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Lokpal, finally Empowering the disabled |
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China flexes its muscles
Everything is in a name
Generating power from paddy straw
Damage to soil, environment immense
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Lokpal, finally If
the Congress and the BJP have shown unusual cooperation and urgency to pass the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, the credit for this goes to the Delhi voters who have catapulted a party of anti-corruption crusaders to a position where it is seen as an alternative to the two national parties. The rise of AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) reflects public angst against the prevalent state of affairs and has forced political decisions unthinkable before. Whoever thought there would be no resort to horse-trading in case of a hung assembly? Thank Team Kejriwal for that. But just as Kejriwal has the right to reject the Lokpal Bill as inadequate, so has Anna Hazare to revise his stand, end the fast, bless the Bill and make peace with the political class. Let’s not forget it was Anna who had started the movement for an effective Lokpal. Suddenly, Rahul Gandhi has warmed up to Anna Hazare and started speaking against corruption. Congress spokespersons give him the credit for the proposed Lokpal legislation which is understandable since it was public anger over corruption and price rise that led to the Congress drubbing in the recent assembly elections. Whatever political considerations and whatever the shortcomings, the passing of the Lokpal Bill is a landmark development, given the fact that the first effort to have an ombudsman was made during Jawaharlal Nehru's tenure in 1964-65. Eight times the Lokpal Bills were introduced by successive governments but not passed. Now that it is set to become a reality after the President’s nod, the Bill, ironically, has been passed by a Parliament which has seen less-than-usual legislative work and a lot more disruptions. The Bill is an improvement over the one passed by the Lok Sabha in 2011. Under the amended Bill, no hearing will be granted to public servants before a preliminary inquiry to retain the element of surprise raids. Secondly, CBI officers investigating cases cannot be transferred without the Lokpal’s consent. The Bill delinks Lokpal and Lokayuktas. Asserting federal principles, states have got the right to have Lokayuktas of their choice, but given the current voter mood, political parties can go soft on corruption only at their own risk. |
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Empowering the disabled When
President of India Pranab Mukherjee urged the private sector to employ more and more persons with disabilities, he was only reiterating a long-felt demand. There is little doubt that employment holds the key in enabling the disabled. This fact was stressed by the Supreme Court when it directed the Centre and the state governments to identify posts for persons with disabilities for accommodating them in the 3 per cent quota. Indeed, the private sector too can play a crucial role in removing barriers and employing people with disabilities. However, the government itself has failed to fill vacancies. According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, only a fraction is filled by people belonging to the differently abled category. The fact that many states like Punjab and Haryana are unable to fill posts reserved for the disabled and make only token gestures proves that governments rarely go beyond lip service. The absence of full-time independent State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities in many states too is a glaring anomaly. Certainly, legislation is passed to enable the disabled to lead a life of dignity. While the Union Cabinet has widened the definition of disabled children in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, it’s now ready to replace The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation) Act of 1995 with a more comprehensive law. If India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a separate Department of Disability Affairs too has been created. Nevertheless the differently abled have yet to gain equal access to opportunities. If the gap between what exists on paper and the ground reality has to be abridged, the government has to translate its resolve into action. In times when technology is a big enabler there is no reason why a significant percentage of the population be denied the basic right to both education and job.
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Thought for the Day
Don't brood. Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever.
—Leo Buscaglia
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Town extensions and town planning in Punjab
The other day we quoted the opinions of the Commissioner of the Rawalpindi Division on the municipal problem of town extensions which is forcing itself on the authorities in the Punjab. Bombay has already introduced a Town Planning Bill which is favourably received by the public. Once the power is given and the machinery is set in motion, thriving towns will not be slow in availing themselves fully of the advantages thus provided. The necessity for adopting similar measures in the Punjab is keenly felt and this reform cannot be delayed. The Housing and Town Planning Act of 1909 in England has already effected much. The report for 1912-13 shows that no fewer than 46,990 houses were made fit for habitation at the cost of the landowners or owners. Punjab Fisheries Bill
As amended by the Select Committee the provisions of the Bill apply to such waters, not being private waters, as are declared by the Local Government. The rules there-under, or any of them, may by notification be made applicable to any private water with the consent in writing of the owner thereof and of all persons having for the time being any exclusive right of fishing therein. Such rules may prohibit fishing except under license, prescribe seasons in which the killing of any fish of any prescribed species shall be prohibited and fix a minimum size or weight below which no fish of any prescribed species shall be killed. Seizure and forfeiture of fish and the apparatus used may also be provided for, and the sale or barter of such fish prohibited subject to penalties. Arrest without warrant is provided for in case of name and address of the person contravening the rules being unknown or on his refusal to give the same, or in case of doubt as to their authenticity.
