BIMSTEC

Third BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit was held from 1 March to 4 March 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

The Third BIMSTEC summit was attended by the heads from six countries and Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Thailand, namely 
Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Prime Minister of Nepal
President of Sri Lanka
Prime Minister of Bhutan
President of Myanmar

During the summit, enhancing regional cooperation in energy sector, the Third BIMSTEC Energy Ministerial Meeting will be held in Nepal in 2014 and also the Fourth BIMSTEC Energy Ministerial Meeting will be held in 2015 in Bhutan.

Highlights of the summit

The members recognised the threat that terrorism poses to peace, stability and economic progress and agreed for closer cooperation in combating all forms of terrorism and transnational crimes.

The members agreed to explore collaborative initiatives amongst the Member States towards addressing the adverse impacts of climate change in the BIMSTEC region.

The members decided to move forward towards finalization of the draft Agreement on Trade in Goods with agreed General Rules of Origin and Product Specific Rules. It was also decided to work in the direction of signing an agreement on dispute settlement procedures and the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters under the Framework Agreement on the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area.

The members agreed to set up the BIMSTEC Network of Policy Think Tanks and agreed to cooperate and coordinate for organizing activities like workshops and seminars, which includes audio-visual programmes to create public awareness on BIMSTEC.

Earlier during the second BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Poverty Alleviation summit in Nepal in January 2012 the Poverty Plan of Action was adopted and in this summit the heads agreed to implement the Poverty Plan of Action. Sri Lanka is going to host the Third Ministerial Meeting on Poverty Alleviation during the first half of 2014.

The following three pacts were signed

• Memorandum of Association on the Establishment of the BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat.
• Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission (BCIC) and BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory (BCIO).
• Memorandum of Association among BIMSTEC Member Countries Concerning Establishment of a BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate.

About BIMSTEC

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was established in 1997 in Bangkok. It was a new sub regional grouping, named BISTEC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).Myanmar (1997) and Sri lanka (1998) joined the group who were observers earlier and they joined the group later.

The First BIMSTEC Summit was held in 2004 in Bangkok and the Second Summit was held in 2008 in New Delhi.

The main purposes of BIMSTEC are to create

•    An enabling environment for rapid economic development
•    Accelerate social progress in the sub-region
•    Cooperate in projects that can be dealt with most productively on a sub-regional basis and which make best use of available synergies.

Source: http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/third-bimstec-summit-2014-held-in-myanmar-1394015079-1

Universal rights and universal violations / K.G. Balakrishnan

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which stands as a beacon for the international community on the standards it should set for the defence and promotion of human rights. The Declaration was drafted over a period of two years on the initiative of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, through members from various nationalities and political backgrounds, including the noted Indian freedom fighter, educator and reformist, Dr. Hansa Jivraj Mehta.

It was in keeping with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Paris Principles that countries across the world, including India, established their respective National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). In India, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established by The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

Widespread violations

However, despite this wide array of human rights institutions, there continue to occur throughout the world widespread violations of human rights. There is therefore some sting, but more than a grain of truth in the cynic’s lament that “the only thing universal about human rights is their universal violation.”

As we mark the 66th anniversary of the adoption of UDHR this year, disclosures of mass human rights violations have called into question the commitment of governments in guaranteeing the protection of fundamental rights and highlighted the need for greater accountability.

This year, globally, we have witnessed continuing human rights violations such as executions, amputations, and lashings by terrorist groups, assassination of captured belligerents by governments, mistreatment, violations, and crimes committed during conflicts, among other egregious rights abuses.

Still, a prominent number of countries paid mere lip service to democracy while mocking the rights central to democratic rule. This calls for deep introspection regarding the mounting challenges that confront individuals.

Needless to state, governments which defend human rights are steadier, more committed, and able to contribute to and reinforce international peace and harmony while countries which are unsuccessful in upholding and promoting human rights will eventually face economic deficiency and international seclusion.

