes used in the furnace, he says. The US Envi- ronmental Protection Agency categorizes used motor oil as hazardous waste.
Smoke and emissions from the approximately 600 chimneys in Gobindgarh contain high levels of air pollutants. A 2007 study on air pollution and cardiovascular health published in the Interna- tional Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health re- ported increased levels of differ- ent pollutants and the higher prevalence of cardiovascular symptoms in Mandi Gobindgarh than in the neighbouring non- industrial town of Morinda.
War-zone scrap Mandi Gobindgarh has also had its own share of explosions due to live ammunition mixed in with imported metal scrap. Lalit Mohan Sharma, manager at Prem Steel and Metals Pvt. Ltd in Gobindgarh, says that scrap from war-torn countries is the cheapest. “In that sense, Saddam did a good thing,“ he laughs.
Jaidka adds that some plants have stopped importing from war zones because of the unex- ploded ammunition and missiles in the scrap leading to accidents.
“There are a few stray cases now here and there. If found, they usually dump it in the nearby river,“ he says. Jitender Singh Bhatti, deputy director for facto- ries in the district, however, says the local administration issues a quarterly notification asking fac- tories to inform the local police and administration in case live shells or bombs are found.
Scrap for Jaidka's unit comes mainly from South Africa and Dubai. Dubai undergoes massive construction and de-construc- tion, which generates large amounts of steel and iron scrap.
The material is sorted manual- ly on the factory premises by contract labourers, who form the bulk of the workforce.
According to data available with the Ghaziabad district ad- ministration, Bhushan Steel has permission to employ up to 500 labourers.
Workers say, however, that it employs nearly 4,000.
Bhushan Steel refused to let a Mint reporter into its factory and did not respond to telephone and email queries.
On paper at least, the factories are subject to regular inspec- tions. The first time Mint spoke to him, Y.P. Singh, deputy direc- tor (factories), Ghaziabad, said they were inspected twice a year.
“The factories here have in- stalled machines to scan scrap,“ he maintained.
But on a subsequent occasion he clarified that the machines in- stalled at the units were just “presses“ that compressed the scrap so that parts such as car shock absorbers did not explode when they were melted. How is unexploded ordinance dealt with? “You will have to ask the factory owners,“ he said.
End of inspector raj What have the periodic factory inspections shown? “The state government issued a circular in January 2010, which put an end to the inspections. I think the idea was to end the inspector raj that factory owners were com- plaining about,“ he said. “We can now only inspect a factory with the permission of the dis- trict magistrate, and that too if we have credible evidence.“
The Punjab department of in- dustries has a different story to tell. Bhatti says that his district has not employed a single in- spector since 1996.
“Punjab has about 20-22 dis- tricts with only six officers for in- spections. Every officer is in charge of four to five districts.
We can maximum do 20 inspec- tions per month and Mandi alone has 600 factories. I am in charge of 1,500 factories. You can imagine what that means.
One factory probably gets in- spected once in five years,“ ex- plains Bhatti, whose department is responsible for labour welfare, health and safety. He adds that the International Labour Organi- zation recommends 150 factories maximum to one inspector to ensure adequate monitoring.
Gobindgarh notches an average of two accidents a month.
The situation is not very differ- ent at the ship-breaking yards at Alang in Gujarat. It's boom time there, with over 190 ships beached at the yards and at least 60,000 migrant workers busy dis- mantling them.
`It's a joke' There have been 12 major ac- cidents in the last four months alone, the last being a fire on 1 April that killed two workers.
“What do you expect,“ asks Ra- hul Tripathi, secretary of the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling and General Workers Association.
“90% of the workers here are illit- erate and nearly all of them are untrained.“ Workers are required to have training cards issued by the Gujarat Maritime Board. But according to Tripathi, these are issued after a day or two of train- ing. “It's a joke. The minimum training period for a general worker should be 15 days, and 25 days for a specialist,“ he says.
Statistics on industrial safety in India are very unreliable. The La- bour Institute and the Director- ate General, Factory Advice Ser- vice and Labour Institutes (DG- FASLI), both government-run bodies, are responsible for com- piling them, but they're depen- dent on states to provide them with data. “Over the last 30 years, several states like West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have consistently not submitted industrial workers accident data,“ says A.K. Chakraborti, di- rector general of DGFASLI.
“There are many shortcomings in our data systems.“
The metal scrap industry in India is booming, having grown at least 27% from 2007-08 to 2008-09 (from 3.5 million tonnes, or mt, to 4.4 mt, from more than 75 countries). Mandi Gobind- garh, which Jaidka says supplies approximately 6% of India's sec- ondary steel market, is at the heart of this expansion. Bhatti says he gets applications for at least three-four new units every month and 30-35 units are on the waiting list, pending electric- ity connections.
“This builds bridges, towers and your homes,“ Jaidka yells over the din of the furnace.
Wouldn't it be more convenient if he lived near his factory? “Who can live here? It's too polluted.“
padma.g@livemint.com
BY PADMAPARNA GHOSH & AKSHAI JAIN
MANDI GOBINDGARH (PUNJAB)/NEW DELHI Ranveer Jaidka takes pride in his work. “There is a little bit of steel in everybody's life,“ he says, smilingly appropriating the tag line of an advertisement.
Skipping gingerly across a blackened factory floor, strewn with practically every sort of scrap from spent shock absorbers and re- frigerator doors to crank shafts and bent cycle rims, he proclaims that nothing is waste.
Jaidka's factory in Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, is one of the 150-odd factories that recycle metal scrap from around the world.
“The WTC (World Trade Center) material was great.
High-rise buildings use good quality steel,“ he says, adding that many factories in Mandi
indgarh had bought the debris of the twin towers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As much as 15% of the scrap used at Jaidka's unit is imported. But for an industry that recycles hundreds of tonnes of imported metal scrap every year, information on and control over what comes in and where it is used, is surprisingly low.
Recently, Cobalt 60 discovered in scrap at a Delhi scrapyard caused an outbreak of radiation poisoning and raised questions on monitoring, worker safety and the environmental impact of imported scrap of all kinds. The Mayapuri episode was, however, not an isolated incident.
On 30 September 2004, a blast ripped through the factory of Bhushan Steel Ltd in Ghazia- bad, Uttar Pradesh. Ten workers were killed and a few others in- jured. An inquiry showed the scrap that Bhushan Steel had im- ported through a Dubai-based trader contained live ammuni- tion that exploded when it was being melted.
There was a flurry of activity from the administration, new rules were created and the facto- ries in the area inspected. But the situation soon reverted to normal--Bhushan Steel, with a market capitalization of Rs7,580 crore, has become one of the largest importers of steel scrap in the country.
A group of angry workers affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions gathers at their union office in Sahibabad. Upen- dra Jha of the union maintains that accidents at steel factories are still common. “There have been three in the last six months,“ he says. Most acci- dents, he adds, are not reported.
Occupational hazards According to Jha, few of the at least 100 industrial units here, which make everything from de- tergents to paper, have any safe- ty measures for the workers.
“70% of them don't even have any provision for water for the workers,“ he points out.
Though the situation is slightly better for a few workers at Gob- indgarh near the induction fur- naces where they wear plastic glasses and wrap cloth around their faces as protection against the heat and fumes, other waste handlers are not much better off.
Mukesh Kumar, a labourer who unloads scrap from contain- ers, said: “How would we know what is inside? We will only know after we open it to unload.“
The steel scrap that comes into these factories is an unsort- ed mix of steel, contaminants such as lead and cadmium, and the occasional unexploded ord- nance. Shock absorbers also de- mand special handling. “Shock- ers have pressurized motor oil inside them. If not removed, they can explode in the furnaces,“ says Jaidka. The oil that's removed is sometimes used in the furnace, he says. The US Envi- ronmental Protection Agency categorizes used motor oil as hazardous waste.
Smoke and emissions from the approximately 600 chimneys in Gobindgarh contain high levels of air pollutants. A 2007 study on air pollution and cardiovascular health published in the Interna- tional Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health re- ported increased levels of differ- ent pollutants and the higher prevalence of cardiovascular symptoms in Mandi Gobindgarh than in the neighbouring non- industrial town of Morinda.
War-zone scrap Mandi Gobindgarh has also had its own share of explosions due to live ammunition mixed in with imported metal scrap. Lalit Mohan Sharma, manager at Prem Steel and Metals Pvt. Ltd in Gobindgarh, says that scrap from war-torn countries is the cheapest. “In that sense, Saddam did a good thing,“ he laughs.
Jaidka adds that some plants have stopped importing from war zones because of the unex- ploded ammunition and missiles in the scrap leading to accidents.
“There are a few stray cases now here and there. If found, they usually dump it in the nearby river,“ he says. Jitender Singh Bhatti, deputy director for facto- ries in the district, however, says the local administration issues a quarterly notification asking fac- tories to inform the local police and administration in case live shells or bombs are found.
Scrap for Jaidka's unit comes mainly from South Africa and Dubai. Dubai undergoes massive construction and de-construc- tion, which generates large amounts of steel and iron scrap.
The material is sorted manual- ly on the factory premises by contract labourers, who form the bulk of the workforce.
According to data available with the Ghaziabad district ad- ministration, Bhushan Steel has permission to employ up to 500 labourers.
Workers say, however, that it employs nearly 4,000.
Bhushan Steel refused to let a Mint reporter into its factory and did not respond to telephone and email queries.
On paper at least, the factories are subject to regular inspec- tions. The first time Mint spoke to him, Y.P. Singh, deputy direc- tor (factories), Ghaziabad, said they were inspected twice a year.
“The factories here have in- stalled machines to scan scrap,“ he maintained.
But on a subsequent occasion he clarified that the machines in- stalled at the units were just “presses“ that compressed the scrap so that parts such as car shock absorbers did not explode when they were melted. How is unexploded ordinance dealt with? “You will have to ask the factory owners,“ he said.
End of inspector raj What have the periodic factory inspections shown? “The state government issued a circular in January 2010, which put an end to the inspections. I think the idea was to end the inspector raj that factory owners were com- plaining about,“ he said. “We can now only inspect a factory with the permission of the dis- trict magistrate, and that too if we have credible evidence.“
The Punjab department of in- dustries has a different story to tell. Bhatti says that his district has not employed a single in- spector since 1996.
“Punjab has about 20-22 dis- tricts with only six officers for in- spections. Every officer is in charge of four to five districts.
We can maximum do 20 inspec- tions per month and Mandi alone has 600 factories. I am in charge of 1,500 factories. You can imagine what that means.
One factory probably gets in- spected once in five years,“ ex- plains Bhatti, whose department is responsible for labour welfare, health and safety. He adds that the International Labour Organi- zation recommends 150 factories maximum to one inspector to ensure adequate monitoring.
Gobindgarh notches an average of two accidents a month.
The situation is not very differ- ent at the ship-breaking yards at Alang in Gujarat. It's boom time there, with over 190 ships beached at the yards and at least 60,000 migrant workers busy dis- mantling them.
`It's a joke' There have been 12 major ac- cidents in the last four months alone, the last being a fire on 1 April that killed two workers.
“What do you expect,“ asks Ra- hul Tripathi, secretary of the Alang Sosiya Ship Recycling and General Workers Association.
“90% of the workers here are illit- erate and nearly all of them are untrained.“ Workers are required to have training cards issued by the Gujarat Maritime Board. But according to Tripathi, these are issued after a day or two of train- ing. “It's a joke. The minimum training period for a general worker should be 15 days, and 25 days for a specialist,“ he says.
Statistics on industrial safety in India are very unreliable. The La- bour Institute and the Director- ate General, Factory Advice Ser- vice and Labour Institutes (DG- FASLI), both government-run bodies, are responsible for com- piling them, but they're depen- dent on states to provide them with data. “Over the last 30 years, several states like West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have consistently not submitted industrial workers accident data,“ says A.K. Chakraborti, di- rector general of DGFASLI.
“There are many shortcomings in our data systems.“
The metal scrap industry in India is booming, having grown at least 27% from 2007-08 to 2008-09 (from 3.5 million tonnes, or mt, to 4.4 mt, from more than 75 countries). Mandi Gobind- garh, which Jaidka says supplies approximately 6% of India's sec- ondary steel market, is at the heart of this expansion. Bhatti says he gets applications for at least three-four new units every month and 30-35 units are on the waiting list, pending electric- ity connections.
“This builds bridges, towers and your homes,“ Jaidka yells over the din of the furnace.
Wouldn't it be more convenient if he lived near his factory? “Who can live here? It's too polluted.“
padma.g@livemint.com
NATHU LA TRADE WILL BECOME FULL FLEDGED INTERNATIONAL TRADE FROM NEXT YEAR- SIKKIM CHAMBER HOPEFUL
Nathu La border trade to begin on May 3
by Sarikah Atreya
SOURCE;HINDUBUSINESSLINE
Gangtok, April 19
The fifth season of the Nathu La border trade between Sikkim and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is scheduled to commence on May 3. It will go on till November 30.
An official release said that the trade beginning from May 3 will remain open four days a week - Monday to Thursday - from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm Indian Standard Time.
The release further said that there has been no change in the trade items and the present list remains same, i.e., 29 exportable items from India to TAR and 15 items from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
According to the press release, the traders from Sikkim exported items worth Rs 1.35 crore while the TAR traders could export items worth Rs 2.96 lakh only during the last season.
Since the term border trade is to be construed that the trade is opened for the people of the border area only for the items produced in local area of limited value, the Centre India has fixed the currency value limit to Rs 1 lakh a day a trader from 2007-08, it is informed.
The State Commerce and Industries Department has also advised the DC (East) to issue the trade passes at the earliest to enable the traders to prepare for the border trade.
Till date, a total of 135 local traders have already applied for trade passes to the East District Administration.
Meanwhile, local traders here are hopeful of a good trading season despite non-fulfilment of the demand for revision of trade items.
“Though the list of items have remained same, the trade volume over the years have increased along with the number of traders participating in the border trade,” said local trader Mr Anil Kumar Gupta. He said that the traders are expecting export business over Rs 2 crore this season.
At the same time, traders here have reiterated their demand for the revision of the trade items so that traders from both sides could benefit.
Along with the State Government, both Sikkimese and TAR traders have been asking the Centre to include more feasible and marketable commodities.
According to the bilateral agreement, there are 29 exportable items such as tea, spices and biscuits which are allowed to be exported to TAR by the Sikkim traders while there are only 15 items like wool, goat skins and sheep skins which can be imported from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
The State government and traders of Sikkim and TAR have been contending that these items especially those allowed to be imported from TAR are obsolete and have no market value.
Inclusion of local products
The State Government had been repeatedly demanded for inclusion of local products of Sikkim such as handicrafts and cash crops for the border trade.
Lok Sabha member from Sikkim, Mr P.D. Rai, has said that the Sikkim Government has been pressing ahead with the Centre for expansion of trade items for the Nathu La border trade.
He informed that he will be taking up the matter with the concerned Ministry in the Centre.
“The demand is under advanced stage of consideration and we are hoping that something positive will come out,” Mr Rai said. He also expressed his hopes that at least some amendments in the present list of items will be taken up.
However, traders here were of the view that revision of trade items could take place after the border trade infrastructure is completed in the Indian side.
Presently, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) is widening the 51 km Jawaharlal Nehru Marg connecting Gangtok with the Nathu La border. The Jawaharlal Nehru Marg double laning project had started from 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs 780 crore.
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce (SCC) President, Mr S.K. Sarda, said that whenever the Centre is approached over the demand, the officials inform that the file is in process.
Mr Sarda said that while the SCC remains hopeful for revision of the trade items soon, traders would be benefiting more from the next season when the Nathu La border trade completes five years.
According to the bilateral agreement, the border trade is supposed to be declared as an international trade which means import and export of more items can be done after paying custom duty like in Mumbai and Kolkata ports, he said.
by Sarikah Atreya
SOURCE;HINDUBUSINESSLINE
Gangtok, April 19
The fifth season of the Nathu La border trade between Sikkim and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is scheduled to commence on May 3. It will go on till November 30.
An official release said that the trade beginning from May 3 will remain open four days a week - Monday to Thursday - from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm Indian Standard Time.
The release further said that there has been no change in the trade items and the present list remains same, i.e., 29 exportable items from India to TAR and 15 items from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
According to the press release, the traders from Sikkim exported items worth Rs 1.35 crore while the TAR traders could export items worth Rs 2.96 lakh only during the last season.
Since the term border trade is to be construed that the trade is opened for the people of the border area only for the items produced in local area of limited value, the Centre India has fixed the currency value limit to Rs 1 lakh a day a trader from 2007-08, it is informed.
The State Commerce and Industries Department has also advised the DC (East) to issue the trade passes at the earliest to enable the traders to prepare for the border trade.
Till date, a total of 135 local traders have already applied for trade passes to the East District Administration.
Meanwhile, local traders here are hopeful of a good trading season despite non-fulfilment of the demand for revision of trade items.