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China flexes its muscles
The
symbolism of Emperor Akihito’s visit to Delhi and India's extraordinary gesture of the Monarch being personally received on arrival by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not have passed unnoticed in Beijing and other Asian capitals. The visit coincided with Beijing taking unprecedented steps to declare large areas beyond its land borders as an “Air Defence Identification Zone” (ADIZ), challenging the sovereign rights of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan over islands and reefs controlled by them. Under its new notification, China required all foreign powers to give prior notification of their aircraft — civilian and military — flying over the ADIZ, reinforced by the threat to scramble fighter aircraft to challenge any violations. These extraordinary measures by China, which are known to have followed years of internal discussions, were undertaken almost immediately after the Third Plenum of the Communist Party’s 18th Congress. The Communist Party Plenum put the seal of President Xi Jinping’s virtually unchallenged leadership. Apart from populist measures like doing away with the one-child policy, eliminating repressive labour camps and providing relief to migrant labour, strong anti-corruption measures were promised together with removing government control over the allocation of resources. But perhaps the most significant announcement was the establishment of an apex national security committee under President Xi, which gives him powers on national security issues akin to those exercised by Deng Xiao Ping. Deng wielded these powers when China was relatively weak economically and militarily and had to follow his wise advice: “Hide your strength and bide you time”. The Deng era has been followed by an economically vibrant and militarily robust China flexing its muscles across its entire neighbourhood. Having added an aircraft carrier to its fleet to project power, China clearly intends to expand its reach across the Pacific and Indian oceans, defining its maritime frontiers unilaterally in the South China Sea under its “Nine Dotted Line”. It has militarily seized the Paracel islands from Vietnam and asserted claims of sovereignty on the Spratly islands, overriding objections from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. It has used force to seize the Mischief Reef, located barely 51 km from the Philippines and 590 km from its Hainan island. China’s extraordinary claims on its maritime borders do not conform to the provisions of the UN Convention of the Laws of the Seas. China’s assertion of its ADIZ has been challenged by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The US has challenged the legality of the ADIZ by sending unarmed B 52 bombers into the zone. But US commercial aircraft have been advised to observe China’s requirements. Japan and South Korea have, however, refused to comply with the Chinese demands. The Chinese threats of overflying the disputed Senkaku islands have been have been met by Japan scrambling F15 fighters. The South Koreans proclaimed: “We expressed deep regret and reaffirmed our jurisdictional rights to the waters surrounding the (submerged rock) Leodo, which would not be affected by the neighbouring State’s air defence zones”. The Chinese announcement of its ADIZ has exacerbated the existing dispute with South Korea over fishing rights in the Yellow Sea. Vice President Biden expressed his solidarity with allies Japan and South Korea over China’s border claims during his visits to Tokyo and Seoul. The US has also sent P 8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft to Japan. China’s aim is clearly to get Japan to accept that the Senkaku islands are disputed territories. According to the well-informed Hong Kong-based Asia Weekly, China sees its maritime boundary in the East China Sea as stretching from the southernmost Japanese island towards the East Coast of Taiwan and joining the South China Sea. China is now clearly seeking unchallenged access to the Pacific Ocean. In 2009 the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Timothy Keating, told Indian interlocutors that one of his Chinese counterparts had suggested to him that when China acquired aircraft carriers, the US should leave maritime security responsibilities in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans to be handled by the Chinese navy, with the US confining itself to security of the Eastern Pacific. Even as Japan and others facing security challenges from China are upgrading their defence, India’s defence spending this year has reached an estimated all-time low of 1.79 per cent of the GDP. Even as the Chinese build their communication networks across their borders with India