The true test of “good governance” is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Thus, the key benchmark for judging effective governance is whether or not public institutions are effectively guaranteeing rights such as right to health, housing, food, education, and justice, besides ensuring effective safety in the country.

Human rights problems in India

In India, the bulk of human rights problems that come forth for the consideration and intervention of the NHRC relate to atrocities by the police and security forces, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and corruption at all levels of government.

The world’s largest democracy is also dogged by separatist violence, life-threatening prison and police custody conditions, sex trafficking, environmental destruction and a general environment of impunity. Hundreds of millions of people live in poverty, and women, children (especially the girl child), religious minorities, Dalits, Adivasis, and members of the LGBT community face discrimination and violence. Persons with disabilities often have no recourse to decent employment and/or adequate treatment.

One can hardly deny the fact that a large number of abuses of human rights occur as a consequence of a mindset of ‘superiority’ and ‘privilege.’ This is often a consequence of upbringing, as individuals are conditioned to compare themselves to people of different identities and made to believe that they are ‘different’ and ‘superior.’

In addition, issues of sustainable livelihood as well as social and political participation of vulnerable groups exist as a major problem. Administrative authorities have failed to guarantee rights to the common people. People belonging to vulnerable groups are particularly unable to have equal access to their rights.

NHRIs across the world have been set up to constantly review and uphold the available safeguards for human rights protection. They do so through the range of powers accorded to them including monitoring human rights violations, advising their governments on pertinent human rights concerns, establishing and maintaining relations with other regional and international organisations, promoting human rights education, while exercising their quasi-judicial powers. In order to exercise these powers, NHRIs have been provided a clearly defined and broad-based mandate, encompassing all human rights — civil, political, social, cultural, and economic. Thus, they are uniquely placed to complement efforts of governments in upholding respect for human rights.

The NHRC is responsible for these activities in India. It has the powers of a civil court while looking into cases of human rights violations. After completion of its enquiry in a case, the Commission recommends to the concerned authority to initiate proceedings against those responsible for human rights violations. While in almost all cases decided so far by the Commission, concerned government authorities have complied with its decisions, the largely non-binding nature of the Commission's recommendations sometimes evokes the sentiment that perhaps such bodies are ineffectual. This state of mind needs to be changed.

There needs to be a concerted move towards consolidating the rights which have been won through painstaking efforts over the last few centuries. There is a need for individuals, communities and even governments to stand up against human rights abuses.

For this, the nature and quality of national-level legislations, policies and enforcement mechanisms will be crucial factors in times to come. The responsibility of the State to ensure universal access to human rights, guarantee a life of dignity, and equal access to various public goods and services are further underscored by international human rights conventions, to many of which India is a signatory.

Our efforts for the development of our country will have to be premised on the objective of securing human dignity and guaranteeing fundamental human rights to all. No police station, commission, or court can monitor every nook and corner of the country to prevent human rights abuses. It is ultimately up to the citizens of this country to treat each other as equals. Each one of us needs to inculcate a human rights culture in his/her neighbourhood. We also need to remember our duties as enshrined in Article 51A of the Constitution. To this end, let us draw inspiration from the UDHR and renew our commitment to actualising its venerated vision for all humanity.

(K.G. Balakrishnan is Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission and former Chief Justice of India.)

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/universal-rights-and-universal-violations/article6680647.ece

A fertile mess / Ashok Gulati

The fertiliser subsidy is budgeted at Rs 72,970 crore for 2014-15. There are also pending bills of Rs 30,000-35,000 crore that need to be cleared on account of this subsidy. Together, it amounts to more than Rs 1 lakh crore, more than 10 per cent of the Central government’s tax revenue and a substantial pressure on the fisc.

