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State of education Training workers |
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CEO Lalu Prasad New mantras for management RAILWAY Minister Lalu Prasad’s outing at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad is replete with lessons — and not only for budding corporate managers. The first lesson is that even those not identified, and accepted, as “people like us” can teach us what we thought we can learn only from management gurus like Drucker and Prahlad.
Gains from N-deal
General reply
Environmental degradation Chirac defies Bush over Iranian sanctions Europe’s no to Social Democrat model?
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State of education THIS newspaper has on several occasions written about the rotten state of school education in Punjab. It stands vindicated when the government admits that the situation is in bad shape and it is planning to set up an education commission to set it right. It has constituted a committee of seven vice-chancellors to prepare the terms of reference of the commission, which will be headed by an eminent educationist. Now that the government is at the fag end of its tenure, there are doubts whether the new government would take the proposed commission seriously or not if the Congress is voted out of power. What has impelled the government to take the initiative is a visit to some government schools by a team of the education department. The team found that the students were not able to answer even elementary questions like the names of days. Their knowledge of the textbooks they were supposed to study was abysmally low. In the past, we have highlighted through news columns and editorial comments the state of affairs in government schools where absenteeism among teachers is rampant, teachers’ posts are vacant because every teacher wants to stay in towns, senior students are forced to substitute for teachers and teachers have their own proxies who are paid by the teachers themselves. The practice of periodic inspections by the education department has more or less ended. Small wonder that government schools have become synonymous with failure. It is only the poorest who send their wards to such schools. It’s nobody’s case that private schools in the state are doing wonders. Rather, the whole education system in Punjab is in a shambles. Representatives of foreign universities where students from Punjab seek admission have been complaining, particularly about the low standards of English of those who pass out of schools and colleges in the state. In sharp contrast is Himachal Pradesh, which has been doing exceptionally well in education receiving encomiums from educationists like Nobel-laureate Amartya Sen. Shimla did not think of appointing an education commission before strengthening the network of schools and ensuring that teachers did not neglect their duty. Surely, if HP can do it, there is no reason why the more-resourceful Punjab can’t do it. What is required is political will, rather than an omnibus education commission. |
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Training workers TO meet the global shortage for skilled labour, the UPA government has set an ambitious target of creating one million-strong workforce through a private-public initiative. While the private sector will provide technical support, the government will spend Rs 555 crore on the project. The Skills Development Initiative, if implemented in earnest, is bound to succeed as India is at an advantage in having a large population of the young. Huge job opportunities exist in the West where the aging workforce will need replacement. India has to urgently create and upgrade skills of its workers aged 20 to 24 as currently only 5 per cent of them have vocational training. Already, the Union Labour and Employment Ministry has unduly delayed implementation of the proposal to equip young Indians with skills in demand abroad. First announced in the 2005 Union Budget, the proposal got lost in official cobwebs. This has happened despite employment creation being on the top of the UPA government’s agenda. There are no two opinions on the soundness of the project. There is a large mismatch of demand for and supply of skilled workers not only abroad, but also within the country. On the one hand, there is a huge workforce, mostly unskilled or semi-skilled, lying idle and, on the other, there is a great demand for trained workers in the fast-growing sectors of telecommunication, BPO, civil aviation and insurance. According to one estimate, if the present rate of job creation continues, there will be 170 million jobless in India by 2020. Rigid and numerous labour laws come in the way of creating fresh employment. Many foreign firms stay away from India because of the cumbersome labour laws. Setting up a unit in India is as difficult as closing it. As long as the UPA government’s survival depends on the Left, labour reforms are not possible. New jobs in sunrise areas will not come up unless those in the twilight zone are allowed to go. |
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CEO Lalu Prasad RAILWAY Minister Lalu Prasad’s outing at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad is replete with lessons — and not only for budding corporate managers. The first lesson is that even those not identified, and accepted, as “people like us” can teach us what we thought we can learn only from management gurus like Drucker and Prahlad. Much as it may be galling to the so-called intelligentsia, there is a lot that can be learnt from those who are not steeped in the language or the jargon of the corporate elite. The second lesson is that there are more than poster boys to any government. The apparently bumbling rustic can be as full of ideas and innovative proposals as the slick-suited smart alec and should not be written off on grounds of pathological prejudices. Lesson three is that case studies in management schools can no longer be confined to inquiries about, for example, the success of Walmart or the failure of Enron. Organisations, like the Indian Railways, that touch the great unwashed are more important and relevant. Mr Lalu Prasad is said to be the first politician to be invited to IIM-A; not for his entertainment value but to discuss the “amazing turnaround” of the Railways as a case study. When he took charge, Mr Prasad was perceived as one who will perform the last rites of the Railways. It was a financial black hole with huge debts and anticipatory obits were written, among others, by management and transportation experts. In fact, Prof G. Raghuram was part of the study group which forecast the collapse of the Railways. It is to the credit of Prof Raghuram that seeing the unforeseen turnaround under the stewardship of Mr Lalu Prasad, he revisited the study and findings and made it the basis of a classroom discussion with the Railway Minister leading the exercise. As Mr Prasad said, the Railways is a business like any other and if it is run that way there is no reason for it not to succeed. Now, where on earth did this man pick up such a gem when he didn’t get to Harvard or LSE? |
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Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on them (official positions), a rottenness begins in his conduct.