and across Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan, our armed forces take days to reach the outer periphery of our borders. Our Army is woefully short of mountain artillery, the under-strength Air Force desperately needs Multi Role Combat Aircraft and the Navy is equipped with an aging and obsolescent submarine fleet. Essential reforms to our archaic defence structures recommended by the Naresh Chandra Task Force around 18 months ago remain unimplemented. Sadly, South Block has no dearth of apologists for China's policies who have even sought to downplay Chinese transgressions in Chumar in the Ladakh sector. These continuing intrusions have crossed the Karakoram Range, the great watershed that separates China from the subcontinent. They have been accompanied by Chinese claims to the whole of Arunachal Pradesh, reiterated recently to protest the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to the state. P Stopdan, who hails from Ladakh, recently voiced serious concerns about the Chinese ingress into the region. After explaining how the Ladakh-Tibetan border was defined in the Ladakh-Tibet Treaty of Tingmosgang in 1684, Stopdan has dwelt on how Chinese territorial claims have grown in Ladakh ever since 1956. He has drawn attention to how China dealt with its borders with its Central Asian neighbours. He notes that China purports to give “concessions” without actually giving an inch of territory. He adds: “The Chinese will have a maximum claim and then they will settle for (what purports to be) the minimum territory. They will present it as a win-win situation to all parties, but in essence usurp what is far more than their legitimate claim”. Referring to negotiations with Kazakhstan Stopden notes: “After the Soviet Union collapsed, China settled for a third of the territories it claimed, the claim itself being maximalist with little basis”. Overawed by the Chinese, the Kazakhs were forced to give assurances of non-interference from their soil and part with 60 per cent of their vast oil resources to the Chinese. China follows the advice of its Chanakya, Sun Tzu, who proclaimed: “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence”. Our brilliant negotiators, forever apologetic about Chinese intrusions and claims, would be well advised to study Chanakya’s Arthashastra on statecraft.
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Everything is in a name I
cannot call myself a Shakespeare devotee, but in the course of my academic career, I have studied and taught a sufficient number of his plays to be an admirer. Like many others, I always believed that everything in Shakespeare was the gospel truth. So when Romeo says: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”I couldn’t agree more. But recently I have had to revise my opinion. Stray memories of experiences over the years came together and I realised that Shakespeare was not always infallible. “Why is it called Field Marshal?” I asked. He smiled a non-committal smile and made no answer. But a few hours later when we came out onto the now deserted road, he said: “Just stand there and watch me walking down”. He walked with purposeful and authoritative steps.. Then he turned around and asked, “What did I look like?” The answer came immediately and clearly: “A senior army officer.” The cocktail could not have come under any other name. In the 80s I was spending a few days in Raksham and was invited by a retired forest officer, Sunil Negi, to dinner. He served me a lovely local brew. As I took the first sip I asked him what it was. He said it was called ‘ghainti’. “Why ‘ghainti’?” I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and said it was just a local name. But later when he walked me to the rest house, he asked me how I felt. I told him I could hear bells ringing in my ears — ‘tan, tan’. No name other than ‘ghainti’ could have described this amber-coloured liquid so aptly. On similar lines I believe there is a local brew in Rajasthan called ‘Pari’. I have never sampled it but I am told that two pegs of this, make you feel so light headed that you are convinced you have grown wings and can fly through the air. On the flip side, there is the experience with a scotch called ‘Kuch Nahin’. Punjabi NRIs have a funky sense of humour. Most visitors, when asked what they would like to drink, say “Kuch Nahin”. The NRIs have had a scotch specially created with that name. So now when you say “Kuch Nahin”, you are served this scotch and you cannot refuse to drink it because it is what you asked for! This is a hilarious situation and has proved to be a source of great delight for NRIs. Unfortunately, like the other liquors that I have talked about, this too lives up to its name. Even after four large pegs that is exactly what you feel: “Kuch
Nahin”!