“Though the list of items have remained same, the trade volume over the years have increased along with the number of traders participating in the border trade,” said local trader Mr Anil Kumar Gupta. He said that the traders are expecting export business over Rs 2 crore this season.
At the same time, traders here have reiterated their demand for the revision of the trade items so that traders from both sides could benefit.
Along with the State Government, both Sikkimese and TAR traders have been asking the Centre to include more feasible and marketable commodities.
According to the bilateral agreement, there are 29 exportable items such as tea, spices and biscuits which are allowed to be exported to TAR by the Sikkim traders while there are only 15 items like wool, goat skins and sheep skins which can be imported from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
The State government and traders of Sikkim and TAR have been contending that these items especially those allowed to be imported from TAR are obsolete and have no market value.
Inclusion of local products
The State Government had been repeatedly demanded for inclusion of local products of Sikkim such as handicrafts and cash crops for the border trade.
Lok Sabha member from Sikkim, Mr P.D. Rai, has said that the Sikkim Government has been pressing ahead with the Centre for expansion of trade items for the Nathu La border trade.
He informed that he will be taking up the matter with the concerned Ministry in the Centre.
“The demand is under advanced stage of consideration and we are hoping that something positive will come out,” Mr Rai said. He also expressed his hopes that at least some amendments in the present list of items will be taken up.
However, traders here were of the view that revision of trade items could take place after the border trade infrastructure is completed in the Indian side.
Presently, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) is widening the 51 km Jawaharlal Nehru Marg connecting Gangtok with the Nathu La border. The Jawaharlal Nehru Marg double laning project had started from 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs 780 crore.
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce (SCC) President, Mr S.K. Sarda, said that whenever the Centre is approached over the demand, the officials inform that the file is in process.
Mr Sarda said that while the SCC remains hopeful for revision of the trade items soon, traders would be benefiting more from the next season when the Nathu La border trade completes five years.
According to the bilateral agreement, the border trade is supposed to be declared as an international trade which means import and export of more items can be done after paying custom duty like in Mumbai and Kolkata ports, he said.
Garg goes to Assam, Dinakaran in soup
by Rakesh Bhatnagar / DNA
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 0:30
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh high court judge Ramesh Surajmal Garg has been made chief justice of Guwahati high court. But there’s a catch. Garg, 62, is slated to retire on June 18.
Garg’s appointment, though for a very short period, has removed doubts over controversial chief justice of Karnataka high court PD Dinakaran being sent to Sikkim high court.
It’s a very complex link. Delhi high court’s senior most judge Madan Lokur has been sent to Sikkim high court as chief justice. Lokur was chosen following Sikkim HC lawyers’ opposition to work under Dinakaran. Sikkim is no dump yard for corrupt judges, the lawyers had said.
Garg’s appointment confirms that Lokur will not be appointed as Guwahati high court chief justice anytime in future. This, in turn, will mean Dinakaran won’t go to Sikkim. The controversial chief justice has been under fire for the past several months.
Dinakaran, who is facing a constitutional probe under the Judges Inquiry Act, has turned a deaf ear to the advice given by Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan to proceed on leave. Balakrishnan heads the five-judge collegium looking into the Dinakaran case.
Later, the collegium transferred the judge to Sikkim, disregarding the serious concerns unanimously expressed by the Sikkim High Court Bar Association that the state can’t be used as a dumping ground for unwanted or inconvenient judiciary.
Dinakaran’s fate hangs in the balance until the inquiry finds him innocent of all the grave allegations relating to corruption, misconduct and land grab.
Speaking to DNA from Gangtok, bar association vice-president Narender Rai said, “We are happy with our newly appointed CJ.” Bar association leaders had met president Pratibha Patil during her visit to the state. “She had assured that concerns over transfer of Dinakaran would be considered,” Rai said.
He said governor BP Singh also assured that he would draw the attention of PMO towards the resolution passed by the bar that has threatened boycott of Dinakaran’s court, in case he was posted in Sikkim.
source;dnaindia.com
by Rakesh Bhatnagar / DNA
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 0:30
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh high court judge Ramesh Surajmal Garg has been made chief justice of Guwahati high court. But there’s a catch. Garg, 62, is slated to retire on June 18.
Garg’s appointment, though for a very short period, has removed doubts over controversial chief justice of Karnataka high court PD Dinakaran being sent to Sikkim high court.
It’s a very complex link. Delhi high court’s senior most judge Madan Lokur has been sent to Sikkim high court as chief justice. Lokur was chosen following Sikkim HC lawyers’ opposition to work under Dinakaran. Sikkim is no dump yard for corrupt judges, the lawyers had said.
Garg’s appointment confirms that Lokur will not be appointed as Guwahati high court chief justice anytime in future. This, in turn, will mean Dinakaran won’t go to Sikkim. The controversial chief justice has been under fire for the past several months.
Dinakaran, who is facing a constitutional probe under the Judges Inquiry Act, has turned a deaf ear to the advice given by Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan to proceed on leave. Balakrishnan heads the five-judge collegium looking into the Dinakaran case.
Later, the collegium transferred the judge to Sikkim, disregarding the serious concerns unanimously expressed by the Sikkim High Court Bar Association that the state can’t be used as a dumping ground for unwanted or inconvenient judiciary.
Dinakaran’s fate hangs in the balance until the inquiry finds him innocent of all the grave allegations relating to corruption, misconduct and land grab.
Speaking to DNA from Gangtok, bar association vice-president Narender Rai said, “We are happy with our newly appointed CJ.” Bar association leaders had met president Pratibha Patil during her visit to the state. “She had assured that concerns over transfer of Dinakaran would be considered,” Rai said.
He said governor BP Singh also assured that he would draw the attention of PMO towards the resolution passed by the bar that has threatened boycott of Dinakaran’s court, in case he was posted in Sikkim.
source;dnaindia.com
Supreme Court stays Sikkim HC ban on lottery sale
New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court today stayed the Sikkim High Court order banning sale of lotteries across the country.
A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan stayed the interim order passed by the Sikkim High Court on the plea of Nagaland. In its petition, the Nagaland contended the Sikkim High Court erroneously stayed the rules framed by the Centre to ensure level-playing field for all states.
On April 8 this year, the Sikkim HC stopped operations of the rules framed by the Centre under the Lotteries Regulation Act in all the states.
Attorney General GE Vahanvati, appearing for Nagaland submitted that the HC should not have stayed ex-parte without even hearing other states which are organising lotteries as per the lotteries regulation Act and rules.
New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court today stayed the Sikkim High Court order banning sale of lotteries across the country.
A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan stayed the interim order passed by the Sikkim High Court on the plea of Nagaland. In its petition, the Nagaland contended the Sikkim High Court erroneously stayed the rules framed by the Centre to ensure level-playing field for all states.
On April 8 this year, the Sikkim HC stopped operations of the rules framed by the Centre under the Lotteries Regulation Act in all the states.
Attorney General GE Vahanvati, appearing for Nagaland submitted that the HC should not have stayed ex-parte without even hearing other states which are organising lotteries as per the lotteries regulation Act and rules.
Enterprise: A passion for design, and a chance to make some money
by S. Aishwarya
Hunched over a cot-sized wooden frame, Radhika sews shimmering stones on a silk cloth with surgical precision. The intricate motif on the cloth took shape after 10 days of rather exhausting work using several colour threads and different sized needles.
For people like her who design and work on heavily embroidered saris and salwars, putting that extra effort to add intricacy and make them unique has never been a problem.
“Every new project means labouring even during unearthly hours to meet the deadline. Especially, wedding dresses have a lot of sentimental value attached to them. We keep that in mind while working,” says G. Sumathi, while working on an elaborate floral design on a sari.
Devi Rani started tapping her creative skills when her family faced a financial crisis a couple of years ago. Her knowledge of embroidery came in handy as the family sailed through a difficult phase with her earnings. “But I am happy to have faced such a period as it gave me a chance to get back to my passion,” she says.
Contemporary designs and sequin works require a good number of raw materials. Sourcing the materials from George Town, the embroidery designers tailor make the dresses after getting a nod from the customer by showing sample designs. “Small highlights in blouses for heavy-worked sari and detailed designs for simple saris are in vogue. The size of embroidery matters as it is time-consuming,” explains Ms. Sumathi.
Handling customers who are picky is something the embroidery designers find stressful. “Every dress involves a lot of work, especially if it is hand-embroidered. While some are understanding, many set impractical deadlines,” she says.
With the growing fashion awareness among women, many designers also face the problem of meeting the expectations of their clients.
They pore over fashion magazines, browse websites and attend workshops on embroidery to update themselves on the trends.
Some like Usha Ramesh, however, turn to their roots. An embroidery designer-cum-teacher, she adds vibrancy to the dresses through traditional embroidery patterns. Specialising in Bommi art, she has updated herself on international designs of Italy and Norway.
After teaching her students about the finer nuances, she takes time off to nurse her frayed nerves.
“There is a lot of physical labour involved. But yet, I carry on because this is addictive. When I get inspired by a design, I lose sleep over it,” she says.
Financial independence and love for dresses made Veena Rajesh kick-start a business in embroidery. “This job gives us the flexibility to prioritise family. But the best part is you are your own boss. Earning a livelihood through our creativity is such a gratifying experience.”
by S. Aishwarya
Hunched over a cot-sized wooden frame, Radhika sews shimmering stones on a silk cloth with surgical precision. The intricate motif on the cloth took shape after 10 days of rather exhausting work using several colour threads and different sized needles.
For people like her who design and work on heavily embroidered saris and salwars, putting that extra effort to add intricacy and make them unique has never been a problem.
“Every new project means labouring even during unearthly hours to meet the deadline. Especially, wedding dresses have a lot of sentimental value attached to them. We keep that in mind while working,” says G. Sumathi, while working on an elaborate floral design on a sari.
Devi Rani started tapping her creative skills when her family faced a financial crisis a couple of years ago. Her knowledge of embroidery came in handy as the family sailed through a difficult phase with her earnings. “But I am happy to have faced such a period as it gave me a chance to get back to my passion,” she says.
Contemporary designs and sequin works require a good number of raw materials. Sourcing the materials from George Town, the embroidery designers tailor make the dresses after getting a nod from the customer by showing sample designs. “Small highlights in blouses for heavy-worked sari and detailed designs for simple saris are in vogue. The size of embroidery matters as it is time-consuming,” explains Ms. Sumathi.
Handling customers who are picky is something the embroidery designers find stressful. “Every dress involves a lot of work, especially if it is hand-embroidered. While some are understanding, many set impractical deadlines,” she says.
With the growing fashion awareness among women, many designers also face the problem of meeting the expectations of their clients.
They pore over fashion magazines, browse websites and attend workshops on embroidery to update themselves on the trends.
Some like Usha Ramesh, however, turn to their roots. An embroidery designer-cum-teacher, she adds vibrancy to the dresses through traditional embroidery patterns. Specialising in Bommi art, she has updated herself on international designs of Italy and Norway.
After teaching her students about the finer nuances, she takes time off to nurse her frayed nerves.
“There is a lot of physical labour involved. But yet, I carry on because this is addictive. When I get inspired by a design, I lose sleep over it,” she says.
Financial independence and love for dresses made Veena Rajesh kick-start a business in embroidery. “This job gives us the flexibility to prioritise family. But the best part is you are your own boss. Earning a livelihood through our creativity is such a gratifying experience.”
Alcohol consumption makes allergies worse
New York Times News Service
You may want to lay off alcohol for a while. Studies have found that alcohol can cause or worsen the common symptoms of asthma and hay fever, like sneezing, itching, headaches and coughing.
But the problem is not always the alcohol itself. Beer, wine and liquor contain histamine, produced by yeast and bacteria during the fermentation process. Histamine, of course, is the chemical that sets off allergy symptoms. Wine and beer also contain sulfites, another group of compounds known to provoke asthma and other allergy-like symptoms.
In one study in Sweden in 2005, scientists looked at thousands of people and found that compared with the general population, those with diagnoses of asthma, bronchitis and hay fever were far more likely to experience sneezing, a runny nose and “lower-airway symptoms” after having a drink. Red wine and white wine were the most frequent triggers, and women, for unknown reasons, were about twice as likely to be affected as men.
Another study of thousands of women published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy in 2008 found that having more than two glasses of wine a day almost doubles the risk of allergy symptoms, even among women who were free of seasonal and perennial allergies at the start of the study.
It helps to be on the lookout for other foods that either contain or release histamine, like aged cheeses, pickled or fermented products and yeast-containing foods, like bread, cider and grapes. The bottom line is, drinking alcohol can cause or worsen allergies, particularly in women.
New York Times News Service
You may want to lay off alcohol for a while. Studies have found that alcohol can cause or worsen the common symptoms of asthma and hay fever, like sneezing, itching, headaches and coughing.
But the problem is not always the alcohol itself. Beer, wine and liquor contain histamine, produced by yeast and bacteria during the fermentation process. Histamine, of course, is the chemical that sets off allergy symptoms. Wine and beer also contain sulfites, another group of compounds known to provoke asthma and other allergy-like symptoms.
In one study in Sweden in 2005, scientists looked at thousands of people and found that compared with the general population, those with diagnoses of asthma, bronchitis and hay fever were far more likely to experience sneezing, a runny nose and “lower-airway symptoms” after having a drink. Red wine and white wine were the most frequent triggers, and women, for unknown reasons, were about twice as likely to be affected as men.
Another study of thousands of women published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy in 2008 found that having more than two glasses of wine a day almost doubles the risk of allergy symptoms, even among women who were free of seasonal and perennial allergies at the start of the study.
It helps to be on the lookout for other foods that either contain or release histamine, like aged cheeses, pickled or fermented products and yeast-containing foods, like bread, cider and grapes. The bottom line is, drinking alcohol can cause or worsen allergies, particularly in women.
SNT monopoly in revenue generation – CAG
SNT under CAG
20 April, Gangtok: The Sikkim Natiuonalised Transport (SNT) has sustained a loss of Rs 12.91 crores to its operational inefficiencies said CAG (Comptroller and Auditor general) in its report 2008-2009.
“The SNT can control the losses by taking adequate measures to improve the operational parameters and also resorting to tapping non-conventional sources of revenue”, suggested CAG.
The CAG has recommended the bleeding SNYT to improve fleet utilization, create a regulator to regulate fares and services on ecomomical routes, tap non-conventional sources of revenue and create separate cost centres for buses, trucks and tankers.
Till March 31 2009, the SNT had a fleet strength of 96 buses and 85 trucks and tankers and carried an average of two thousand passangers per day on average from 2004 to 2009.
Despite enjoying a monopoly in operation of buses in the state, the SNT failed to cater the growing demand of public transportation as there was a continuous decline in per capita km operated per year from 3.39 in 2004-05 to 2.39 in 2008-2009, the CAG said. The decline in share was mainly due to operational inefficiencies, the CAG said.
The CGA has also suggested the SNT to develop its 13,194 square meters of vacant land to earn steady income which can be used to cross-subsidized its operation.
source;sikkim express
SNT under CAG
20 April, Gangtok: The Sikkim Natiuonalised Transport (SNT) has sustained a loss of Rs 12.91 crores to its operational inefficiencies said CAG (Comptroller and Auditor general) in its report 2008-2009.
“The SNT can control the losses by taking adequate measures to improve the operational parameters and also resorting to tapping non-conventional sources of revenue”, suggested CAG.
The CAG has recommended the bleeding SNYT to improve fleet utilization, create a regulator to regulate fares and services on ecomomical routes, tap non-conventional sources of revenue and create separate cost centres for buses, trucks and tankers.
Till March 31 2009, the SNT had a fleet strength of 96 buses and 85 trucks and tankers and carried an average of two thousand passangers per day on average from 2004 to 2009.
Despite enjoying a monopoly in operation of buses in the state, the SNT failed to cater the growing demand of public transportation as there was a continuous decline in per capita km operated per year from 3.39 in 2004-05 to 2.39 in 2008-2009, the CAG said. The decline in share was mainly due to operational inefficiencies, the CAG said.
The CGA has also suggested the SNT to develop its 13,194 square meters of vacant land to earn steady income which can be used to cross-subsidized its operation.
source;sikkim express
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
ULIP Excuses, and Why They Are Wrong
ULIP Excuses, and Why They Are Wrong
There are a set of reasons that ULIP apologists usually trot out to promote ULIPs. Here's why they are wrong.
ULIP Excuses, and Why They Are Wrong
The so-called turf-war on ULIPs that SEBI and IRDA have been fighting has now taken on a life of its own. In reality, just about the least important thing is who regulates ULIPs, while the most important thing-or rather, the only important thing-is that investors understand what they are getting into and make the choices that are best for them. I find that there's a great deal of misinformation floating around about ULIPs and why exactly are so many investment advisors so critical of them. ULIP proponents generally give a set of reasons which in their opinion invalidate criticism of ULIPs.