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Gains from N-deal
THE Indo-US nuclear energy deal — an agreement to promote civilian nuclear energy cooperation, not nuclear weapons or military nuclear technology — has generated much public debate in India and the United States. In both countries the debate has lately veered towards domestic politics, obscuring the real strategic gains. The truth is that the landmark deal, the centre-piece of an emerging strategic relationship, benefits both sides when finally approved by the US Congress as originally intended. For India, energy security is strategic security and nuclear energy is the key to its future, no matter how defined. India is the world’s fifth largest energy consumer. Its annual consumption of energy in all forms except biomass is projected to rise by nearly 50 per cent in 2012 and over 600 per cent by 2032. Neither domestic sources nor imported oil nor renewable energy can possibly meet the growing energy deficit fast enough, even if hydrocarbon resources and finances were made available or the requisite transport infrastructure put in place. Substantial coal production aside, India has to meet 70 per cent of its oil needs through imports, mostly from the politically turbulent Persian Gulf region. The high dependence on foreign oil is expected to increase to nearly 80 per cent by 2020, according to a McKinsey study. As the demand for oil grows due to higher demand for cars by a rising middle class, a relatively higher volume of imported oil and higher costs would further strain the national budget deficit, thus crowding out infrastructure investment, and put at risk macroeconomic stability. Nuclear power cannot fuel road transport but it can increase national electricity supply and reduce the pressure on the rising fuel prices which impact industrial users and consumers. Currently, India’s nuclear electricity accounts for just 2.6 per cent of total energy production, a small realisation of nuclear energy’s ultimate promise and a rather modest exploitation of the true capabilities of India’s elite and technologically advanced sectors. The share of nuclear power is projected to rise in the future when eight new nuclear reactors are imported by 2012. But it will not be nearly enough when compared to what other nations have achieved. Nuclear power provides one-sixth of global energy, one-fifth of US energy, nearly a fourth in the OECD and over a third in the European Union. Compared to Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea, India’s energy planners and strategists have been excessively cautious in panning out their nuclear ambitions. They will need to move beyond the conventional wisdom and embrace a bolder vision in order to keep their strategic place in the world. The principal roadblock to a substantial Indian nuclear power expansion has been the US-led international sanctions regime that denied the Indian nuclear industry access to foreign technology, equipment, fuel and nuclear research. Another critical barrier has been India’s own acute shortage of domestic uranium to manufacture enough enriched uranium fuel bundles for both military and civilian purposes. The uranium deficit placed an enormous strain on the Indian civilian nuclear programme even though it had little impact on its strategic weapons capabilities. This led to India fall behind other Asian countries such as South Korea despite having been a pioneer in Asia to establish an atomic research facility in Mumbai over 50 years ago. A new window of opportunity is opening for India’s nuclear energy industry, including private sector manufacturers and entrepreneurs. India should soon be in a position, if it so chooses, to increase its nuclear power potential by 10 times or more as the US-India nuclear deal moves towards a closure. India should also benefit from the advance technologies and experience of other countries. The good news is that the Indian leadership is acutely conscious of the opportunity even as it works to win over the sceptics at home. From an Indian perspective, the most persuasive reason to sign the deal with the US is to enhance energy security, and the civilian nuclear agreement provides the means to achieve this objective. India will be able to import advanced technology and equipment from several sources including the United States, France and Russia. The deal ends Indian nuclear isolation without any adverse impact on India’s own research capabilities in nuclear and space technologies. It should also help India to exchange its own scientific experience and benefit from international research on fast-breeder reactors that could some day (though not soon) replace enriched uranium as fuel. The environmental impact of nuclear power would also benefit the common man. From an American perspective, the non-proliferation aspect has made more media headlines, but the strategic and economic benefits could be far more substantial. Even so, the US recognition of India as a responsible nuclear power and India’s decision to place its civilian nuclear facilities under India-specific IAEA safeguards substantially advances American non-proliferation goals, without India sacrificing its position on the NPT. The bedrock of the India-US civilian nuclear deal is the strategic congruence between two democratic nations at opposite ends of the globe sharing certain common values and interests in an increasingly challenging political environment. For India this translates first and foremost into enhanced energy security, coupled with other economic and strategic benefits. For the United States it means greater economic and strategic opportunities with India and the emergence of a dynamic balance of power in Asia that also promotes US interests. Mutually reinforcing, the separate but similar interests will help global stability and progress. That is no small achievement by any historical or contemporary