Almost two-thirds of this subsidy comes from the unduly low price of urea, which is priced at Rs 5,360 per metric tonne (about $86 per MT at an exchange rate of Rs 62 to the dollar). Globally, prices hover around $300 per MT, although country-specific prices vary widely. In China, for example, the price is $265 per MT, in Pakistan $362 per MT, in Bangladesh $207 per MT, in Indonesia $148 per MT, and in the Philippines $462 per MT. The Indian urea price is perhaps the lowest among large economies. This has led to the misuse of urea, which is being diverted to non-agri uses and smuggled to neighbouring countries. There are no firm estimates of this, but insider guesstimates vary between 10-20 per cent of the urea distributed in the country.

With the implementation of the nutrient-based scheme (NBS), the prices of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MoP ) have gone up to almost four times the price of urea. As a result, farmers are overusing urea.

Against the generally desirable N:P:K (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) use ratio of 4:2:1, in Punjab and Haryana, the ratio was 62:19:1 in 2012-13. This reduces the grain to fertiliser response ratio, leading to much lower returns from fertiliser applications.

The rising subsidies and delays in the payment of these subsidies to specific plants have created an environment of uncertainty in the fertiliser industry. As a result, domestic investment in the fertiliser industry has lagged and imports have surged. For example, between 2000 and 2012, while Indian domestic production of nitrogenous fertilisers increased marginally from 10.9 million metric tonnes (in nutrients) to 12.2 MMT, China moved from 22 MMT to 50 MMT (see graph).

India has landed its fertiliser sector in a mess: rising subsidies and imports, lagging investment, highly imbalanced use of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and diversion of urea to other countries and non-agricultural uses. This is largely a result of administered pricing and subsidy policies.

How can the Indian fertiliser sector  be brought on track? Raising urea prices by, say, 200 per cent seems an obvious choice. But if it was so simple it could have been done long ago. Several committees have recommended a price increase but this has not been accepted by successive governments. Politically, it does not seem feasible  that urea prices could be raised by 200 per cent in a single shot or even over a three- to five-year period unless accompanied by a substantial increase in the MSPs of basic staples like wheat and rice. Take the case of Pakistan and China. While their urea prices are way higher than India’s, they also offer much higher MSPs for crops. In Pakistan, the MSP for wheat is $320 per MT and in China, it is $385 per MT ,against India’s $226 per MT. The fertiliser cost in Punjab accounts for about 7 per cent of the MSP of wheat. If one adjusts for this, the Indian farmer is at a much disadvantaged situation.

If the price of urea is raised by more than 200 per cent, taking it from $86 per MT to, say, $265 per MT — which is the price Chinese farmers are paying — but the MSP of wheat is also raised from $226 per MT to $385 per MT (what the Chinese farmer gets), or to $320 per MT, which his Pakistani counterpart gets, the Indian farmer would be more than happy. So, there is a way to make the price increase politically palatable. But given the National Food Security Act, 2013, which promises wheat and rice at Rs 2 to 3 per kilogramme, this MSP rise will lead to an explosive growth in food subsidy and a further distortion in cropping patterns, skewed in favour of wheat and rice. India may end up worse off.

Another option is to simply transfer the cash equivalent of the current fertiliser subsidy to farmers. This works out to roughly Rs 5,000 per hectare (Rs 1 lakh crore subsidy divided by gross cropped area of about 20 crore ha). Farmers below the 4 ha holding size can be given cash at this rate and those above that holding size at Rs 4,000 per ha. Then the entire fertiliser sector can be deregulated, with imports flowing freely at zero import duty. Direct cash transfers can be conducted via Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts and linked to the UID and Aadhaar. Politically, this is feasible and will lead to savings of at least Rs 10,000 crore in the fertiliser subsidy by simply stopping the diversion of urea to other uses and smuggling to other countries. It will also signal to farmers that they use nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a balanced manner, raising the productivity of fertiliser use. The only condition imposed on beneficiary farmers should be that they get their soil tested every three years.