In this article, I'd like to briefly describe why I think these arguments are not valid.
Argument: ULIP expenses have been lowered by IRDA. ULIP expenses are now down to just 3 per cent for ULIPs of up to 10 years and 2.25 per cent for longer ones. Mutual funds, by comparison, have a higher fund management charges.
Reality: The way IRDA has framed the rules, 2.25 or 3 per cent is effectively the average over the entire lifetime of a ULIP. However, these charges are heavily front-loaded, something that allows insurance companies to circumvent them easily. During the first year, these charges are as high as 40 to 70 per cent. If the customer cannot continue with a policy for any reason, then his real expenses are far higher. And as it happens, a huge proportion of policies lapse during the earlier years. The front-loading has no logic, except to enrich insurers and agents. And fund management charges being lower than mutual funds is a not a full comparison. In mutual funds, total expenses are capped at 2.25 per cent for equity funds and less for other funds. These are not comparable to the fund management charges of ULIPs because ULIP customers also pay premium allocation charges, policy administration charges, mortality charges, and for guaranteed ULIPs, guarantee charge s. Comparing fund management cha ges alone is a joke.
Argument: ULIPs have led to a massive rise in insurance penetration in India.
Reality: Insurance means insurance, in the sense when the insured person dies, his family gets money to pay for food, rent and education. In a country with as little social security as ours, the growth of insurance has to mean the growth in the reach and quantum of risk cover for lives. To call ULIPs, a market risk-bearing product (with a tiny dose of insurance) by the name of insurance and then present it as evidence of the growth of insurance is simply dishonest, and to find a regulator appointed by the Government of India participating in this subterfuge is shameful.
Argument: The insurance industry provides a huge amount of employment. 30 lakh people have found work through insurance.
Reality: If ULIPs were a sound financial product than this would be wonderful news. Since they are not (see above reasons), this issue is a complete red herring. It is not the responsibility of ULIP customers to provide agents employment by giving away vast proportion of their premiums as commission. If crores of people's money has to be mis-invested to provide employment for lakhs of people, then it's better for those lakhs to find some other, more productive employment.
Argument: ULIP fund flows are important for the stock market and for infrastructure development.
Reality: The same as the employment argument. It is not the responsibility of ULIP customers to buy expensive and non-transparent investment products so that the stock markets can be boosted. Wouldn't it be possible to create infrastructure if ULIPs could be made more investor friendly.
I find the last two points to be particularly dishonest. They somehow imply that if ULIPs were made more investor-friendly, then lakhs of people would immediately become unemployed and money would stop flowing into development. However, ULIP critics like me have nothing against the concept of ULIPs. If ULIP cost is brought down and made non-front-loaded; and if transparency is enhanced to the level of other asset classes, then they would be a very good product. The fact that the ULIP's enforce gradual SIP-style investments could actually make them a superior product.
ULIPs should be converted into a product that has an investment component that has similar rules and regulations to mutual funds, in combination with an life-cover component that has the same pricing as term insurance. If this happens, then I'm sure that every opponent of ULIPs, including Value Research, will start recommending them above mutual funds.
-- Dhirendra Kumar
\
There are a set of reasons that ULIP apologists usually trot out to promote ULIPs. Here's why they are wrong.
ULIP Excuses, and Why They Are Wrong
The so-called turf-war on ULIPs that SEBI and IRDA have been fighting has now taken on a life of its own. In reality, just about the least important thing is who regulates ULIPs, while the most important thing-or rather, the only important thing-is that investors understand what they are getting into and make the choices that are best for them. I find that there's a great deal of misinformation floating around about ULIPs and why exactly are so many investment advisors so critical of them. ULIP proponents generally give a set of reasons which in their opinion invalidate criticism of ULIPs.
In this article, I'd like to briefly describe why I think these arguments are not valid.
Argument: ULIP expenses have been lowered by IRDA. ULIP expenses are now down to just 3 per cent for ULIPs of up to 10 years and 2.25 per cent for longer ones. Mutual funds, by comparison, have a higher fund management charges.
Reality: The way IRDA has framed the rules, 2.25 or 3 per cent is effectively the average over the entire lifetime of a ULIP. However, these charges are heavily front-loaded, something that allows insurance companies to circumvent them easily. During the first year, these charges are as high as 40 to 70 per cent. If the customer cannot continue with a policy for any reason, then his real expenses are far higher. And as it happens, a huge proportion of policies lapse during the earlier years. The front-loading has no logic, except to enrich insurers and agents. And fund management charges being lower than mutual funds is a not a full comparison. In mutual funds, total expenses are capped at 2.25 per cent for equity funds and less for other funds. These are not comparable to the fund management charges of ULIPs because ULIP customers also pay premium allocation charges, policy administration charges, mortality charges, and for guaranteed ULIPs, guarantee charge s. Comparing fund management cha ges alone is a joke.
Argument: ULIPs have led to a massive rise in insurance penetration in India.
Reality: Insurance means insurance, in the sense when the insured person dies, his family gets money to pay for food, rent and education. In a country with as little social security as ours, the growth of insurance has to mean the growth in the reach and quantum of risk cover for lives. To call ULIPs, a market risk-bearing product (with a tiny dose of insurance) by the name of insurance and then present it as evidence of the growth of insurance is simply dishonest, and to find a regulator appointed by the Government of India participating in this subterfuge is shameful.
Argument: The insurance industry provides a huge amount of employment. 30 lakh people have found work through insurance.
Reality: If ULIPs were a sound financial product than this would be wonderful news. Since they are not (see above reasons), this issue is a complete red herring. It is not the responsibility of ULIP customers to provide agents employment by giving away vast proportion of their premiums as commission. If crores of people's money has to be mis-invested to provide employment for lakhs of people, then it's better for those lakhs to find some other, more productive employment.
Argument: ULIP fund flows are important for the stock market and for infrastructure development.
Reality: The same as the employment argument. It is not the responsibility of ULIP customers to buy expensive and non-transparent investment products so that the stock markets can be boosted. Wouldn't it be possible to create infrastructure if ULIPs could be made more investor friendly.
I find the last two points to be particularly dishonest. They somehow imply that if ULIPs were made more investor-friendly, then lakhs of people would immediately become unemployed and money would stop flowing into development. However, ULIP critics like me have nothing against the concept of ULIPs. If ULIP cost is brought down and made non-front-loaded; and if transparency is enhanced to the level of other asset classes, then they would be a very good product. The fact that the ULIP's enforce gradual SIP-style investments could actually make them a superior product.
ULIPs should be converted into a product that has an investment component that has similar rules and regulations to mutual funds, in combination with an life-cover component that has the same pricing as term insurance. If this happens, then I'm sure that every opponent of ULIPs, including Value Research, will start recommending them above mutual funds.
-- Dhirendra Kumar
\
Registering of bio-assets
After holding wider consultations with the experts and officials of the State Biodiversity Boards, format of the model People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) has been finalized and communicated to the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) to facilitate and promote the preparation of PBRs by the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs). So far, 350 PBRs have been completed.
Studies carried out by the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) team in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) during 2000, 2003 and 2005, have indicated that the patents granted at the international patents offices based on Indian traditional knowledge are increasing. To prevent the grant of such wrong patents, the CSIR in collaboration with the Department of Ayush, is developing TKDL on the codified knowledge on Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga. So far, approximately 2.19 lakh formulations have been transcribed in five international languages under TKDL. Access to TKDL databases is provided to international patent officers to enable their patent examiners for establishing prior art, in case of patent applications based on Indian Systems of Medicine. Based on the TKDL evidence, intention to grant patent on two patent applications has been set aside and twelve patent applications have been withdrawn at the European Patent Office.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply to a question by Dr. Viney Kumar Pandey ‘Vinnu’ in Lok Sabha today.
KP
After holding wider consultations with the experts and officials of the State Biodiversity Boards, format of the model People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) has been finalized and communicated to the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) to facilitate and promote the preparation of PBRs by the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs). So far, 350 PBRs have been completed.
Studies carried out by the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) team in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) during 2000, 2003 and 2005, have indicated that the patents granted at the international patents offices based on Indian traditional knowledge are increasing. To prevent the grant of such wrong patents, the CSIR in collaboration with the Department of Ayush, is developing TKDL on the codified knowledge on Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga. So far, approximately 2.19 lakh formulations have been transcribed in five international languages under TKDL. Access to TKDL databases is provided to international patent officers to enable their patent examiners for establishing prior art, in case of patent applications based on Indian Systems of Medicine. Based on the TKDL evidence, intention to grant patent on two patent applications has been set aside and twelve patent applications have been withdrawn at the European Patent Office.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply to a question by Dr. Viney Kumar Pandey ‘Vinnu’ in Lok Sabha today.
KP
PM Inaugurates Civil Services Day, 2010
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the Civil Services Day, 2010 in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“It gives me great pleasure to participate in these celebrations of the fifth Civil Services Day. I compliment the Cabinet Secretary, Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar and his colleagues for organizing this function. I also congratulate all those who have received awards for excellence today. They have set an example for other civil servants to follow. I am sure their work will serve as an inspiration to others to strive for higher achievement in the service to the people of our country.
This annual function has now a special place in our administrative calendar. It gives a unique opportunity to officers belonging to various services, and to various states, to come together to share experience and exchange views on important issues of national concern. I hope that the deliberations of this conference will be held in a spirit of learning from each other and learning by doing and will result not only in better implementation of our policies but also in improved policy formulation itself.
In the past 60 years or so since Independence, our civil services have played a critical role in establishing a secular and democratic form of government, in maintaining communal peace and harmony, in transforming our economy and in fighting disease, poverty, ignorance and inequalities of opportunities. The founding fathers of our Republic had conceived of a permanent, apolitical and representative civil service, which could work hand in hand with successive governments to face the challenges of nation building. On the whole, it would not be an exaggeration to say that our civil services have lived up to this expectation.
There is of course scope for improvement as there always will be. There are also areas in which the civil services should have and could have performed better. I hope that the future will see a removal or at least a reduction in the deficiencies in the performance of our civil servants.
The problems and challenges that we face today are not only very different from those which we encountered soon after Independence but are also increasingly complex. Our population has grown manifold, as has the size of our economy. Our country is getting increasingly urbanized.
Higher levels of education, income and awareness have raised the aspirations and expectations of our people. We face many new threats to the integrity of our country, both from within and from without. Terrorism and left-wing extremism seek to challenge the very foundations of our democratic and secular polity. Climate change and degradation of our environment threaten not only the quality of our lives but that of future generations as well. An efficient and equitable management of the country’s water resources presents new challenges.
Globalization and a more inter-connected and inter-dependent world in which we live in bring both new opportunities and new challenges. The civil services have a major role to play in helping government fashion a suitable and adequate response to all these issues. The civil servant of today should not only be alive and sensitive to the problems at hand but should also be well equipped to tackle them. This calls for continuous updation and improved training. And since we live in an environment where developments at one place affect what happens elsewhere, civil servants today also need to work with greater coordination with each other.
As you all know, the last year or so was particularly difficult for our country. We faced a global financial crisis, probably the worst in the post-war period. There was hardly any country in the world which was not affected by it, in some measure or the other. We were no exception, though our quick but calibrated response ensured that the adverse effect of the slow-down was much less on us than on other countries. Our country was able to post a respectable growth of 6.7% in 2008-09. The growth rate for 2009-10 is now estimated at 7.2 percent and the forecast for 2010-11 is 8.25 percent.
Our medium term target is to return the economy to an annual growth rate of 9-10 percent. Our civil services have a major role to play in reaching this goal by facilitating the right enabling environment in which enterprise and innovations are encouraged.
We faced a severe drought in the last kharif season. The impact of the drought on agricultural output was mitigated to a large extent by the resilience shown by our farmers and by the timely measures taken by the Government at the Centre and the State governments. But now we need to do some hard work to accelerate the pace of agricultural growth.
I would urge the civil services to pay particular attention to this area of national endeavour. Special efforts must be made to increase the productivity of dry land, rainfed farming. I have said this earlier and I repeat it today again that the agriculture departments in the states need to be manned by our very best officers. I hope the Chief Secretaries of States will attempt to ensure this.
As we look ahead, some specific problems stand out. As I have mentioned time and again, left-wing extremism is, perhaps, the gravest internal security threat that we face. Recent events have underscored the need for urgent and considered action to root out this problem. No quarter can be given to those who have taken upon themselves to challenge the authority of the Indian state and the fabric of our democratic polity. But we cannot overlook the fact that many of areas in which such extremism flourishes are under-developed and many of the people, mainly poor tribals, who live in these areas have not shared equitably in the fruits of development. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that no area of our country is denied the benefits of our ambitious developmental programmes.
Civil servants have a pivotal role in ensuring that the benefits of our programmes percolate to the farthest and remotest villages of our country. It is a daunting task that will test the endurance and mettle of our civil servants, especially that of the All-India Services.
Inclusive growth is the centerpiece of our developmental agenda. Fast economic growth provides us with the resources and the wherewithal to address the problems of poverty, ignorance and disease. Rapid growth will have little meaning, however, unless social and economic inequalities, which still afflict our society, are not eliminated quickly and effectively.
We have thus a large array of programmes for employment and income generation, for education and health, for building infrastructure, for improving connectivity, for providing essential services and for improving food security through an efficient public distribution system. Civil servants, particularly those of the All-India Services serving in the States, have a key role in the implementation of all these programmes. There is a wide-spread feeling that we have not been completely successful in ensuring that the benefits of our development programmes reach out to the people as intended. This is a massive challenge.
It is up to you to devise innovative ways and means, to harness the tools of information technology and to involve the intended beneficiaries in implementation so that complaints of leakages, complaints of corruption and complaints of lack of transparency get addressed. Indeed, this applies to all programmes and schemes for delivery of services. Every effort must be made to make full use of the potentialities of the Panchayati Raj System for effective decentralized and socially just development.
We are at the beginning of a new decade, which has already been declared a decade of innovation. I am happy to learn that the theme of the Civil Services Day, 2010 is "Innovations in Government". I hope this conference will live up to its theme and contribute to innovative solutions to vexing problems in governance. I wish you all the best in your deliberations today and in your work in the days and times ahead.”
* * * * *
HS/SH/LV
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the Civil Services Day, 2010 in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“It gives me great pleasure to participate in these celebrations of the fifth Civil Services Day. I compliment the Cabinet Secretary, Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar and his colleagues for organizing this function. I also congratulate all those who have received awards for excellence today. They have set an example for other civil servants to follow. I am sure their work will serve as an inspiration to others to strive for higher achievement in the service to the people of our country.
This annual function has now a special place in our administrative calendar. It gives a unique opportunity to officers belonging to various services, and to various states, to come together to share experience and exchange views on important issues of national concern. I hope that the deliberations of this conference will be held in a spirit of learning from each other and learning by doing and will result not only in better implementation of our policies but also in improved policy formulation itself.
In the past 60 years or so since Independence, our civil services have played a critical role in establishing a secular and democratic form of government, in maintaining communal peace and harmony, in transforming our economy and in fighting disease, poverty, ignorance and inequalities of opportunities. The founding fathers of our Republic had conceived of a permanent, apolitical and representative civil service, which could work hand in hand with successive governments to face the challenges of nation building. On the whole, it would not be an exaggeration to say that our civil services have lived up to this expectation.
There is of course scope for improvement as there always will be. There are also areas in which the civil services should have and could have performed better. I hope that the future will see a removal or at least a reduction in the deficiencies in the performance of our civil servants.
The problems and challenges that we face today are not only very different from those which we encountered soon after Independence but are also increasingly complex. Our population has grown manifold, as has the size of our economy. Our country is getting increasingly urbanized.
Higher levels of education, income and awareness have raised the aspirations and expectations of our people. We face many new threats to the integrity of our country, both from within and from without. Terrorism and left-wing extremism seek to challenge the very foundations of our democratic and secular polity. Climate change and degradation of our environment threaten not only the quality of our lives but that of future generations as well. An efficient and equitable management of the country’s water resources presents new challenges.
Globalization and a more inter-connected and inter-dependent world in which we live in bring both new opportunities and new challenges. The civil services have a major role to play in helping government fashion a suitable and adequate response to all these issues. The civil servant of today should not only be alive and sensitive to the problems at hand but should also be well equipped to tackle them. This calls for continuous updation and improved training. And since we live in an environment where developments at one place affect what happens elsewhere, civil servants today also need to work with greater coordination with each other.
As you all know, the last year or so was particularly difficult for our country. We faced a global financial crisis, probably the worst in the post-war period. There was hardly any country in the world which was not affected by it, in some measure or the other. We were no exception, though our quick but calibrated response ensured that the adverse effect of the slow-down was much less on us than on other countries. Our country was able to post a respectable growth of 6.7% in 2008-09. The growth rate for 2009-10 is now estimated at 7.2 percent and the forecast for 2010-11 is 8.25 percent.