standard.
The writer is a Geneva-based strategic consultant and former Ambassador of India to the UN.
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General reply
LET me begin by clarifying that I owe this debt of honour to S.F. Rodrigues the General and not H.E. the Governor of Punjab. I started owing this amount to him on July 14, 1990, just 14 days after he took command of world’s third largest, 11-lakh strong army I intend to keep this sacred debt unpaid. While the focus in this narrative is naturally on General Rodrigues but there is an important player in this true-life drama or, to use a chemistry term, a catalytic agent to this event. He is my son, then Capt Sanjiv Bajaj and now a Colonel. On March 29, 1990 I was admitted to a South Delhi clinic for a prostrate medical checkup. Suddenly, resplendent in his uniform, displaying two neat rows of green, white and brown ribbons entered my son, Sanjiv. He had been called from his instructor job at NDA Khadakvasla to Army Headquarters for an interview for some UN job in Angola. He was to reach Delhi on the 28th night by catching late flight from Mumbai which he missed. But missing the flight proved a blessing in disguise as he called his Lawrence School Sanawar friend. Sunjay Dutt (now of Munna Bhai fame) who made his Mumbai evening very memorable. After getting my blessings he rushed for his interview. My operation for enlarged prostrate was successful and by the end of May we left for the US to live with our daughter and son-in law at Irvin near Los Angeles. Suddenly on a pleasant Friday morning of June 29, Sanjiv called me from Delhi and said he was selected for his UN job. He also added a very important point that an artillery General S.F. Rodrigues, with a 38 years’ distinguished service, was taking over as Army chief from June 30,1990. He read out the General’s impressive career record from a national daily which I noted carefully. He said that he was the NDA course officer taking over as Chief of Army Staff. On a sudden impulse I decided to write a suitable letter of felicitation to Gen Rodrigues and went on drafting and redrafting the letter in my long hand. Not able to type myself, I requested my son-in-law Dinesh, to do the needful. Dinesh normally a very soft spoken person, was in a tired and irritable mood, having driven non-stop for 415 miles from San Jose. He protested as to why I wanted to send this letter at all. “A new Army chief of such a big organisation will have no time to read this, much less to reply to it.” He added sarcastically: “Daddy, I will give you 100 dollars if this letter is ever replied or acknowledged”. But in spite of his vocal protests he typed the letter for me. The letter was sent to Delhi by the most reliable and fastest mode — Federal Express on July 5. I gave my New Delhi address for reply. And lo and behold, on July 14, Saturday, my son called me saying that he was to leave for Angola on the 15th and then added: “Daddy, a letter has come in your name from Gen Rodrigues”. He then read out its contents on phone: It was a courteous and very friendly letter. The General had appreciated the fact of my three officer children and told that (if remember correctly) he too was from the first NDA course. Americans are good paymasters. Dinesh at once put 100 dollars on the table which I promptly returned. These 100 dollars are not for me — but for that distinguished soldier Gen Sunith Francis Rodrigues. God bless him
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Environmental degradation ENVIRONMENTAL degradation today is a serious challenge to the life forms on the planet earth. It is adversely affecting not only individuals and human societies in various ways and in different degrees, but is also influencing the changes that are detrimental to the healthy growth of all forms of life. The effect is cumulative in its nature and is in acceleration mode now. Of course, the climate of the earth has never been stable during the history of evolution; the change in modern era has exceeded anything experienced in the past. The last decade was the warmest decade globally and 1998 was the warmest year since 1861, since when temperature had been recorded with adequate global coverage. Even the remote areas away from densely populated industrial centers are not any more insulated from this debilitating impact of the ozone hole, climate change, global warming, enhanced influence of La Nina and El Nino factors, receding glaciers and