What would happen to our fertiliser industry under this brave new world of total decontrol? The probability is high that it would expand and prosper, provided urea plants are given gas at a uniform price (maybe a pooled price of import parity and domestically produced). It will incentivise them to be more energy efficient, get the best technologies and compete with those in China or elsewhere. There could be mergers and acquisitions within the urea industry, but overall, the industry will be liberated and unshackled from myriad controls. Industry captains today feel they are ready to walk this path to freedom. Is the government also ready?

The writer is the Infosys chair professor at Icrier

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-fertile-mess/99/#sthash.rjQFR5Os.dpuf

India Russia Relations / C. Raja Mohan

When he met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apparently told him that every child in India knew Moscow was Delhi’s best friend forever.

As they sit down for a longer and substantive conversation in Delhi this week, Modi and Putin know they have a problem. The geopolitical circumstances that bound India and Russia close together for so long have begun to change. The structure of the partnership, too, is looking less special amid extended stagnation. Modi, who has boldly moved to rejuvenate India’s ties with America and Japan and devised a more positive approach towards China, must now go back to basics on Russia and find productive ways of boosting bilateral relations in an adverse regional and international environment.

In Moscow, it was Putin who saved the relationship from becoming irrelevant to both countries. In the 1990s, India found it hard to get post-Soviet Russia’s attention, as Moscow sought to integrate itself with the West and build a “Common European Home” stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific. Much hard work of Indian diplomats and strong faith in Delhi’s political class helped sustain the relationship with Russia through the difficult decade. It was only when Putin took charge of Russia at the turn of the new millennium that the bilateral relationship took a turn for the better.

That Putin had a working relationship with the West made India’s task relatively simple. Unlike in the Cold War, Delhi simply had to engage both Russia and the West, dealing with each on its own merit. Modi, however, will find the going somewhat difficult as Russia’s relations rapidly deteriorate.

The tension between Nato’s relentless expansion eastwards and Moscow’s determination to restore its traditional sphere of influence in the “near abroad” has been gathering for a while and finally boiled over in Ukraine this year. The idea of a Common European Home stands shattered. Russia and the West are finding it difficult to restore the rules of the road invented at the end of the Cold War in Europe, during 1989-91, or devise new ones that are acceptable to both sides. If the crisis in Europe lasts too long and Russia drifts away from the West, there will be new constraints on India’s foreign policy. There is no question of Delhi supporting Western sanctions against Russia, but the secondary effects of these measures are likely to corrode India’s ties with America and Europe.

India avoided endorsing Putin’s annexation of Crimea by force in Ukraine and then legitimising it by a “referendum”. After all, Delhi is rejecting Pakistan’s demands for a “plebiscite” in Kashmir. But you don’t want to reproach your friends in public. Delhi, therefore, kept quiet, much in the manner that it refused to publicly criticise Moscow when it sent troops into Afghanistan in 1979.

If there is a new Cold War between Russia and the West, India might find itself in a cleft stick. On the one hand, India’s economic stakes in the partnership with the West have rapidly grown and those with Russia, steadily diminished. Beyond the important defence and strategic trade, there is little commercial content in bilateral ties. Changing that has long been a priority for Delhi and Moscow. Modi and Putin, one hopes, can do better.

The changing geopolitical dynamic, meanwhile, is casting a shadow over the strategic ties between Delhi and Moscow. When Soviet Russia made enemies around the world in the 1980s, Indira Gandhi began to reduce Delhi’s excessive dependence on Moscow for arms supplies and Rajiv Gandhi accelerated the search for the diversification of India’s strategic partnerships.

Russia, however, retained its special position by supplying the kind of technologies no other country was prepared to supply to India. Consider, for example, Russian assistance to India in building the nuclear-powered submarine, Arihant. Although Modi is looking for stronger defence ties with the United States, there is no possibility that it can replace Russia in the near term.

But India’s relations with Russia are complicated by one important consequence of the unfolding conflict between Moscow and Washington. It is Russia’s strategic embrace of China, which is likely to have many implications for India. For one, Russia has begun to boost defence ties with China and is exporting technologies and systems that it once reserved solely for India. More broadly, by lining up behind China on global issues, Moscow is making it harder to construct a stable balance of power in Asia. Worse still, an America preoccupied with Central Europe and the Middle East might be compelled to consider compromises with Beijing in Asia.