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Generating power from paddy straw
Burning
wheat and paddy straw in fields after harvest is a perennial phenomenon in Punjab, leading to large-scale pollution. Despite prohibitory law and appeals from environmentalists, the practice continues unabated. In a hurry to prepare fields for the next crop, farmers see it as the easiest and cost-effective solution. However, paddy stubble, unlike that of wheat, is neither good fodder nor fuel. It is thick, has heavy moisture content and does not burn easily. The smoke covers the sky for weeks. Biomass power plants in Punjab, which have started using paddy straw to generate power, are an effective solution to this problem. Though paddy straw is not a perfect fuel as biomass to be used singularly, it is mixed up to 30 per cent with other dry stuff and burnt in boilers. It has good burning properties, with a calorific value ranging between 2,700 and 2,800 against 3,500-3,700 found in cotton sticks, ‘arhar’ and ‘sarson’ residue, which are considered best for the purpose. With this amount of energy, 1.75 kg paddy straw is capable of producing one unit of electricity, which sells for Rs 6-7. Biomass energy The Malwa Power Plant at Gulabewala village in Muktsar district started this practice about four years ago. This year, it has purchased around 55,000 tonnes of paddy straw — covering nearly 20,000 acres — from nearby villages at a price of Rs 1,200 per tonne. As a result, no farmer in the area has burned paddy straw. An acre of paddy yields around 2.5 tonnes of straw, which translates into additional income of around Rs 3,000 an acre to a farmer. The gathering of paddy straw from the field is a mechanical process, requiring three tractor-driven machines for cutting, lining, gathering and making bales. Farmers generally use reaper to further cut down standing stubble to make it combustible after it has been dried in the sun. A tractor owner with a raking machine and baler gathers 25 to 30 tonnes of paddy straw worth Rs 25,000 to 30,000 from 10 to 12 acres of fields in a day and earns a net profit of Rs 3 to 4 lakh during the paddy season, which lasts for six weeks. To promote the use of paddy straw, the government is offering 50 per cent subsidy on baler and reaper. The venture is fairly profitable with a payback period of three to four years for farmers and even others who can invest and earn extra income from collecting and selling paddy straw. Profitable venture Punjab has six biomass power plants with an installed capacity of 52 MW. Another 11 with a combined capacity of 145 MW are under construction. With an area of nearly 28 lakh hectares under paddy, the state produces and burns nearly 175 lakh tonnes of paddy straw worth Rs 2,100 crore every year. If biomass plants are set up, the straw can generate 10 billion units of electricity worth Rs 6,000 crore every year and add 1,500 MW to the existing capacity in the state. Thus, a gain of nearly Rs 8,100 crore can accrue if straw is not burned. Transporting and using paddy straw is possible in the radius of 20 to 25 km around power plants. Beyond that it becomes economically unviable due to higher transportation costs. The state needs to set up biomass power plants in clusters of 50 to 60 villages. The investment in the sector can be encouraged by offering lucrative power purchase agreements. Already the players in the biomass sector are from the private sector and they can be further encouraged to bring in investment in other parts of the state. The other side The biomass sector has its own woes. Post-clean development mechanism (CDM) regime, where carbon credits were given to non-polluting power producers and fetched extra income, the only source of revenue for this sector was proceeds from power sale. The state’s power purchase agreement (PPA) with the biomass sector at Rs 3.49 per unit made them economically unprofitable and some of them were on the verge of closure. After the introduction of a new policy in December 2012, the PPA rates were raised to Rs 5.31 per unit, making them viable, but a lot needs to be done to promote investment in the sector. This rate is far lower than Rs 8.5 per unit that is given to solar power producers. Another factor in favour of such plants is the generation of large-scale indirect self-employment in rural areas. Apart from 100 direct employees, a 6 MW power plant ‘indirectly’ employs nearly 8,000 to 10,000 people who are engaged in collecting and transporting biomass from various sources to the plants. There is hardly any economic model of such a small size that is capable of generating large-scale employment for unskilled rural masses. —
The writer is Associate Professor, PG Department of
Commerce, NJSA Government College, Kapurthala.