Our medium term target is to return the economy to an annual growth rate of 9-10 percent. Our civil services have a major role to play in reaching this goal by facilitating the right enabling environment in which enterprise and innovations are encouraged.
We faced a severe drought in the last kharif season. The impact of the drought on agricultural output was mitigated to a large extent by the resilience shown by our farmers and by the timely measures taken by the Government at the Centre and the State governments. But now we need to do some hard work to accelerate the pace of agricultural growth.
I would urge the civil services to pay particular attention to this area of national endeavour. Special efforts must be made to increase the productivity of dry land, rainfed farming. I have said this earlier and I repeat it today again that the agriculture departments in the states need to be manned by our very best officers. I hope the Chief Secretaries of States will attempt to ensure this.
As we look ahead, some specific problems stand out. As I have mentioned time and again, left-wing extremism is, perhaps, the gravest internal security threat that we face. Recent events have underscored the need for urgent and considered action to root out this problem. No quarter can be given to those who have taken upon themselves to challenge the authority of the Indian state and the fabric of our democratic polity. But we cannot overlook the fact that many of areas in which such extremism flourishes are under-developed and many of the people, mainly poor tribals, who live in these areas have not shared equitably in the fruits of development. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that no area of our country is denied the benefits of our ambitious developmental programmes.
Civil servants have a pivotal role in ensuring that the benefits of our programmes percolate to the farthest and remotest villages of our country. It is a daunting task that will test the endurance and mettle of our civil servants, especially that of the All-India Services.
Inclusive growth is the centerpiece of our developmental agenda. Fast economic growth provides us with the resources and the wherewithal to address the problems of poverty, ignorance and disease. Rapid growth will have little meaning, however, unless social and economic inequalities, which still afflict our society, are not eliminated quickly and effectively.
We have thus a large array of programmes for employment and income generation, for education and health, for building infrastructure, for improving connectivity, for providing essential services and for improving food security through an efficient public distribution system. Civil servants, particularly those of the All-India Services serving in the States, have a key role in the implementation of all these programmes. There is a wide-spread feeling that we have not been completely successful in ensuring that the benefits of our development programmes reach out to the people as intended. This is a massive challenge.
It is up to you to devise innovative ways and means, to harness the tools of information technology and to involve the intended beneficiaries in implementation so that complaints of leakages, complaints of corruption and complaints of lack of transparency get addressed. Indeed, this applies to all programmes and schemes for delivery of services. Every effort must be made to make full use of the potentialities of the Panchayati Raj System for effective decentralized and socially just development.
We are at the beginning of a new decade, which has already been declared a decade of innovation. I am happy to learn that the theme of the Civil Services Day, 2010 is "Innovations in Government". I hope this conference will live up to its theme and contribute to innovative solutions to vexing problems in governance. I wish you all the best in your deliberations today and in your work in the days and times ahead.”
* * * * *
HS/SH/LV
There are many factors that separate a good investor from the bad. One of the key ones we believe is clarity of thought. Warren Buffett does certainly have it in abundance. And we are of the opinion that Jim Rogers may not be far behind. Especially in matters concerning the broader economy. Rogers' clarity of thought shone through again in a recent TV interview.
Rogers believes that the next recession may not be pretty far away. And when it does happen, it is going to be much worse. The simple reason behind this is the fact that the US just can't increase its debt again by a factor of five! "They've taken on gigantic amounts of debt that you and I are now responsible for. The central bank is making it worse", Rogers is believed to have said.
Rogers is of the opinion that the world will be far more better off without the US Fed. He believes that it is the US central bank that is causing the majority of the problems. We cannot help but agree. By keeping interest rates low, the US Fed is not letting inefficient capital perish. Instead, it is just letting the pain prolong and is setting the stage for an even bigger crash should rates start rising once again.
This is certainly bad news for people hoping that the worst of the crisis is behind us. It should be noted that booms and busts are inevitable. However, it is the Government intervention that makes it even worse. For a rational investor though, such a scenario also presents a good opportunity. Opportunity to buy into fundamentally sound companies when their valuations are cheap. And exit companies when fundamentals deteriorate or valuations become too expensive.
01:43
Emerging markets are attracting world attention like never before. And it shows. No matter which asset class you look at, one thing is evident. Capital from the developed world is gushing in to emerging markets. It's not just stocks. It is also in the fixed income markets. The key driver is the ultra-low interest rates in the developed world and rising interest rates elsewhere are forcing capital to move to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).
Another driver is the improving creditworthiness of these nations. Not that it is necessarily a good thing. The deluge of capital has shot up exchange rates. In the last 12 months, Brazil's Real is up 27% and Russia's Rouble 14 %. This makes exports expensive and imports cheap. Then there is the fear of a sudden exit of capital. Ideally, this capital should be used for building infrastructure. The truth is, a lot of it ends up in inflating asset bubbles. If these trends continue, in our view, the bubbles could indeed reach dangerous levels.
02:20
So, the RBI raised interest rates by a quarter point yesterday. But real estate stocks still received a thumbs up from investors. The reason? There were no other announcements made that would thwart the sector's growth. But this does not mean that all will be hunky dory. Real estate prices in recent times have begun approaching pre-crisis highs. The reason for this is the cheap availability of funds, a trend which is set to change now that the RBI has started raising rates. So even if there was no roll back of certain measures which are benefitting the sector as of now, at some point in time in the future that is likely to happen.
What will turn the tide against the sector is the overall exposure of the banking sector to real estate. As reported on Wall Street Journal, at the end of February, a total of US$ 20.5 bn in real estate-related loans were outstanding in India, compared with US$ 9.8 bn in February 2007. So, it would not be wise to assume that real estate prices will keep on rising without the central bank undertaking some measures to temper this rise.
03:02
When was the last time you used a typewriter or a VCR? Probably a decade back. Since then more Indians own mobile phones than those who have computers or televisions. However, our archaic inflation measuring index seems to be oblivious to this. Called the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), this inflation indicator still takes into account rise in prices of a typewriter or a VCR! Provided anyone buys them. But ignores the cost of mobile phones. However, not for too long. Realizing the necessity to capture the real price rise at the consumer's level, India will soon shift to Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) index. The national CPI will include prices for rural as well as urban consumers and include products like mobile phones and LCD TVs. More importantly it will have FY09 or FY10 as the base year as against 1994 based WPI. February 2011 has been set as the deadline for India to move to the CPI inflation indicator. It will be then that the RBI will guide interest rates based on the prices affecting consumers directly.
03:40
It is not just Rogers who is worried about Government debt. The IMF also shares a similar opinion. "...sovereign risks could undermine stability gains and take the credit crisis into a new phase," it said in an update. It also feels that there is a danger that worsening sovereign credit risk could quickly spill over to domestic banking systems. This can then feed through into the real economy. This could lead to a fresh round of financial crisis.
We see the IMF as being right in its assumptions. This is because investors have started demanding higher interest rates to buy government debt. This is already driving up borrowing costs for both the public and private sector. If this continues along with the general increase in government debt levels, we might be in for some rude shocks over the next few months!
04:11
Indian IT industry has achieved great heights on back of its "follow the sun" strategy. It provides 24*7 business support to its clients round the world by utilizing its onsite-offshore global delivery model. Now they are innovating this business model by shifting focus to the emerging markets. TCS, India's largest IT exporter is seeing incremental growth coming from markets like Latin America, Continental Europe, Asia Pacific, China and India. As the global MNCs are shifting their development bases to emerging countries, they are taking Indian IT service providers along to cater to their IT needs. For instance, TCS will be providing IT services to Rolls-Royce research center in Bangalore. We believe that as the developing countries increasingly invest in technology to grow, Indian IT companies are all set to gain a lot. This will give them a cushion against overdependence on saturating markets in the West.
04:56 Today's investing mantra
"The four most dangerous words in investing are 'This time it is different'." - Sir John Templeton
source; equitymaster
Rogers believes that the next recession may not be pretty far away. And when it does happen, it is going to be much worse. The simple reason behind this is the fact that the US just can't increase its debt again by a factor of five! "They've taken on gigantic amounts of debt that you and I are now responsible for. The central bank is making it worse", Rogers is believed to have said.
Rogers is of the opinion that the world will be far more better off without the US Fed. He believes that it is the US central bank that is causing the majority of the problems. We cannot help but agree. By keeping interest rates low, the US Fed is not letting inefficient capital perish. Instead, it is just letting the pain prolong and is setting the stage for an even bigger crash should rates start rising once again.
This is certainly bad news for people hoping that the worst of the crisis is behind us. It should be noted that booms and busts are inevitable. However, it is the Government intervention that makes it even worse. For a rational investor though, such a scenario also presents a good opportunity. Opportunity to buy into fundamentally sound companies when their valuations are cheap. And exit companies when fundamentals deteriorate or valuations become too expensive.
01:43
Emerging markets are attracting world attention like never before. And it shows. No matter which asset class you look at, one thing is evident. Capital from the developed world is gushing in to emerging markets. It's not just stocks. It is also in the fixed income markets. The key driver is the ultra-low interest rates in the developed world and rising interest rates elsewhere are forcing capital to move to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).
Another driver is the improving creditworthiness of these nations. Not that it is necessarily a good thing. The deluge of capital has shot up exchange rates. In the last 12 months, Brazil's Real is up 27% and Russia's Rouble 14 %. This makes exports expensive and imports cheap. Then there is the fear of a sudden exit of capital. Ideally, this capital should be used for building infrastructure. The truth is, a lot of it ends up in inflating asset bubbles. If these trends continue, in our view, the bubbles could indeed reach dangerous levels.
02:20
So, the RBI raised interest rates by a quarter point yesterday. But real estate stocks still received a thumbs up from investors. The reason? There were no other announcements made that would thwart the sector's growth. But this does not mean that all will be hunky dory. Real estate prices in recent times have begun approaching pre-crisis highs. The reason for this is the cheap availability of funds, a trend which is set to change now that the RBI has started raising rates. So even if there was no roll back of certain measures which are benefitting the sector as of now, at some point in time in the future that is likely to happen.
What will turn the tide against the sector is the overall exposure of the banking sector to real estate. As reported on Wall Street Journal, at the end of February, a total of US$ 20.5 bn in real estate-related loans were outstanding in India, compared with US$ 9.8 bn in February 2007. So, it would not be wise to assume that real estate prices will keep on rising without the central bank undertaking some measures to temper this rise.
03:02
When was the last time you used a typewriter or a VCR? Probably a decade back. Since then more Indians own mobile phones than those who have computers or televisions. However, our archaic inflation measuring index seems to be oblivious to this. Called the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), this inflation indicator still takes into account rise in prices of a typewriter or a VCR! Provided anyone buys them. But ignores the cost of mobile phones. However, not for too long. Realizing the necessity to capture the real price rise at the consumer's level, India will soon shift to Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) index. The national CPI will include prices for rural as well as urban consumers and include products like mobile phones and LCD TVs. More importantly it will have FY09 or FY10 as the base year as against 1994 based WPI. February 2011 has been set as the deadline for India to move to the CPI inflation indicator. It will be then that the RBI will guide interest rates based on the prices affecting consumers directly.
03:40
It is not just Rogers who is worried about Government debt. The IMF also shares a similar opinion. "...sovereign risks could undermine stability gains and take the credit crisis into a new phase," it said in an update. It also feels that there is a danger that worsening sovereign credit risk could quickly spill over to domestic banking systems. This can then feed through into the real economy. This could lead to a fresh round of financial crisis.
We see the IMF as being right in its assumptions. This is because investors have started demanding higher interest rates to buy government debt. This is already driving up borrowing costs for both the public and private sector. If this continues along with the general increase in government debt levels, we might be in for some rude shocks over the next few months!
04:11
Indian IT industry has achieved great heights on back of its "follow the sun" strategy. It provides 24*7 business support to its clients round the world by utilizing its onsite-offshore global delivery model. Now they are innovating this business model by shifting focus to the emerging markets. TCS, India's largest IT exporter is seeing incremental growth coming from markets like Latin America, Continental Europe, Asia Pacific, China and India. As the global MNCs are shifting their development bases to emerging countries, they are taking Indian IT service providers along to cater to their IT needs. For instance, TCS will be providing IT services to Rolls-Royce research center in Bangalore. We believe that as the developing countries increasingly invest in technology to grow, Indian IT companies are all set to gain a lot. This will give them a cushion against overdependence on saturating markets in the West.
04:56 Today's investing mantra
"The four most dangerous words in investing are 'This time it is different'." - Sir John Templeton
source; equitymaster
SIKKIM: Hues of red to start tour festive year – Sikkim in bloom
by Prabin Khaling
Gangtok, April 20: Sikkim has rolled out the “red carpet” for its Year of Tourism celebrations, which will start with a rhododendron festival to be attended by flower experts from seven European countries, besides Bhutan and Nepal.
Ushering in the year, the International Rhododendron Festival will kick off on April 25 in the high altitude areas of North Sikkim.
Sikkim accounts for 72 per cent of the country’s rhododendrons and has 36 species of the plant. In summer, the state is carpeted in hues of mostly red, the trees being in full bloom.
Seeking to cash in on this rich natural resource, the state government has visualised and initiated the festival to increase the tourist footfall. The year-long event will be inaugurated at Singba Rhododendron Sanctuary — the repository of over 30 species — in North Sikkim.
“Other natural habitats of rhododendrons like Lachen, Zema, Thangu and Tholung Kesongla in North Sikkim, Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary in East Sikkim and Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary in West Sikkim will be covered under the festival,” said state forest secretary S.T. Lachungpa.
Although the festival will end in Singba park on May 15, the closing ceremony will be held at Barsey in April next year. “The festival is aimed at generating awareness and promoting conservation of Sikkim’s rich heritage of rhododendrons at a global level,” said Lachungpa.
He also highlighted the importance of forests for the promotion of tourism and its benefits for the people living in the fringe areas.
Nearly 15 experts on rhododendrons from European countries like Germany Denmark, Sweden and Norway are participating in the inaugural function of the festival.
“Usually the rhododendrons are in flower from the second week of May but this time, the plants in North Sikkim are already in full bloom. Tourists should not miss such a feast for the eyes,” said Lachungpa.
The festival has been integrated with eco-tourism, adventure and culture. The Travel Agents’ Association of Sikkim is actively participating in the programme to make the event a success along with the other stakeholders. The association is organising a mountain biking on the inaugural day when riders will have to negotiate 22km of dirt tracks from the Singba sanctuary to Shiva Mandir, Yumthang.
Events like treks along the thick rhododendron groves, food festival and angling are also on the festival menu.
Governor M.K. Narayanan has consented to inaugurate the festival, said the organisers.
source; the telegraph
by Prabin Khaling
Gangtok, April 20: Sikkim has rolled out the “red carpet” for its Year of Tourism celebrations, which will start with a rhododendron festival to be attended by flower experts from seven European countries, besides Bhutan and Nepal.
Ushering in the year, the International Rhododendron Festival will kick off on April 25 in the high altitude areas of North Sikkim.
Sikkim accounts for 72 per cent of the country’s rhododendrons and has 36 species of the plant. In summer, the state is carpeted in hues of mostly red, the trees being in full bloom.
Seeking to cash in on this rich natural resource, the state government has visualised and initiated the festival to increase the tourist footfall. The year-long event will be inaugurated at Singba Rhododendron Sanctuary — the repository of over 30 species — in North Sikkim.
“Other natural habitats of rhododendrons like Lachen, Zema, Thangu and Tholung Kesongla in North Sikkim, Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary in East Sikkim and Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary in West Sikkim will be covered under the festival,” said state forest secretary S.T. Lachungpa.
Although the festival will end in Singba park on May 15, the closing ceremony will be held at Barsey in April next year. “The festival is aimed at generating awareness and promoting conservation of Sikkim’s rich heritage of rhododendrons at a global level,” said Lachungpa.
He also highlighted the importance of forests for the promotion of tourism and its benefits for the people living in the fringe areas.
Nearly 15 experts on rhododendrons from European countries like Germany Denmark, Sweden and Norway are participating in the inaugural function of the festival.
“Usually the rhododendrons are in flower from the second week of May but this time, the plants in North Sikkim are already in full bloom. Tourists should not miss such a feast for the eyes,” said Lachungpa.
The festival has been integrated with eco-tourism, adventure and culture. The Travel Agents’ Association of Sikkim is actively participating in the programme to make the event a success along with the other stakeholders. The association is organising a mountain biking on the inaugural day when riders will have to negotiate 22km of dirt tracks from the Singba sanctuary to Shiva Mandir, Yumthang.
Events like treks along the thick rhododendron groves, food festival and angling are also on the festival menu.
Governor M.K. Narayanan has consented to inaugurate the festival, said the organisers.
source; the telegraph
New Business: Bringing the world home
by YASHASVINI RAJESWAR
Two youngsters have started a business that brings artefacts from different countries under one roof.