Put simply, Russia’s conflict with the West pushes both of them towards a rising China and improves Beijing’s leverage in all directions. Making matters worse for India is Russia’s new strategic warmth with Pakistan. This has been in the making for a while. Quite clearly, neither Delhi nor Moscow can insist, any longer, on an exclusive partnership.

The India-Russia political partnership, which had expanded from the 1960s, took place amid deepening Sino-Russian hostility and Pak-China amity. Given an unreliable America, Russia was India’s principal insurance against the security challenges from China and Pakistan. If Moscow continues to fight with the West and draw closer to China and Pakistan, there is a real danger that India’s long-standing romance with Russia might turn sour. Preventing an irreversible drift in that direction should be on the top of the agenda for Modi and Putin.

As hard-boiled realists, Modi and Putin must acknowledge the new dynamic around them, find ways to limit its impact on the bilateral relationship and move quickly towards expanding the scope of their commercial ties and revitalising their cooperation in energy, defence and high-technology sectors.

The writer, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, is a contributing editor for ‘The Indian Express’

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-russia-here-and-now/99/#sthash.FhTVCgti.dpuf

H5N1

Though India is one of the six countries where the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) is considered endemic in poultry and several places in Kerala are favourite destinations for migratory birds, the State remained outbreak-free until recently. But on November 20, Kerala was robbed of that status when two outbreaks in ducks occurred in Alappuzha and Kottayam districts, with the virus killing over 20,000 birds. Incidentally, this is just the second instance of H5N1 outbreak in South India; the first outbreak occurred in October 2012 in the Central Poultry Development Organisation near Bengaluru. Most of the outbreaks since 2006 have been in West Bengal and the northeastern States, primarily due to cross-border transport of infected birds from Bangladesh, a hot-spot for H5N1 outbreaks. The H5N1 virus has infected seven people and killed one in Bangladesh between 2003 and 2013. For now, culling of nearly 260,000 birds in the villages where the outbreaks occurred, together with intensive surveillance in a 10-km radius around the epicentre of the outbreak have prevented the spread of the virus. But there is an overwhelming need to continue the intensive surveillance as ducks have been infected. Domestic ducks, which have long been recognised as one of the primary reservoirs of the virus, are responsible for the spread and outbreaks of H5N1.

According to two studies published in the journal Veterinary Research in June 2013 and November this year, unlike in the case of chicken, disease presentation in ducks depends on the H5N1 subtype and the bird species; the way the immune system responds to the virus infection in the two birds is vastly different. As a result, while most subtypes of H5N1 cause severe disease in chicken and kill nearly all of them, even clinical manifestation of infection is absent when certain species of ducks are infected with particular virus subtypes. Unlike chicken, which die, ducks not only turn out to be perfect hosts for the virus to survive but also provide an ideal environment for diversity to emerge through genetic reassortment of the virus. As of now, H5N1 infection in humans is “sporadic” and human-to-human transmission has not been reported. But a lethal reassortment of the virus can change all that. Hence, the death of thousands of diseased ducks and the prompt culling are reassuring steps. Now that the spread of the infection has been stopped, at least temporarily, concerted efforts should be directed at finding out the virus subtype and the duck species. The need to investigate if other duck species have been infected and for continued surveillance cannot be overstated, especially since duck-rearing is widespread in Alappuzha district.

GSAT-16 an more....