changes in precipitation patterns, water and air pollution and soil degradation. The ever-enhancing demand for production of food, industrial goods and services is considered to be the primary source of environmental degradation through the emission of greenhouse gases. Quite a few corporates, especially power companies and industrial houses, brokers and agents are in the spot and forward exchange markets for trading carbon credits. Under the cap-and-trade regime, European Union allowances (EUAs) have been allocated in the first phase in order to control CO2 emissions from various industrial enterprises. In the phase II, these caps are going to be at much lower level of emissions. Thus, market in carbon trading has developed quite fast. The value of global carbon market was more than $ 10 billion in 2005 and is expected to be $ 25 - 30 billion in 2006. It is further encouraging to note that the financial market is linking up with the carbon trading market, with larger banks showing interest in investments in clean development mechanisms and advances are being offered for certified emission reductions. These efforts, however, remain focused on industrial emissions only. As yet, due attention has not been paid to the agriculture sector. Any biomass whether growing in the field or stored, emits methane, though in very negligible quantities. But a crop growing in standing water emits considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Rice plant is particularly notorious in this respect. In the anaerobic conditions created by the standing water the anaerobic bacteria generate these gasses in the root zone of the rice plant. The plant has inter-cellular space, which acts like a conduit, and these gasses are emitted into the atmosphere through leaves. In turn the plant through this intercellular space provides oxygen to these anaerobic bacteria for their survival. It is estimated that one hectare of rice under standing water conditions emits more than 0.45 tonnes of methane over a growing period of 90 days. In addition, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are also produced. Put together, an equivalent of 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted during this period of 90 days. One hectare of rice, if replaced with other crops or rice crop that is grown without standing water, has the potential of earning carbon credits worth more than Rs 10,000 in three months of its growing period. Agricultural technologists of Punjab have developed one such technique of rice cultivation under aerobic conditions, which has been authenticated through an average of 12 experiments conducted by Punjab Agricultural University. This technique saves water by about 40 per cent, increases yield by 6 to 8 per cent, improves quality of paddy due to drier micro-climate, and improves the soil quality. In respect of chemical pollution through fertilizers and pesticides, Cuba offers a very good example, where booming requirements of protective foods are being met through “organoponicos” on small plots of land allotted to individual farmers. It is reported that Cuba is filled with more than 7,000 such urban allotments that occupy some 81,000 acres.. More than 200 gardens in Havana supply its citizens with more than 90 per cent of their fruits and vegetables. More than 200 locally based centres specialising in bio-pesticides annually produce 200 tonnes of “verticillium” to control whitefly, and 800 tonnes of “beaveria” sprays to control beetles. Cut banana stems baited with honey to attract ants are placed in sweet potato fields, which have led to control of sweet potato weevil. There are 170 vermi-compost centres, the annual production of which has grown to 9,300 tonnes. Thus, alternatives to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides exist and can be further developed to avoid the impending environmental disaster. Crop patterns can be changed such that productivity of most scarce resources of land and water improves and farm incomes are enhanced without negative externalities of environmental degradation and threat to food security. The national agricultural research system has a challenge, which can be easily met with vision and grit. Research on these aspects and adoption of cutting edge technologies to tackle these problems of environmental degradation require priority treatment in the financial allocations of the Eleventh Plan. |
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Chirac defies Bush over Iranian sanctions AS world leaders converged on the United Nations on Monday, French president Jacques Chirac dealt a significant blow to the Bush administration’s effort to slow Iran’s nuclear development, saying his government would join Russia and China in resisting the U.S. push for sanctions against Tehran. “I am never in favor of sanctions,” Chirac told Europe 1 radio in an interview on the eve of the General Assembly’s annual debate. “I have never observed that sanctions were very effective.” Chirac proposed a compromise in which the Security Council would suspend the threat of sanctions while Iran, in turn, would suspend enrichment of uranium while the two sides talk. As a last resort, after diplomacy