D'Hut. Eye-catching exteriors. Impressive interiors. Welcoming owners and a mind-blowing variety. That is pretty much what this ‘World Handicrafts' store on the ECR is all about.
The history, the story
Our story begins when Neethi realised his passion for handicrafts. A marine engineer by qualification and with the Merchant Navy by profession, this man soon realised his thirst for all craft handmade was far more than what one house could hold. The four walls of his house will not suffice for the amount he wanted to bring back to India from his many voyages. Thus, the dream of ‘D'Hut' began. What was primarily a passion soon transformed into a successful business and Neethi, along with wife Reshuma, found themselves doing what they enjoyed as a commercial venture.
The name itself strikes a chord. D'Hut. What is that? Where did it come from? How is it pronounced? Pronounced ‘The Hut', its etymology is, as Neethi puts it, “anywhere in the world, a person making handicrafts is most likely to be chipping away in some corner with a thatched roof above his head.” Since their products were born in huts, Neethi and Reshuma prefer to sell them from a hut as well. Then what of the spelling? Reshuma just laughs, “Oh! That's only to spice things up a bit”
Budding entrepreneurs
Reshuma, an MBA who'd worked with FMCGs and the water-borne Neethi are 29-year-olds with a thirst to bring art to your doorstep or at least close. Starting with African masks, their business now brings you handicrafts from around 13 (and counting!) countries. The list includes Kenya, Rwanda, Cameroon, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran and at one point included Korea as well, until stocks ran out! Now, they have started procuring Indian craft forms as well, with their fledgling collection comprising mostly traditional puppets.
The contrast
When one is exposed to so many varied cultures, comparison becomes inevitable. Which craft form is most similar to Indian traditional forms? Pat comes the reply in unison. “Indonesia” they chime. “In fact,” Neethi elaborates, “often people can't even tell the difference.” And the most dissimilar? Another unanimous reply — Africa! Africa is also, according to the couple, the most vibrant of the many cultures they capture in their shop. Simply because the style is undiluted.
The market
The confident and passionate couple does not consider anyone as competition, simply because they believe that no one else operates in their space. Neethi explains, “Most people selling handicrafts soon diversify into furniture soon. We just want to stick to natural interior décor products.” The market in general has been very encouraging and promising to this pair of entrepreneurs and in fact, they respect their clientele immensely for teaching them the tricks of the trade. Both hailing from different backgrounds, have managed to keep this one-and-a-half year business (since June 2008) alive, kicking and crying for more. What more, contrary to possible assumption, they do not cater to a very niche market. Their target audience is anyone who appreciates art.
The change
D'Hut has only started to play host to Indian craft forms but in the few months that Neethi and Reshuma have stocked them, they have faced a harsh reality. The demand for Indian art is so great but the supply is not even close to where it should be. Also, Neethi enthuses that economic advancement need not be at the cost of our traditional art forms. “If a craftsman's son wants to continue in the line of work of his ancestors, our country must have the ability to allow him to do so in an economically viable manner. There should be no need for him to look beyond his talent pool in order to support his family.”
The connect
When one is so closely connected to a field of work, you can almost definitely see yourself in one aspect of it. So which pieces of craft reflect their personalities? Reshuma is quick to answer on Neethi's behalf. “Oh. He is most definitely an African mask.” After a couple of minutes, she identified herself with the metal fishes and other Indonesian handicrafts for their colour and vibrancy.
The message
Both Reshuma and Neethi are satisfied with their work. It may not be economically attractive, but when you follow your passion, everything seems to fall into place. That is their message for all those aspiring Indian entrepreneurs – Do what your heart tells you to do and success will follow you.
Getting there:
D'Hut is located at 137, East Coast Road, Srinivasapuram, Thiruvanmiyur.
You can contact Reshuma at 94433 36930
Yashasvini is a Std XI student of APL Global School.
by YASHASVINI RAJESWAR
Two youngsters have started a business that brings artefacts from different countries under one roof.
D'Hut. Eye-catching exteriors. Impressive interiors. Welcoming owners and a mind-blowing variety. That is pretty much what this ‘World Handicrafts' store on the ECR is all about.
The history, the story
Our story begins when Neethi realised his passion for handicrafts. A marine engineer by qualification and with the Merchant Navy by profession, this man soon realised his thirst for all craft handmade was far more than what one house could hold. The four walls of his house will not suffice for the amount he wanted to bring back to India from his many voyages. Thus, the dream of ‘D'Hut' began. What was primarily a passion soon transformed into a successful business and Neethi, along with wife Reshuma, found themselves doing what they enjoyed as a commercial venture.
The name itself strikes a chord. D'Hut. What is that? Where did it come from? How is it pronounced? Pronounced ‘The Hut', its etymology is, as Neethi puts it, “anywhere in the world, a person making handicrafts is most likely to be chipping away in some corner with a thatched roof above his head.” Since their products were born in huts, Neethi and Reshuma prefer to sell them from a hut as well. Then what of the spelling? Reshuma just laughs, “Oh! That's only to spice things up a bit”
Budding entrepreneurs
Reshuma, an MBA who'd worked with FMCGs and the water-borne Neethi are 29-year-olds with a thirst to bring art to your doorstep or at least close. Starting with African masks, their business now brings you handicrafts from around 13 (and counting!) countries. The list includes Kenya, Rwanda, Cameroon, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran and at one point included Korea as well, until stocks ran out! Now, they have started procuring Indian craft forms as well, with their fledgling collection comprising mostly traditional puppets.
The contrast
When one is exposed to so many varied cultures, comparison becomes inevitable. Which craft form is most similar to Indian traditional forms? Pat comes the reply in unison. “Indonesia” they chime. “In fact,” Neethi elaborates, “often people can't even tell the difference.” And the most dissimilar? Another unanimous reply — Africa! Africa is also, according to the couple, the most vibrant of the many cultures they capture in their shop. Simply because the style is undiluted.
The market
The confident and passionate couple does not consider anyone as competition, simply because they believe that no one else operates in their space. Neethi explains, “Most people selling handicrafts soon diversify into furniture soon. We just want to stick to natural interior décor products.” The market in general has been very encouraging and promising to this pair of entrepreneurs and in fact, they respect their clientele immensely for teaching them the tricks of the trade. Both hailing from different backgrounds, have managed to keep this one-and-a-half year business (since June 2008) alive, kicking and crying for more. What more, contrary to possible assumption, they do not cater to a very niche market. Their target audience is anyone who appreciates art.
The change
D'Hut has only started to play host to Indian craft forms but in the few months that Neethi and Reshuma have stocked them, they have faced a harsh reality. The demand for Indian art is so great but the supply is not even close to where it should be. Also, Neethi enthuses that economic advancement need not be at the cost of our traditional art forms. “If a craftsman's son wants to continue in the line of work of his ancestors, our country must have the ability to allow him to do so in an economically viable manner. There should be no need for him to look beyond his talent pool in order to support his family.”
The connect
When one is so closely connected to a field of work, you can almost definitely see yourself in one aspect of it. So which pieces of craft reflect their personalities? Reshuma is quick to answer on Neethi's behalf. “Oh. He is most definitely an African mask.” After a couple of minutes, she identified herself with the metal fishes and other Indonesian handicrafts for their colour and vibrancy.
The message
Both Reshuma and Neethi are satisfied with their work. It may not be economically attractive, but when you follow your passion, everything seems to fall into place. That is their message for all those aspiring Indian entrepreneurs – Do what your heart tells you to do and success will follow you.
Getting there:
D'Hut is located at 137, East Coast Road, Srinivasapuram, Thiruvanmiyur.
You can contact Reshuma at 94433 36930
Yashasvini is a Std XI student of APL Global School.
Ignore ULIPs
By Dhirendra Kumar | Apr 16, 2010
The last few days have seen some unprecedented events in India's financial services industry. Two regulators appointed by the Government of India are locked in a struggle over which of them will regulate Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs), the primary product of insurance companies. SEBI has issued an order which asks insurance companies to register themselves with it. The IRDA has asked insurance companies to disobey SEBI's order. I'm sure this is unprecedented in India's history.
At one level, this conflict represents a comprehensive failure of the
basic architecture of India's financial regulations. This architecture is based upon IRDA regulating insurance companies and SEBI regulating all investment vehicles which expose investors to market risk. The conflict arises from the fact that market-linked securities form a bulk of the business of insurance companies. The conflict is sharpened by the very different rules that IRDA and SEBI upon what are essentially identical products. SEBI-regulated mutual funds are far lower in cost, and higher in transparency and customer-friendliness than IRDA-regulated ULIPs. SEBI's approach has generally been focused on ensuring a better and better deal for customers, whereas the IRDA is comparatively more worried about the health and well-being of the insurance companies and agents.
Nevertheless, this problem is, at its root, an indictment of the Union Ministry of Finance, the IRDA and SEBI. It should have been noticed and dealt with the day the first market-linked product from an insurance company came up for approval. That was the day that someone should have sat up and said that our regulatory structure does not reflect the underlying reality so let's fix it. Instead, close to a decade has passed and a massive problem has been allowed to grow to unmanageable proportions.
I don't know how this will get resolved or whether it will get resolved at all. However, I'm sure of one thing -- for financially literate and knowledgeable investors, this problem is irrelevant. That sounds like a strange thing to say, but the reason I'm saying this is that the question of whether the ULIPs currently sold by India's insurance companies are an investment-worthy asset class is crystal clear, and has been so for some time now. India's investing public is made up of a large mass of financially illiterate people who obligingly buy whatever is being sold and advertised most intensively. These people are the ULIP market, and they have been a rich source of funds for insurance companies and their agents. If the regulatory system is not overhauled, these are the people who will continue to gift away their hard-earned money to the insurance industry. There's nothing any one will be able to do about it.
However, there is also a small proportion of savers and investors who understand enough to know that the only thing worthy of being called insurance is term insurance. Beyond that, there are a large number of investment options which are suitable for different people in different proportions. No one needs this bizarre ULIP combination of a high-cost mutual fund with front-loaded commissions into which a tiny amount of insurance has been added in order to avoid coping with a pro-customer regulator.
So if you belong to the minority of investors who understand and appreciate the real picture (and as a reader of this website you are likely to be), then you can just ignore this whole sorry mess. You are wise enough to have ignored ULIPs till now, and that's what you should continue doing in the future.
By Dhirendra Kumar | Apr 16, 2010
The last few days have seen some unprecedented events in India's financial services industry. Two regulators appointed by the Government of India are locked in a struggle over which of them will regulate Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs), the primary product of insurance companies. SEBI has issued an order which asks insurance companies to register themselves with it. The IRDA has asked insurance companies to disobey SEBI's order. I'm sure this is unprecedented in India's history.
At one level, this conflict represents a comprehensive failure of the
basic architecture of India's financial regulations. This architecture is based upon IRDA regulating insurance companies and SEBI regulating all investment vehicles which expose investors to market risk. The conflict arises from the fact that market-linked securities form a bulk of the business of insurance companies. The conflict is sharpened by the very different rules that IRDA and SEBI upon what are essentially identical products. SEBI-regulated mutual funds are far lower in cost, and higher in transparency and customer-friendliness than IRDA-regulated ULIPs. SEBI's approach has generally been focused on ensuring a better and better deal for customers, whereas the IRDA is comparatively more worried about the health and well-being of the insurance companies and agents.
Nevertheless, this problem is, at its root, an indictment of the Union Ministry of Finance, the IRDA and SEBI. It should have been noticed and dealt with the day the first market-linked product from an insurance company came up for approval. That was the day that someone should have sat up and said that our regulatory structure does not reflect the underlying reality so let's fix it. Instead, close to a decade has passed and a massive problem has been allowed to grow to unmanageable proportions.
I don't know how this will get resolved or whether it will get resolved at all. However, I'm sure of one thing -- for financially literate and knowledgeable investors, this problem is irrelevant. That sounds like a strange thing to say, but the reason I'm saying this is that the question of whether the ULIPs currently sold by India's insurance companies are an investment-worthy asset class is crystal clear, and has been so for some time now. India's investing public is made up of a large mass of financially illiterate people who obligingly buy whatever is being sold and advertised most intensively. These people are the ULIP market, and they have been a rich source of funds for insurance companies and their agents. If the regulatory system is not overhauled, these are the people who will continue to gift away their hard-earned money to the insurance industry. There's nothing any one will be able to do about it.
However, there is also a small proportion of savers and investors who understand enough to know that the only thing worthy of being called insurance is term insurance. Beyond that, there are a large number of investment options which are suitable for different people in different proportions. No one needs this bizarre ULIP combination of a high-cost mutual fund with front-loaded commissions into which a tiny amount of insurance has been added in order to avoid coping with a pro-customer regulator.
So if you belong to the minority of investors who understand and appreciate the real picture (and as a reader of this website you are likely to be), then you can just ignore this whole sorry mess. You are wise enough to have ignored ULIPs till now, and that's what you should continue doing in the future.
The philosophy of a management guru - The responsible manager
BY C .K . PRAHALAD
The global financial crisis of the past two years has triggered an unprecedented debate about managers' roles. While discussions about managerial performance, CEO pay, and the role of boards have been fierce, scant attention has been paid to managers' responsibilities.
For the past 33 years, I have ended all my MBA and executive education courses by sharing with participants my perspective on how they can be- come responsible managers. I ac- knowledge that they will be successful in terms of income, social status, and influence, but caution that managers must remember that they are the cus- todians of society's most powerful in- stitutions. They must therefore hold themselves to a higher standard. Man- agers must strive to achieve success with responsibility.
My remarks are intended to serve as a spur for people to re-examine their values before they plunge into their daily work routines.
Take a minute to study them: · Understand the importance of nonconformity. Leadership is about change, hope, and the future. Leaders have to venture into uncharted territo- ry, so they must be able to handle in- tellectual solitude and ambiguity.
· Display a commitment to learning and developing yourself. Leaders must invest in themselves. If you aren't edu- cated, you can't help the uneducated; if you are sick, you can't minister to the sick; if you are poor, you can't help the poor.
· Develop the ability to put personal performance in perspective. Over a long career, you will experience both success and failure. Humility in suc- cess and courage in failure are hall- marks of a good leader.
· Be ready to invest in developing other people. Be unstinting in helping your colleagues realize their full po- tential.
· Learn to relate to those who are less fortunate. Good leaders are inclu- sive, even though that isn't easy.
Most societies have dealt with dif- ferences by avoiding or eliminating them; few assimilate those who aren't like them.
· Be concerned about due process.
People seek fairness--not favors. They want to be heard. They often don't even mind if decisions don't go their way as long as the process is fair and transparent.
· Realize the importance of loyalty to organization, profession, communi- ty, society, and, above all, family. Most of our achievements would be impos- sible without our families' support.
· Assume responsibility for out- comes as well as for the processes and people you work with. How you achieve results will shape the kind of person you become.
· Remember that you are partof a very privileged few. That's your strength, but it's also a cross you carry. Balance achievement with com- passion and learning with under- standing.
· Expect to be judged by what you do and how well you do it--not by what you say you want to do. Howev- er, the bias toward action must be bal- anced by empathy and caring for oth- er people.
· Be conscious of the part you play.
Be concerned about the problems of the poor and the disabled, accept hu- man weaknesses, laugh at your- self--and avoid the temptation to play God. Leadership is about self-aware- ness, recognizing your failings, and developing modesty, humility, and humanity.
Every year, I revisit my notes about the responsible manager, which I first jotted down in 1977. The world has changed a lot since then, but I haven't found it necessary to change a word of my lecture. Indeed, the message is more relevant today than ever.
Extracted from Harvard Business Review, January 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best practices get you only so far
BY C .K . PRAHALAD
Companies identify best practices, particularly those of market lead- t ers, and try to implement them. Such benchmarking has a role to play in business, but I'm not exactly a fan of the process. It may allow enterprises to catch up with competitors, but it won't turn them into market leaders.
Organizations become winners by spotting big opportunities and invent- ing next practices--as I've pointed out to CEOs for over two decades now.
Next practices are all about innova- tion: imagining what the future will look like; identifying the mega-op- portunities that will arise; and build- ing capabilities to capitalize on them.
Apple's Steve Jobs and Tata Motors' Ratan Tata do just that.
Most executives believe it's tough to identify breakthrough opportuni- ties. However, several are pretty obvi- ous; Peter Drucker once said that the best opportunities are “visible, but not seen.“ I help executives unearth opportunities by focusing them on big problems that their companies will benefit from by tackling. They must ask six questions: · Is the problem widely recognized?
· Does it affect other industries?
· Are radical innovations needed to tackle the problem?
· Can tackling it change the indus- try's economics?
· Will addressing this issue give us a fresh source of competitive advan- tage?
· Would tackling this problem cre- ate a big opportunity for us?