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Damage to soil, environment immense Despite the Green Revolution in 1960s, Punjab is still without any substantial post-harvest policy. As a result, the fertility of soil has been diminishing and paddy-straw burning is wreaking havoc on the environment. According to GV Ramanjaeyulu, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, 19.6 million tonnes of wheat and paddy straw is burned every year in Punjab. However, neither the agricultural department nor the government seems serious about this grave problem.
The straw, which turns into ash, leaches into the soil. This in turn changes the soil texture and the upper layer of the soil, which is important for crops, is damaged. The surface changes from living to non-living. The straw matter could automatically change into green manure to increase the fertility of soil and promote growth of micro-organisms that convert protein content of waste matter into amino and organic acid. These are useful for the growth of plants. These micro-organisms break down the insoluble complex organic compounds into simple soluble organic compound, which are easily absorbed by the roots of plants. Fixing the soil Several types of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil die as a result of these fires. This leads to decline of humus in soil, making it very hard. Porosity, water retention capacity and aeration are reduced to dangerous levels. Hard soil gives invitation to weeds and in order to get rid of the weeds, chemicals are sprayed which increase soil toxicity. The toxic contents enter the food chain and are a reason for many serious problems in humans and animals.
Fouling the air Punjab burns 19.6 million tonnes of wheat and paddy straw every year. A tonne of straw releases 3 kg of particulate matter, 60 kg carbon monoxide, 1,460 kg carbon dioxide, 199 kg ash and 2 kg sulphur dioxide. The heat penetrates into the soil up to 1 cm. In this manner, 38.5 lakh tonnes of organic carbon, 59,000 tonnes of nitrogen, 2,000 tonnes of phosphorus and 3,400 tonnes of potassium are wasted every year in the state. The total carbon dioxide produced is 3 crore tonnes, carbon monoxide 1,20,000 tonnes, sulphur dioxide 4,00,000 tonnes and particulate matter 6,00,000 tonnes. The ash leaches into the soil, altering its
texture. On the other hand, if the straw is ploughed into the fields, it would increase soil fertility manifold. The straw will decompose and help in the formation of humus. The upper layer of the soil will become spongy, encouraging many types of micro-organisms and earthworms in this layer. The water retention capacity of the soil and porosity increases due to humus and in this way, less water is required. Due to porosity, maximum oxygen reaches the roots. The roots of all crops, except paddy, are aerobic in nature. It also helps in neutralising the pH levels of the soil and the nutrients are not precipitated. Since fewer weeds would grow, there would be no need for chemical sprays. If straw is not burned for a few years, the use of chemical fertilisers can be reduced to a large extent. Another use is that germination of some grains left in the soil after harvesting the crop serves as green manure and decreases the alkalinity of the soil. It also helps in reducing soil erosion, which amounts to about 600 million tonnes every year in India. Many evils People of Punjab are suffering from many deadly diseases like cancer and heart problems due to air and water pollution. Harmful gases are produced during acid rain. The dry deposition of these gases on plants causes chlorosis, necrosis, defoliation and other diseases in plants. Several skin problems arise due to acid rain. Reservoirs are also polluted, which in turn lead to the pollution of the ground water. Smoke, heat and gases kill many birds, insects and flies which help in the pollination of crop plants and orchids. Due to these fires, natural vegetation like herbs, shrubs and trees standing in nearby fields get ‘denatured’ and foliage is destroyed. Chlorophyll which converts carbon dioxide into oxygen is killed, thus removing the oxygen factories. —
The writer is an agriculturist growing paddy, basmati
and wheat in Muktsar district. |
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Many years ago, I was on a visit to my friend Khurshid in Calcutta and he took me out to dinner to a lovely restaurant, which I believe has since closed down, The Sky Room, on Park Street. He persuaded me to try a cocktail called Field Marshal.