has been exhausted, France might consider penalties, he said, but only “moderate and adapted” sanctions. The divisions over sanctions seem likely not only to complicate policy toward Iran, but also to affect the administration’s efforts to win international help on a range of other issues, diplomats and analysts say. Bush plans to make Iran a centerpiece of his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, explaining why he considers Tehran’s regime to be a grave threat and insisting that sanctions be imposed if talks fail. He will also talk about the administration’s policies in Iraq and its support for a peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region of Sudan even in the face of opposition from the Sudanese government. But on each issue, Washington finds itself on the opposite side from several Security Council members, including Russia and China, which both have veto power in the council. Those two, backed by other council members such as Qatar, insist that the U.N. must not go against a national government’s wishes, even when the international community does not agree with its actions. France supports the U.S on most of those issues, so when it joins the opposition as on Iran, it lends the other side considerable weight, say analysts. White House officials said Monday that their position on Iran had not changed, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scheduled to talk with U.S. allies in New York this week about a possible resolution calling for sanctions. Bush is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Chirac, and Rice plans to dine Tuesday night with the other countries negotiating with Iran: Britain, China, Russia, France, Germany and as of Monday, Italy. All have agreed that Iran must stop enriching uranium — a process that can be used to make energy or a nuclear weapon — to create confidence before they will resume talks on helping Iran with a nuclear energy program. European diplomats say that they want the United States to sit at the same table with Iran before they consider that talks have failed. President Bush has ruled out dialogue with Iranian officials unless they halt their nuclear program, and there will be no U.S. contact with the Iranian delegation this week, officials said. European diplomats are scrambling to arrange a face-saving compromise that could allow Iran to suspend uranium enrichment after talks resume. U.S. officials stopped short of ruling that option out on Monday.
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Europe’s no to Social Democrat model? Why are we asking? Does Sweden matter? On paper the results are impressive in Sweden; economic growth of more than 5 per cent, low inflation and enviable budget deficit figures. Consequently some recent studies have suggested that the rest of Europe should borrow from Nordic nations rather than adopt the (now discredited) Franco-German “Rhineland” model, or Britain’s free-market approach. So what went wrong? Meanwhile the depth of the employment problem is hidden by the country’s generous welfare system. No less than 16 per cent of public spending goes on sick pay, a staggering figure in a country whose population certainly appears as healthy as its neighbours. Mr Reinfeldt claimed that one in five Swedes is not working if you count people on sickness leave or government training schemes. This is important because the basis of the Swedish model is the assumption that everyone works to fund the generous welfare benefits enjoyed by all. If joblessness is high that social contract comes under strain. Is this the end of the Nordic social model? Has the Nordic way come to the end of its road? No... By arrangement with
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From the pages of Behind prison walls UNLESS the entire sordid account published in the press, including two heart-rending photographs, is proved to have been concocted, the Bhagalpur incidents (of blinding of undertrial prisoners) can only be described as incredibly barbaric. The incidents have been reconstructed in such gory detail (on the basis of statements reportedly made by one of the victims) that there is little room for doubt about the authenticity of the substance of the published accounts. It appears that the prisoners concerned had their eyes punctured and damaged in other ways, systematically and over a period, apparently as punishment even before the courts had time to pronounce judgement on their suspected guilt. The country had already become familiar with the quick disposal of criminals—genuine or otherwise—through a procedure called “encounter”.
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Pride often makes a king underestimate his foe. The foe may not possess the wealth and forces that the king has. But this should not blind the king to his underlying strengths. God it is who created for you all that is on earth, then turned to the heights and fashioned them into seven heavens; and God is completely aware of all things. Be convinced of one thing, that there is only one Supreme Being who rules over the destinies of all beings. We should never forget Him.
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