Inclusive development is an obvi- ous mega-opportunity by this (or any) yardstick. About 4 billion people on three continents are trying to join the organized economy. By focusing on low-income consumers in China, India, and elsewhere, smart compa- nies have come up with inexpensive products and services such as $2,000 cars, $100 laptops, $30 cataract sur- gery procedures, $20 hotel rooms, and cell phone calls that cost $0.002 per minute.
Sometimes, the sheer size of the market for an innovation creates fresh capabilities. For instance, an unprecedented 5 billion people will be using cell phones by 2015, and ubiquitous mobile connectivity is transforming industries such as financial services, retailing, media, ed- ucation, and health care. It has fos- tered the development of mobile ap- plications--such as financial transac- tions that can be executed by text messaging and remote diagnostics in developing countries. Not surprisingly, multinational gi- ants are rethinking their geographic focus. Unilever and Procter & Gam- ble, for instance, each project that by 2020, poor people in the developing world may account for around 50% of their global revenues. The focus on microconsumers and microproducers is forcing companies to confront the link between inclusive growth and sustainability. If the plan- et is in peril because of an industrial system that has served some 1.5 bil- lion people for two centuries, adding 4 billion consumers and producers will place unsustainable stresses on it in the future. Sustainable develop- ment is therefore another mega-op- portunity.
Sadly, many companies fail to “see“ these “visible“ opportunities. They view inclusive development as a cor- porate social responsibility--not as a path to growth. They don't try to use connectivity as an enabler of new business models or as infrastructure for engaging people in collective in- novation. And they insist on treating sustainability as a problem rather than an opportunity to innovate.
If you look for ways to develop next practices, opportunities abound. In fact, executives are constrained not by resources but by their imagination.
Extracted from Harvard Business Review, April 2010 Allcontentonthispagehasbeen providedbyHarvardBusinessPublishing www.hbr.org
BY C .K . PRAHALAD
The global financial crisis of the past two years has triggered an unprecedented debate about managers' roles. While discussions about managerial performance, CEO pay, and the role of boards have been fierce, scant attention has been paid to managers' responsibilities.
For the past 33 years, I have ended all my MBA and executive education courses by sharing with participants my perspective on how they can be- come responsible managers. I ac- knowledge that they will be successful in terms of income, social status, and influence, but caution that managers must remember that they are the cus- todians of society's most powerful in- stitutions. They must therefore hold themselves to a higher standard. Man- agers must strive to achieve success with responsibility.
My remarks are intended to serve as a spur for people to re-examine their values before they plunge into their daily work routines.
Take a minute to study them: · Understand the importance of nonconformity. Leadership is about change, hope, and the future. Leaders have to venture into uncharted territo- ry, so they must be able to handle in- tellectual solitude and ambiguity.
· Display a commitment to learning and developing yourself. Leaders must invest in themselves. If you aren't edu- cated, you can't help the uneducated; if you are sick, you can't minister to the sick; if you are poor, you can't help the poor.
· Develop the ability to put personal performance in perspective. Over a long career, you will experience both success and failure. Humility in suc- cess and courage in failure are hall- marks of a good leader.
· Be ready to invest in developing other people. Be unstinting in helping your colleagues realize their full po- tential.
· Learn to relate to those who are less fortunate. Good leaders are inclu- sive, even though that isn't easy.
Most societies have dealt with dif- ferences by avoiding or eliminating them; few assimilate those who aren't like them.
· Be concerned about due process.
People seek fairness--not favors. They want to be heard. They often don't even mind if decisions don't go their way as long as the process is fair and transparent.
· Realize the importance of loyalty to organization, profession, communi- ty, society, and, above all, family. Most of our achievements would be impos- sible without our families' support.
· Assume responsibility for out- comes as well as for the processes and people you work with. How you achieve results will shape the kind of person you become.
· Remember that you are partof a very privileged few. That's your strength, but it's also a cross you carry. Balance achievement with com- passion and learning with under- standing.
· Expect to be judged by what you do and how well you do it--not by what you say you want to do. Howev- er, the bias toward action must be bal- anced by empathy and caring for oth- er people.
· Be conscious of the part you play.
Be concerned about the problems of the poor and the disabled, accept hu- man weaknesses, laugh at your- self--and avoid the temptation to play God. Leadership is about self-aware- ness, recognizing your failings, and developing modesty, humility, and humanity.
Every year, I revisit my notes about the responsible manager, which I first jotted down in 1977. The world has changed a lot since then, but I haven't found it necessary to change a word of my lecture. Indeed, the message is more relevant today than ever.
Extracted from Harvard Business Review, January 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best practices get you only so far
BY C .K . PRAHALAD
Companies identify best practices, particularly those of market lead- t ers, and try to implement them. Such benchmarking has a role to play in business, but I'm not exactly a fan of the process. It may allow enterprises to catch up with competitors, but it won't turn them into market leaders.
Organizations become winners by spotting big opportunities and invent- ing next practices--as I've pointed out to CEOs for over two decades now.
Next practices are all about innova- tion: imagining what the future will look like; identifying the mega-op- portunities that will arise; and build- ing capabilities to capitalize on them.
Apple's Steve Jobs and Tata Motors' Ratan Tata do just that.
Most executives believe it's tough to identify breakthrough opportuni- ties. However, several are pretty obvi- ous; Peter Drucker once said that the best opportunities are “visible, but not seen.“ I help executives unearth opportunities by focusing them on big problems that their companies will benefit from by tackling. They must ask six questions: · Is the problem widely recognized?
· Does it affect other industries?
· Are radical innovations needed to tackle the problem?
· Can tackling it change the indus- try's economics?
· Will addressing this issue give us a fresh source of competitive advan- tage?
· Would tackling this problem cre- ate a big opportunity for us?
Inclusive development is an obvi- ous mega-opportunity by this (or any) yardstick. About 4 billion people on three continents are trying to join the organized economy. By focusing on low-income consumers in China, India, and elsewhere, smart compa- nies have come up with inexpensive products and services such as $2,000 cars, $100 laptops, $30 cataract sur- gery procedures, $20 hotel rooms, and cell phone calls that cost $0.002 per minute.
Sometimes, the sheer size of the market for an innovation creates fresh capabilities. For instance, an unprecedented 5 billion people will be using cell phones by 2015, and ubiquitous mobile connectivity is transforming industries such as financial services, retailing, media, ed- ucation, and health care. It has fos- tered the development of mobile ap- plications--such as financial transac- tions that can be executed by text messaging and remote diagnostics in developing countries. Not surprisingly, multinational gi- ants are rethinking their geographic focus. Unilever and Procter & Gam- ble, for instance, each project that by 2020, poor people in the developing world may account for around 50% of their global revenues. The focus on microconsumers and microproducers is forcing companies to confront the link between inclusive growth and sustainability. If the plan- et is in peril because of an industrial system that has served some 1.5 bil- lion people for two centuries, adding 4 billion consumers and producers will place unsustainable stresses on it in the future. Sustainable develop- ment is therefore another mega-op- portunity.
Sadly, many companies fail to “see“ these “visible“ opportunities. They view inclusive development as a cor- porate social responsibility--not as a path to growth. They don't try to use connectivity as an enabler of new business models or as infrastructure for engaging people in collective in- novation. And they insist on treating sustainability as a problem rather than an opportunity to innovate.
If you look for ways to develop next practices, opportunities abound. In fact, executives are constrained not by resources but by their imagination.
Extracted from Harvard Business Review, April 2010 Allcontentonthispagehasbeen providedbyHarvardBusinessPublishing www.hbr.org
CLIMATE CHANGE- OPINION
Arunayan Sharma serves a heady cocktail of appalling facts that expose our political nonchalance as far as global warming goes
ARE you feeling a little hotter today than yesterday? The coming days might turn out to be all the more unbearable. Are you getting a little hot under the collar already? Climatic patterns have changed drastically over the years, which fact is testified by sudden, unpredictable rainfall round the year.
North Bengal is comparatively cooler than south Bengal because it is very close to the Himalayas and has a larger forest cover and watery areas. But all these advantages hardly mitigate the gruelling effects of summer. Climate change is a taking a severe toll and the planet is getting warmer every passing day. Global warming is a phenomenon the ill effects of which we haven’t yet realised fully.
The term “global warming” is a specific example of climate change, which can also refer to global cooling. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change uses the term “climate change” for change caused by human activities, and “climate variability” for other types of changes. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.
The global average air temperature near the earth’s surface raised by 0.74 ± 0.18°Celcius (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the last 100 years. Globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century are very likely due to increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations via the greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes probably had a small warming effect in pre-industrial times. Earth’s climate changes in response to external forcing, including variations in its orbit around the sun (orbital forcing), volcanic eruptions and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. A common hypothesis proposes that warming may be the result of variations in solar activity. The thermal inertia of the earth’s oceans and the slow responses of other indirect effects mean that the earth’s current climate is not in equilibrium with the forcing imposed.
Sea temperatures increase more slowly than land both because of the larger effective heat capacity of the oceans and also because water bodies lose heat by evaporation more readily than land. The average global surface temperature will likely rise a further 1.1 to 6.4°Celcius (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century. The year 2005 was the second warmest year behind 1998. Increasing global temperatures will cause the sea level to rise, and is expected to increase the intensity of extreme weather events as well as change the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions, increase in the range of disease vectors, changes in mountain snowpack and adverse health effects resulting from warmer temperatures. Increasing deaths, displacements and economic losses projected due to extreme weather may be exacerbated by growing population densities in affected areas, although temperate regions are projected to experience some benefits, such as fewer deaths due to cold exposure. Developing countries dependent upon agriculture will be particularly harmed by global warming.
The greenhouse effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warm a planet’s lower atmosphere and surface. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33°Celcius (59°F), without which earth would be uninhabitable. The major greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and ozone. Some other naturally occurring gases contribute very small fractions to the greenhouse effect; one of these, nitrous oxide (N2O) is increasing in concentration owing to human activity such as agriculture. Future CO2 levels are expected to rise due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and land-use change.
Warming by the addition of long-lived greenhouse gases such as CO2 will cause more water to be evaporated into the atmosphere. Since water vapour itself acts as a greenhouse gas, the atmosphere warms further; this warming causes more water vapour to be evaporated and so on until a new dynamic equilibrium concentration of water vapour is reached with a much larger greenhouse effect than that due to CO2 alone. Although this feedback process causes an increase in the absolute moisture content of the air, the relative humidity stays nearly constant or even decreases slightly because the air is warmer.
Seen from below, clouds emit infrared radiation back to the surface and so exert a warming effect; seen from above, they reflect sunlight and emit infrared radiation to space and so exert a cooling effect. The atmosphere’s temperature decreases with height in the troposphere. Most of the
radiation emitted from the upper atmosphere escapes to space while most of the radiation emitted from the lower atmosphere is re-absorbed by the surface or the atmosphere. Thus, the strength of the greenhouse effect depends on the atmosphere’s rate of temperature decrease with height: if the rate of temperature decrease is greater the greenhouse effect will be greater, and if the rate of temperature decrease is smaller then the greenhouse effect will be weaker. When global temperatures increase, ice near the poles melts at an increasing rate. As ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both land and open water are on average less reflective than ice and thus absorb more solar radiation. A different hypothesis is that variations in solar output, possibly amplified by cloud seeding via galactic cosmic rays, may have contributed to recent warming. It suggests that the magnetic activity of the sun is a crucial factor deflecting cosmic rays that may influence the generation of cloud condensation nuclei and thereby affect the climate. One predicted effect of an increase in solar activity would be a warming of most of the stratosphere, whereas greenhouse gas theory predicts cooling there.
These security effects include increased competition for resources between countries, mass migration from the worst affected areas, challenges to the cohesion of major states threatened by the rise in sea levels and, as a consequence of these factors, an increased risk of armed conflict, including even nuclear conflicts. Others have suggested a quota on worldwide fossil fuel production, citing a direct link between fossil fuel production and CO2 emissions. There has also been business action on climate change, including efforts at increased energy efficiency and limited moves towards use of alternative fuels. One important innovation has been the development of greenhouse gas emissions trading through which companies, in conjunction with government, agree to cap their emissions or to purchase credits from those below their allowances. Awareness of the scientific findings surrounding global warming has resulted in political and economic debate. Poor regions appear at greatest risk from the suggested effects of global warming, while their actual emissions have been small compared to the developed world. In the Western world, the idea of human influence on climate has gained wider acceptance in Europe than in the USA.
A variety of issues are often raised in relation to global warming. One is ocean acidification. Increased atmospheric CO2 increases the amount of CO2 dissolved in the oceans. CO2 dissolved in the oceans reacts with water to form carbonic acid, resulting in acidification. That organisms and ecosystems are adapted to a narrow range of acidic condition raises extinction concerns, directly driven by increased atmospheric CO2 that could disrupt food webs and impact human societies that depend on marine ecosystem services. Global dimming — the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the earth’s surface — may have partially mitigated global warming in the late twentieth century. Ozone depletion, the steady decline in the total amount of ozone in the earth’s stratosphere, is frequently cited in relation to global warming. It is important to note that the warming will be greater at higher latitudes and over land than over oceans. Initial warming may occur in the northern hemisphere. In relation to temperature changes, predictions regarding the rise in sea level show it will rise at the rate of 5cm/ decade. At this rate by 2100 the sea level will rise by 15-90 cm, probably sinking low laying areas like islands of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean — a major environmental threat for Bangladesh and Sunderbans.
Along with the rise in sea level and temperature changes, predictions also indicate that the frequency of major tropical storms will increase. Elevated sea surface temperature can cause corals to lose their symbiotic algae essential for the nutrition and colour of corals. When the algae die, corals appear white and are referred to as “bleached”. Water temperatures of as little as one degree Celsius above normal summer maxima, lasting for at least two to three days, can be used as a predictor of coral bleaching events. Birds now indicate that global warming has set in motion a powerful chain of effects in ecosystems worldwide. In the future unchecked warming could put large numbers of species at risk, with estimates of extinction rates as high depending on the region, climate scenario and potential for birds to shift to new habitats.
Climate change is inevitable but the pace of change is avoidable. In India, the most vulnerable are the islands. Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep are beautiful and pristine and their coral reefs — the best in India — are treasures that should be preserved at any cost. Coral reefs are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth, providing many critical services to fisheries, shorelines protection, tourism and medicine and are also believed to be among the most sensitive ecosystems to anthropogenic and natural stress.
North Bengal will also face the effect of global warming and climate change. The main attraction here is tea and tourism. With rising temperatures tourism will decline. Darjeeling will be the worst hit. Another important factor is that floods will occur more frequently. Floods and riverbank erosion in Malda is mainly caused by the ever-swelling Ganges. Global warming will also cause the Gangotri glacier to melt which, in turn, will contribute to huge water flow in the Ganges river system and lead to perennial floods and river bank erosion. Increase of sweet water in the river system will also affect the ecology of the Sunderbans.
The writer is director, Centre for Ecological Engineering, Malda
source; Shri Barun Roy
Arunayan Sharma serves a heady cocktail of appalling facts that expose our political nonchalance as far as global warming goes
ARE you feeling a little hotter today than yesterday? The coming days might turn out to be all the more unbearable. Are you getting a little hot under the collar already? Climatic patterns have changed drastically over the years, which fact is testified by sudden, unpredictable rainfall round the year.
North Bengal is comparatively cooler than south Bengal because it is very close to the Himalayas and has a larger forest cover and watery areas. But all these advantages hardly mitigate the gruelling effects of summer. Climate change is a taking a severe toll and the planet is getting warmer every passing day. Global warming is a phenomenon the ill effects of which we haven’t yet realised fully.
The term “global warming” is a specific example of climate change, which can also refer to global cooling. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change uses the term “climate change” for change caused by human activities, and “climate variability” for other types of changes. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.
The global average air temperature near the earth’s surface raised by 0.74 ± 0.18°Celcius (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the last 100 years. Globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century are very likely due to increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations via the greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes probably had a small warming effect in pre-industrial times. Earth’s climate changes in response to external forcing, including variations in its orbit around the sun (orbital forcing), volcanic eruptions and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. A common hypothesis proposes that warming may be the result of variations in solar activity. The thermal inertia of the earth’s oceans and the slow responses of other indirect effects mean that the earth’s current climate is not in equilibrium with the forcing imposed.
Sea temperatures increase more slowly than land both because of the larger effective heat capacity of the oceans and also because water bodies lose heat by evaporation more readily than land. The average global surface temperature will likely rise a further 1.1 to 6.4°Celcius (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century. The year 2005 was the second warmest year behind 1998. Increasing global temperatures will cause the sea level to rise, and is expected to increase the intensity of extreme weather events as well as change the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions, increase in the range of disease vectors, changes in mountain snowpack and adverse health effects resulting from warmer temperatures. Increasing deaths, displacements and economic losses projected due to extreme weather may be exacerbated by growing population densities in affected areas, although temperate regions are projected to experience some benefits, such as fewer deaths due to cold exposure. Developing countries dependent upon agriculture will be particularly harmed by global warming.
The greenhouse effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warm a planet’s lower atmosphere and surface. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33°Celcius (59°F), without which earth would be uninhabitable. The major greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and ozone. Some other naturally occurring gases contribute very small fractions to the greenhouse effect; one of these, nitrous oxide (N2O) is increasing in concentration owing to human activity such as agriculture. Future CO2 levels are expected to rise due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and land-use change.
Warming by the addition of long-lived greenhouse gases such as CO2 will cause more water to be evaporated into the atmosphere. Since water vapour itself acts as a greenhouse gas, the atmosphere warms further; this warming causes more water vapour to be evaporated and so on until a new dynamic equilibrium concentration of water vapour is reached with a much larger greenhouse effect than that due to CO2 alone. Although this feedback process causes an increase in the absolute moisture content of the air, the relative humidity stays nearly constant or even decreases slightly because the air is warmer.
Seen from below, clouds emit infrared radiation back to the surface and so exert a warming effect; seen from above, they reflect sunlight and emit infrared radiation to space and so exert a cooling effect. The atmosphere’s temperature decreases with height in the troposphere. Most of the
radiation emitted from the upper atmosphere escapes to space while most of the radiation emitted from the lower atmosphere is re-absorbed by the surface or the atmosphere. Thus, the strength of the greenhouse effect depends on the atmosphere’s rate of temperature decrease with height: if the rate of temperature decrease is greater the greenhouse effect will be greater, and if the rate of temperature decrease is smaller then the greenhouse effect will be weaker. When global temperatures increase, ice near the poles melts at an increasing rate. As ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both land and open water are on average less reflective than ice and thus absorb more solar radiation. A different hypothesis is that variations in solar output, possibly amplified by cloud seeding via galactic cosmic rays, may have contributed to recent warming. It suggests that the magnetic activity of the sun is a crucial factor deflecting cosmic rays that may influence the generation of cloud condensation nuclei and thereby affect the climate. One predicted effect of an increase in solar activity would be a warming of most of the stratosphere, whereas greenhouse gas theory predicts cooling there.
These security effects include increased competition for resources between countries, mass migration from the worst affected areas, challenges to the cohesion of major states threatened by the rise in sea levels and, as a consequence of these factors, an increased risk of armed conflict, including even nuclear conflicts. Others have suggested a quota on worldwide fossil fuel production, citing a direct link between fossil fuel production and CO2 emissions. There has also been business action on climate change, including efforts at increased energy efficiency and limited moves towards use of alternative fuels. One important innovation has been the development of greenhouse gas emissions trading through which companies, in conjunction with government, agree to cap their emissions or to purchase credits from those below their allowances. Awareness of the scientific findings surrounding global warming has resulted in political and economic debate. Poor regions appear at greatest risk from the suggested effects of global warming, while their actual emissions have been small compared to the developed world. In the Western world, the idea of human influence on climate has gained wider acceptance in Europe than in the USA.
A variety of issues are often raised in relation to global warming. One is ocean acidification. Increased atmospheric CO2 increases the amount of CO2 dissolved in the oceans. CO2 dissolved in the oceans reacts with water to form carbonic acid, resulting in acidification. That organisms and ecosystems are adapted to a narrow range of acidic condition raises extinction concerns, directly driven by increased atmospheric CO2 that could disrupt food webs and impact human societies that depend on marine ecosystem services. Global dimming — the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the earth’s surface — may have partially mitigated global warming in the late twentieth century. Ozone depletion, the steady decline in the total amount of ozone in the earth’s stratosphere, is frequently cited in relation to global warming. It is important to note that the warming will be greater at higher latitudes and over land than over oceans. Initial warming may occur in the northern hemisphere. In relation to temperature changes, predictions regarding the rise in sea level show it will rise at the rate of 5cm/ decade. At this rate by 2100 the sea level will rise by 15-90 cm, probably sinking low laying areas like islands of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean — a major environmental threat for Bangladesh and Sunderbans.
Along with the rise in sea level and temperature changes, predictions also indicate that the frequency of major tropical storms will increase. Elevated sea surface temperature can cause corals to lose their symbiotic algae essential for the nutrition and colour of corals. When the algae die, corals appear white and are referred to as “bleached”. Water temperatures of as little as one degree Celsius above normal summer maxima, lasting for at least two to three days, can be used as a predictor of coral bleaching events. Birds now indicate that global warming has set in motion a powerful chain of effects in ecosystems worldwide. In the future unchecked warming could put large numbers of species at risk, with estimates of extinction rates as high depending on the region, climate scenario and potential for birds to shift to new habitats.
Climate change is inevitable but the pace of change is avoidable. In India, the most vulnerable are the islands. Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep are beautiful and pristine and their coral reefs — the best in India — are treasures that should be preserved at any cost. Coral reefs are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth, providing many critical services to fisheries, shorelines protection, tourism and medicine and are also believed to be among the most sensitive ecosystems to anthropogenic and natural stress.
North Bengal will also face the effect of global warming and climate change. The main attraction here is tea and tourism. With rising temperatures tourism will decline. Darjeeling will be the worst hit. Another important factor is that floods will occur more frequently. Floods and riverbank erosion in Malda is mainly caused by the ever-swelling Ganges. Global warming will also cause the Gangotri glacier to melt which, in turn, will contribute to huge water flow in the Ganges river system and lead to perennial floods and river bank erosion. Increase of sweet water in the river system will also affect the ecology of the Sunderbans.
The writer is director, Centre for Ecological Engineering, Malda
source; Shri Barun Roy
SIKKIM: Pact to pull tourists from Goa beach to Himalayas
BIJOY GURUNG
Tourists watch the Kanchenjungha from the Himalayan Zoological Park at Bulbulay, 7km from Gangtok. Picture by Prabin Khaling
Gangtok, April 19: Goa blessed with its sun-kissed beaches and Sikkim, endowed with towering peaks, are set for a rewarding marriage where both the premier tourist destinations will promote each other at their respective ends to ensure more visitors.
An agreement between the tourism development corporations of Goa and Sikkim to achieve the common goal of more tourist footfalls is slated to be inked by the end of this week.
“The idea is to have an agreement to promote tourists from Sikkim in Goa and vice versa. We want to tie up with tourism stakeholders here and come up with a sustained relationship where both Sikkim and Goa tourism will benefit,” Nikhil Desai, the managing director of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), told The Telegraph recently.
Desai was leading a GTDC team to Gangtok to showcase Goa’s tourism potential in the Himalayan state.
“Goa, though has seen a manifold rise in foreign and domestic tourists in recent years; wants to pull visitors from Sikkim and other northeastern states,” he said at a promotional event here.
The GTDC managing director said the proposal was to have Sikkim tourism offices to provide promotional items (brochures and leaflets) on Goa to tourists from within and outside the country. “We are very serious about this and we hope to ink a pact soon,” he added.
Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) chief executive officer S. Anbalagan echoed Desai.
“We are positive on this agreement. Since Goa draws more foreign tourists than Sikkim, we plan to pull some of them to our state,” said Anbalagan. He added that Sikkim would benefit more in terms of foreign tourists, if the agreement clicked. “It will be like Sikkim tourism in Goa.”
Anbalagan said both the states would be signing agreements after all the formalities were completed.
If Sikkim is eyeing foreigners visiting Goa, the coastal state is interested in tapping the local people here and the domestic tourists visiting the Northeast.
“We expect people from here and the Northeast to visit Goa in large numbers in the next five years. There are many people from Goa visiting Sikkim and we are looking to have people here to visit Goa,” said Desai.
He added that Sikkim and the hilly district of Darjeeling are favourable destinations for Goans.
source; the telegraph
BIJOY GURUNG
Tourists watch the Kanchenjungha from the Himalayan Zoological Park at Bulbulay, 7km from Gangtok. Picture by Prabin Khaling
Gangtok, April 19: Goa blessed with its sun-kissed beaches and Sikkim, endowed with towering peaks, are set for a rewarding marriage where both the premier tourist destinations will promote each other at their respective ends to ensure more visitors.
An agreement between the tourism development corporations of Goa and Sikkim to achieve the common goal of more tourist footfalls is slated to be inked by the end of this week.
“The idea is to have an agreement to promote tourists from Sikkim in Goa and vice versa. We want to tie up with tourism stakeholders here and come up with a sustained relationship where both Sikkim and Goa tourism will benefit,” Nikhil Desai, the managing director of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), told The Telegraph recently.
Desai was leading a GTDC team to Gangtok to showcase Goa’s tourism potential in the Himalayan state.
“Goa, though has seen a manifold rise in foreign and domestic tourists in recent years; wants to pull visitors from Sikkim and other northeastern states,” he said at a promotional event here.
The GTDC managing director said the proposal was to have Sikkim tourism offices to provide promotional items (brochures and leaflets) on Goa to tourists from within and outside the country. “We are very serious about this and we hope to ink a pact soon,” he added.
Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) chief executive officer S. Anbalagan echoed Desai.
“We are positive on this agreement. Since Goa draws more foreign tourists than Sikkim, we plan to pull some of them to our state,” said Anbalagan. He added that Sikkim would benefit more in terms of foreign tourists, if the agreement clicked. “It will be like Sikkim tourism in Goa.”
Anbalagan said both the states would be signing agreements after all the formalities were completed.
If Sikkim is eyeing foreigners visiting Goa, the coastal state is interested in tapping the local people here and the domestic tourists visiting the Northeast.
“We expect people from here and the Northeast to visit Goa in large numbers in the next five years. There are many people from Goa visiting Sikkim and we are looking to have people here to visit Goa,” said Desai.
He added that Sikkim and the hilly district of Darjeeling are favourable destinations for Goans.
source; the telegraph
Double-digit lotteries to continue in Punjab
Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has decided to continue with the sale of double-digit lotteries after Advocate-General HS Mattewal said that the Central Government’s decision to ban the lotteries could not be implemented till the stay on the matter was lifted by the Sikkim High Court.
Punjab earns revenue of about Rs 50 lakh per day from the sale of double-digit lotteries, yielding an annual revenue of about Rs 150 crore.
There was a lot of confusion in the Punjab Government over the issue with senior officials advising the state to ban the double-digit lotteries as sought by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The matter was referred to the AG’s office after there was criticism of the government over the issue. After deliberations, Mattewal on Friday gave his opinion saying that the stay by the Sikkim High Court also extended to the implementation of the directive across India.
With Punjab facing a huge revenue deficit, the generation of Rs 185 crore from lotteries out of which Rs 150 crore is from double- digit lotteries alone is significant. The MHA letter received by the Punjab Government clearly said that the sale of double-digit lotteries should be stopped immediately as it promoted gambling.
Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has decided to continue with the sale of double-digit lotteries after Advocate-General HS Mattewal said that the Central Government’s decision to ban the lotteries could not be implemented till the stay on the matter was lifted by the Sikkim High Court.
Punjab earns revenue of about Rs 50 lakh per day from the sale of double-digit lotteries, yielding an annual revenue of about Rs 150 crore.
There was a lot of confusion in the Punjab Government over the issue with senior officials advising the state to ban the double-digit lotteries as sought by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The matter was referred to the AG’s office after there was criticism of the government over the issue. After deliberations, Mattewal on Friday gave his opinion saying that the stay by the Sikkim High Court also extended to the implementation of the directive across India.
With Punjab facing a huge revenue deficit, the generation of Rs 185 crore from lotteries out of which Rs 150 crore is from double- digit lotteries alone is significant. The MHA letter received by the Punjab Government clearly said that the sale of double-digit lotteries should be stopped immediately as it promoted gambling.
E Silver Contacts
MUMBAI: After successful launch of E-Gold, National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) today announced that it will launch E-Silver, the second in the
e-series products designed to promote savings and investment by the masses.
E-Silver will go live from tomorrow. By making silver available in smaller denomination of 100 grams and its multiple, NSEL is targeting millions of investors willing to put their small savings into the white metal, a release said here.
This is a drive towards financial inclusion, as silver is made available at the same price in the entire country for all segments of the society. A small investor, whether based in Mumbai or Sikkim, can buy silver at the same price.
A small investor willing to put in Rs 5,000 or a HNI (high net worth individual) wanting to invest Rs 5 crore, can buy silver at the same price. Hence, E-Silver is based on the principles of just and impartial treatment to all, it said.
E-Silver will be backed by physical delivery. The precious metal will be stored in the exchange-designated vaults and will be tradeable on the NSEL platform.
The product will also ensure seamless entry and exit as well as transparent pricing to investors. Since it can be traded in denominations as low as 100 grams (valued at around Rs 2,800), it will provide avenue for investment even for lower income group, the release said.
E-Gold, within one month of its launch (on March 17, 2010), has witnessed a huge response from investors.
The new E-Silver contracts will be traded from 10 am to 11:30 pm from Mondays through Fridays. The contracts are sized at 100 gram and multiples thereof.
The minimum tick size will be 10 paise per quote. The clearing and settlement pay-in and pay-out are based on T+2 cycles.
"In order to promote savings and investment among small investors, we have launched E-Gold and E-Silver, which have been distinguished by simplicity, transparency, accessibility, affordability, tradability and cost effectiveness. Thus, it is a value-for-money product for investors," NSEL Managing Director & CEO Anjani Sinha said.
The worldwide economic meltdown has forced investors to look at alternative avenues for parking funds and e-series is an attractive product for filling the gap, Sinha said.
MUMBAI: After successful launch of E-Gold, National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) today announced that it will launch E-Silver, the second in the
e-series products designed to promote savings and investment by the masses.
E-Silver will go live from tomorrow. By making silver available in smaller denomination of 100 grams and its multiple, NSEL is targeting millions of investors willing to put their small savings into the white metal, a release said here.
This is a drive towards financial inclusion, as silver is made available at the same price in the entire country for all segments of the society. A small investor, whether based in Mumbai or Sikkim, can buy silver at the same price.
A small investor willing to put in Rs 5,000 or a HNI (high net worth individual) wanting to invest Rs 5 crore, can buy silver at the same price. Hence, E-Silver is based on the principles of just and impartial treatment to all, it said.
E-Silver will be backed by physical delivery. The precious metal will be stored in the exchange-designated vaults and will be tradeable on the NSEL platform.
The product will also ensure seamless entry and exit as well as transparent pricing to investors. Since it can be traded in denominations as low as 100 grams (valued at around Rs 2,800), it will provide avenue for investment even for lower income group, the release said.
E-Gold, within one month of its launch (on March 17, 2010), has witnessed a huge response from investors.
The new E-Silver contracts will be traded from 10 am to 11:30 pm from Mondays through Fridays. The contracts are sized at 100 gram and multiples thereof.
The minimum tick size will be 10 paise per quote. The clearing and settlement pay-in and pay-out are based on T+2 cycles.
"In order to promote savings and investment among small investors, we have launched E-Gold and E-Silver, which have been distinguished by simplicity, transparency, accessibility, affordability, tradability and cost effectiveness. Thus, it is a value-for-money product for investors," NSEL Managing Director & CEO Anjani Sinha said.
The worldwide economic meltdown has forced investors to look at alternative avenues for parking funds and e-series is an attractive product for filling the gap, Sinha said.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Look East Policy
The Minister of Mines and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Shri B.K. Handique has said that the rationale of India’s Look East Policy is, inter-alia, to expand India’s economic space which may be of mutual benefit to India and its neighboring South East and East Asian countries.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday he said, the Look East Policy is pursued in a multi-faceted manner in diverse areas such as improved connectivity, promotion of trade and investment and cultural exchanges. Some of the important developments of the Look East Policy, interalia, relate to initiating/resuming dialogue/trade with China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and other countries of ASEAN.
Shri Handique said, the Look East Policy has also been pursued through constructive engagement with various regional groupings/organizations such as ASEAN, East Asia Summit, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC). Various initiatives taken by the Government of India , in this regard are :-
India-ASEAN
India has undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN countries in areas of common interest. India signed a ‘Trade in Goods’ agreement with ASEAN in 2009, which became operational from 1 January, 2010. Agreements on Trade in Services and Investment as part of FTA are the focal areas. India is also negotiating an Free Trade Agreement (FTA ) with Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).The agreement on trade in goods has come into force from 1st January 2010, following ratification by Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. India’s bilateral trade with ASEAN countries has grown from US$ 2.4 billion in 1990 to US$ 44.66 billion in 2008-09. So far, 7 Summit level meetings with ASEAN have been held. At the 7th ASEAN-India Summit, held in Thailand in October, 2009, among several initiatives to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN countries, the trade target of US$ 70 billion within next two years (by 2012) was also announced. To support all the initiatives, India announced allocation up to US$ 50 million for the period of the ASEAN work plan for 2009-15 under the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and the ASEAN Development Fund.
East Asia Summit (EAS)
The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by then Malaysian Prime Minister. It provides India the forum to carve out for itself a larger East Asian strategic presence and taking forward our vision for the future. Thrust areas of EAS include (i) Energy, Environment, Climate Change & Sustainable Development, (ii) Education, (iii) Finance, (iv) Natural Disaster Mitigation and (v) Avian Influenza. Four summits of EAS have been held so far.
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
Bangladesh, India Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation (BISTEC) Grouping formed in 1997 was another vehicle to pursue our “Look East Policy”. BIMSTEC has seven members – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. BIMSTEC provides a link between South Asia and South East Asia by way of economic cooperation and linkages in identified areas of cooperation. Starting with 6 sectors, the BIMSTEC agenda of cooperation has expanded to 14 sectors : i) trade and investment (ii) Technology (iii) Energy (iv) Transportation & Communication (v) Tourism (vi) Fisheries (vii) Agriculture (viii) Cultural Cooperation (ix) Environment and Disaster Management (x) Public Health (xi) People-to-people contact (xii) Poverty Alleviation (xiii) Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime and (xiv) Climate Change.
Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) brings together India and five ASEAN countries and was launched in 2000. MGC initiative is a vehicle for ‘soft diplomacy’ in countries that have had considerable cultural influence from India. Both the Ganga and the Mekong are ancient rivers and the MGC initiative is indicative of the cultural and commercial linkages between the member countries of the MGC down the centuries. MGC has identified tourism, culture, education and transport & communication as priority areas of cooperation. Five meetings of the MGC have been held so far.
Thus, the Government of India through initiatives under the Look East Policy is striving to attract optimum investments from the neighbouring countries to the North Eastern Region, which will be visible in the long run.
The Minister said, to actualize the dreams enunciated in the NER Vision 2020, the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region has constituted 17 Thematic Working Groups which are headed by officials of the line Ministries and also includes representatives of State Governments of the North–Eastern States, various other organizations and eminent experts. These Thematic Working Groups have been constituted on various sectors which include Look East Policy, Industry, Connectivity (major roads), Connectivity (inland waterways), Connectivity (air), Connectivity (railways), Connectivity (rural roads), Financial Services, Panchayati Raj & Local Self Government, Poverty Eradication, Human Resource Development, Tourism, IT enabled services and Cyber Connectivity, Power, Health, Rural Sector, Sports, Art & Culture. These Thematic Working Groups have prepared sectoral Plans of Action based on the objectives in the Vision Document. These plans of action were presented before public representatives and media of the North East in Shillong in 2008. After the Action Plans are finalized by the Thematic Groups, these will be implemented by different Ministries in the North Eastern region from the gross budgetary allocation made to them by the Planning Commission.
****
The Minister of Mines and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Shri B.K. Handique has said that the rationale of India’s Look East Policy is, inter-alia, to expand India’s economic space which may be of mutual benefit to India and its neighboring South East and East Asian countries.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday he said, the Look East Policy is pursued in a multi-faceted manner in diverse areas such as improved connectivity, promotion of trade and investment and cultural exchanges. Some of the important developments of the Look East Policy, interalia, relate to initiating/resuming dialogue/trade with China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and other countries of ASEAN.
Shri Handique said, the Look East Policy has also been pursued through constructive engagement with various regional groupings/organizations such as ASEAN, East Asia Summit, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC). Various initiatives taken by the Government of India , in this regard are :-
India-ASEAN
India has undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN countries in areas of common interest. India signed a ‘Trade in Goods’ agreement with ASEAN in 2009, which became operational from 1 January, 2010. Agreements on Trade in Services and Investment as part of FTA are the focal areas. India is also negotiating an Free Trade Agreement (FTA ) with Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).The agreement on trade in goods has come into force from 1st January 2010, following ratification by Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. India’s bilateral trade with ASEAN countries has grown from US$ 2.4 billion in 1990 to US$ 44.66 billion in 2008-09. So far, 7 Summit level meetings with ASEAN have been held. At the 7th ASEAN-India Summit, held in Thailand in October, 2009, among several initiatives to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN countries, the trade target of US$ 70 billion within next two years (by 2012) was also announced. To support all the initiatives, India announced allocation up to US$ 50 million for the period of the ASEAN work plan for 2009-15 under the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund and the ASEAN Development Fund.
East Asia Summit (EAS)
The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by then Malaysian Prime Minister. It provides India the forum to carve out for itself a larger East Asian strategic presence and taking forward our vision for the future. Thrust areas of EAS include (i) Energy, Environment, Climate Change & Sustainable Development, (ii) Education, (iii) Finance, (iv) Natural Disaster Mitigation and (v) Avian Influenza. Four summits of EAS have been held so far.
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
Bangladesh, India Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation (BISTEC) Grouping formed in 1997 was another vehicle to pursue our “Look East Policy”. BIMSTEC has seven members – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. BIMSTEC provides a link between South Asia and South East Asia by way of economic cooperation and linkages in identified areas of cooperation. Starting with 6 sectors, the BIMSTEC agenda of cooperation has expanded to 14 sectors : i) trade and investment (ii) Technology (iii) Energy (iv) Transportation & Communication (v) Tourism (vi) Fisheries (vii) Agriculture (viii) Cultural Cooperation (ix) Environment and Disaster Management (x) Public Health (xi) People-to-people contact (xii) Poverty Alleviation (xiii) Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime and (xiv) Climate Change.
Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) brings together India and five ASEAN countries and was launched in 2000. MGC initiative is a vehicle for ‘soft diplomacy’ in countries that have had considerable cultural influence from India. Both the Ganga and the Mekong are ancient rivers and the MGC initiative is indicative of the cultural and commercial linkages between the member countries of the MGC down the centuries. MGC has identified tourism, culture, education and transport & communication as priority areas of cooperation. Five meetings of the MGC have been held so far.
Thus, the Government of India through initiatives under the Look East Policy is striving to attract optimum investments from the neighbouring countries to the North Eastern Region, which will be visible in the long run.
The Minister said, to actualize the dreams enunciated in the NER Vision 2020, the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region has constituted 17 Thematic Working Groups which are headed by officials of the line Ministries and also includes representatives of State Governments of the North–Eastern States, various other organizations and eminent experts. These Thematic Working Groups have been constituted on various sectors which include Look East Policy, Industry, Connectivity (major roads), Connectivity (inland waterways), Connectivity (air), Connectivity (railways), Connectivity (rural roads), Financial Services, Panchayati Raj & Local Self Government, Poverty Eradication, Human Resource Development, Tourism, IT enabled services and Cyber Connectivity, Power, Health, Rural Sector, Sports, Art & Culture. These Thematic Working Groups have prepared sectoral Plans of Action based on the objectives in the Vision Document. These plans of action were presented before public representatives and media of the North East in Shillong in 2008. After the Action Plans are finalized by the Thematic Groups, these will be implemented by different Ministries in the North Eastern region from the gross budgetary allocation made to them by the Planning Commission.
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Nathu La border trade-V from May 3
No revision of trade items, traders optimistic of good season
GANGTOK, April 19: The fifth season of the Nathu La border trade between Sikkim and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is scheduled to commence from May 3 till November 30 for this year.
An IPR release informs that the trade beginning from May 3 will remain open four days a week-Monday to Thursday-from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm as per Indian time and from 10 am to 6 pm as per Chinese time.
The release further informs that there has been no change in the trade items and the present list remains same ie 29 exportable items from India to TAR and 15 items from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
As per the IPR release, the traders from Sikkim exported items worth Rs. 135 lakhs while the TAR traders could export items worth Rs. 2.96 lakhs only during the last season.
Since the term border trade is to be construed that the trade is opened for the people of the border area only for the items produced in local area of limited value, the Government of India has fixed the currency value limited to Rs 1 lakh per day per trader from 2007-08, it is informed.
The State Commerce & Industries department has also advised the DC (East) to issue the trade passes at the earliest to enable the traders to prepare for the border trade.
Till today, a total of 135 local traders have already applied for trade passes to the East District Administration.
Meanwhile, local traders here have expressed their hopes of a good trading season despite non-fulfillment of the demand for revision of trade items.
“Though the list of items have remained same, the trade volume over the years have increased along with the number of traders participating in the border trade”, said local trader Anil Kumar Gupta. He added that the traders are expecting export business more than Rs. 2 crores this season.
At the same time, traders here have reiterated their demand for the revision of the trade items so that traders from both sides could benefit.
Along with the State government, both Sikkimese and TAR traders have been demanding the Centre to revise the list by including more feasible and marketable commodities.
As per the bilateral agreement, there are 29 exportable items like tea, spices and biscuits which are allowed to be exported to TAR by the Sikkim traders while there are only 15 items like wool, goat skins and sheep skins which can be imported from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
The State government and traders of Sikkim and TAR had been contending that these items especially those allowed to be imported from TAR are obsolete and have no market value. The State government had been repeatedly demanded for inclusion of local products of Sikkim like handicrafts and cash crops for the border trade.
It may be recalled that Lok Sabha member from Sikkim, PD Rai had told reporters on Saturday before leaving for New Delhi that the State government has been pressing ahead with the Centre for expansion of trade items for the Nathu La border trade. He informed that he will be taking up the matter with the concerned Ministry in the Centre.
“The demand is under advanced stage of consideration and we are hoping that something positive will come out”, Rai had said. He also expressed his hopes that at least some amendments in the present list of items will be taken up.
However, traders here were of the view that revision of trade items could take place after the border trade infrastructure is completed in the Indian side.
Presently, the Border Road Organization (BRO) is widening the 51 kms Jawaharlal Nehru Marg connecting Gangtok with the Nathu La border. The Jawaharlal Nehru Marg double laning project had started from 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs. 780 crores.
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce (SCC) president SK Sarda said that whenever the Centre is approached over the demand, the officials inform that the file is in process.
Sarda said that while the SCC remains hopeful for revision of the trade items soon, traders would be benefiting more from the next season when the Nathu La border trade completes five years. As per the bilateral agreement, the border trade is supposed to be declared as an international trade which means import and export of more items can be done after paying custom duty like in Mumbai and Kolkata ports, he said.
No revision of trade items, traders optimistic of good season
GANGTOK, April 19: The fifth season of the Nathu La border trade between Sikkim and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is scheduled to commence from May 3 till November 30 for this year.
An IPR release informs that the trade beginning from May 3 will remain open four days a week-Monday to Thursday-from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm as per Indian time and from 10 am to 6 pm as per Chinese time.
The release further informs that there has been no change in the trade items and the present list remains same ie 29 exportable items from India to TAR and 15 items from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
As per the IPR release, the traders from Sikkim exported items worth Rs. 135 lakhs while the TAR traders could export items worth Rs. 2.96 lakhs only during the last season.
Since the term border trade is to be construed that the trade is opened for the people of the border area only for the items produced in local area of limited value, the Government of India has fixed the currency value limited to Rs 1 lakh per day per trader from 2007-08, it is informed.
The State Commerce & Industries department has also advised the DC (East) to issue the trade passes at the earliest to enable the traders to prepare for the border trade.
Till today, a total of 135 local traders have already applied for trade passes to the East District Administration.
Meanwhile, local traders here have expressed their hopes of a good trading season despite non-fulfillment of the demand for revision of trade items.
“Though the list of items have remained same, the trade volume over the years have increased along with the number of traders participating in the border trade”, said local trader Anil Kumar Gupta. He added that the traders are expecting export business more than Rs. 2 crores this season.
At the same time, traders here have reiterated their demand for the revision of the trade items so that traders from both sides could benefit.
Along with the State government, both Sikkimese and TAR traders have been demanding the Centre to revise the list by including more feasible and marketable commodities.
As per the bilateral agreement, there are 29 exportable items like tea, spices and biscuits which are allowed to be exported to TAR by the Sikkim traders while there are only 15 items like wool, goat skins and sheep skins which can be imported from TAR to India through the Nathu La border trade.
The State government and traders of Sikkim and TAR had been contending that these items especially those allowed to be imported from TAR are obsolete and have no market value. The State government had been repeatedly demanded for inclusion of local products of Sikkim like handicrafts and cash crops for the border trade.
It may be recalled that Lok Sabha member from Sikkim, PD Rai had told reporters on Saturday before leaving for New Delhi that the State government has been pressing ahead with the Centre for expansion of trade items for the Nathu La border trade. He informed that he will be taking up the matter with the concerned Ministry in the Centre.
“The demand is under advanced stage of consideration and we are hoping that something positive will come out”, Rai had said. He also expressed his hopes that at least some amendments in the present list of items will be taken up.
However, traders here were of the view that revision of trade items could take place after the border trade infrastructure is completed in the Indian side.
Presently, the Border Road Organization (BRO) is widening the 51 kms Jawaharlal Nehru Marg connecting Gangtok with the Nathu La border. The Jawaharlal Nehru Marg double laning project had started from 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs. 780 crores.
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce (SCC) president SK Sarda said that whenever the Centre is approached over the demand, the officials inform that the file is in process.
Sarda said that while the SCC remains hopeful for revision of the trade items soon, traders would be benefiting more from the next season when the Nathu La border trade completes five years. As per the bilateral agreement, the border trade is supposed to be declared as an international trade which means import and export of more items can be done after paying custom duty like in Mumbai and Kolkata ports, he said.
SIKKIM: Nathu-la trade in 5th year, items on lists same
source: THE TELEGRAPH
Gangtok, April 19: The Nathu-la border trade with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China is set to start on May 3, but with the same list of obsolete items that traders on both sides of the border have been complaining for the past four years.
The trade will continue till November 30 when the pass at 14,420ft closes down for winter.
Under the bilateral agreement between India and China, there are 29 exportable items. Sikkim traders are allowed to export them to TAR. But the Indian business community can import only 15 items some of them as obsolete as goatskin and sheepskin.
From the time trade through the pass started in 2006, the traders have been demanding that the Centre let them do business with more feasible and marketable commodities. The state government, too, had demanded the inclusion of local products like handicrafts and cash crops in the border trade.
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce president S.K. Sarda said: “Whenever we approach the Union commerce and industries ministry regarding the revision of trade items, the officials tell us that the file is being processed.”
However, local trader Anil Kumar Gupta is optimistic that it will be a good season this time in terms of volume and participating traders. Both have increased, he said.
The export figure for the last season was Rs 135 lakh while import stood at Rs 2.96 lakh. “We are expecting the export figure to cross Rs 2 crore this time,” said Gupta.
A section of traders expects the list to be revised after the border infrastructure is completed on the Indian side.
Currently, the Border Roads Organisation is widening the 51-km-long Jawaharlal Nehru Marg that connects Gangtok with Nathu-la. The double-laning of the road started in 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs 780 crore.
Sarda said traders will benefit more from the next season when the Nathu-la trade completes five years. According to the bilateral agreement, he claimed, the border trade is supposed to be declared “international” then, which would mean more import and export.
A state government press release said trade would be allowed from Monday to Thursday from 730am till 3.30pm.
Since “border trade” can be done only with items produced near the border, the Centre has fixed a limited currency of Rs 1 lakh per day for each trader.
This year, till today, 135 traders have applied for trade passes with the East District collector. Every year, the traders have to apply afresh.
source: THE TELEGRAPH
Gangtok, April 19: The Nathu-la border trade with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China is set to start on May 3, but with the same list of obsolete items that traders on both sides of the border have been complaining for the past four years.
The trade will continue till November 30 when the pass at 14,420ft closes down for winter.
Under the bilateral agreement between India and China, there are 29 exportable items. Sikkim traders are allowed to export them to TAR. But the Indian business community can import only 15 items some of them as obsolete as goatskin and sheepskin.
From the time trade through the pass started in 2006, the traders have been demanding that the Centre let them do business with more feasible and marketable commodities. The state government, too, had demanded the inclusion of local products like handicrafts and cash crops in the border trade.
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce president S.K. Sarda said: “Whenever we approach the Union commerce and industries ministry regarding the revision of trade items, the officials tell us that the file is being processed.”
However, local trader Anil Kumar Gupta is optimistic that it will be a good season this time in terms of volume and participating traders. Both have increased, he said.
The export figure for the last season was Rs 135 lakh while import stood at Rs 2.96 lakh. “We are expecting the export figure to cross Rs 2 crore this time,” said Gupta.
A section of traders expects the list to be revised after the border infrastructure is completed on the Indian side.
Currently, the Border Roads Organisation is widening the 51-km-long Jawaharlal Nehru Marg that connects Gangtok with Nathu-la. The double-laning of the road started in 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs 780 crore.
Sarda said traders will benefit more from the next season when the Nathu-la trade completes five years. According to the bilateral agreement, he claimed, the border trade is supposed to be declared “international” then, which would mean more import and export.
A state government press release said trade would be allowed from Monday to Thursday from 730am till 3.30pm.
Since “border trade” can be done only with items produced near the border, the Centre has fixed a limited currency of Rs 1 lakh per day for each trader.
This year, till today, 135 traders have applied for trade passes with the East District collector. Every year, the traders have to apply afresh.
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