India has a new bird in the sky — the communication satellite GSAT-16 that was successfully launched aboard Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket in the early hours of Sunday. GSAT-16 has 48 transponders, the largest number thus far on a communication satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It will join a constellation of 10 satellites that form the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system. Its transponders, operating in various frequency bands, will provide much-needed augmentation of the existing 188 transponders on the INSAT system that broadcast television programmes, provide educational and tele-medicine services, carry telephone conversations, and relay data. In addition, close to 95 transponders have been leased on foreign satellites, principally to meet the needs of Direct-To-Home (DTH) television channels. Vikram Sarabhai, who founded the country’s space programme, had the farsightedness in the 1960s itself to recognise how important communication satellites and the services they provide would be to a developing nation. It was a vision that his successors turned into reality, with the first of the indigenously-built INSAT satellites being launched in July 1992.

After the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) became available in the mid-1990s, the country has not had to look abroad to launch its remote sensing satellites. That transition has yet to happen with communication satellites. The current Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) has hitherto been trouble-prone, and the version equipped with an indigenous cryogenic stage replacing an imported Russian one made its first successful flight only in January this year. Even if the GSLV becomes a reliable launcher like the PSLV, it can only carry communication satellites weighing up to about 2.2 tonnes. ISRO has already launched considerably heavier communication satellites on the Ariane 5, including the GSAT-16 that weighs close to 3.2 tonnes. Launching these satellites abroad is expensive. The price tag for the GSAT-16 comes to about Rs.900 crore. Of this, the foreign launch costs come to around Rs.560 crore — not including insurance. Had the next-generation GSLV Mark III, which can take four-tonne communication satellites, been operational, that launch might have cost only about half as much. But the cryogenic engine for the upper stage of the Mark III is still being developed. The rocket’s first experimental launch, scheduled for later this month, will therefore be a suborbital one to test its flight characteristics through the atmosphere. ISRO expects to have the Mark III’s cryogenic engine and stage ready in two years’ time. The sooner that happens, the better.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/new-satellite-takes-wing/article6674355.ece

Green Diesel

A Boeing aircraft has completed the world’s first flight using ‘green diesel’, a sustainable biofuel made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and animal fats.

The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane on December 2 with a blend of 15 per cent green diesel and 85 per cent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.

“Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable aviation biofuel more available and more affordable for our customers,” said Julie Felgar, managing director of Environmental Strategy and Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

“We will provide data from several ecoDemonstrator flights to support efforts to approve this fuel for commercial aviation and help meet our industry’s environmental goals,” Ms. Felgar said in a statement.

Sustainable green diesel is widely available and used in ground transportation. Boeing previously found that this fuel is chemically similar to HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) aviation biofuel approved in 2011.

Green diesel is chemically distinct and a different fuel product than “biodiesel,” which also is used in ground transportation.

With production capacity of 800 million gallons (three billion litres) in the U.S., Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as one per cent of global jet fuel demand.

“The airplane performed as designed with the green diesel blend, just as it does with conventional jet fuel,” said Captain Mike Carriker, Chief Pilot for New Airplane Product Development, Boeing Test and Evaluation.

On a lifecycle basis, sustainably produced green diesel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 90 per cent compared to fossil fuel, according to Finland-based Neste Oil, which supplied green diesel for the ecoDemonstrator 787.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/first-green-diesel-powered-flight/article6674310.ece

No conditions apply / Renana Jhabvala

Cash in the hands of the poor can transform their lives. With bank accounts and an Aadhaar card for all becoming a reality, it is possible to transfer money directly to the poor and check middlemen who siphon away funds.

Cash transfers (CTs) come in many forms. They may be conditional or unconditional, selective or non-selective, targeted or universal. Some types of CT are as susceptible to misuse as the public distribution system, where, according to the Planning Commission, only 27 per cent of the expenditure actually reaches the beneficiaries.

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have become popular internationally. The World Bank has defined them narrowly: “[CCTs] are programmes that transfer cash, generally to poor households, on the condition that those households make pre-specified investments in the human capital of their children.” However, CCTs often have other behavioural conditions, such as the requirement for a pregnant mother to deliver a child in a hospital or to get her child vaccinated. Sometimes, conditions reach ridiculous extremes, as when a mother is supposed to “prove” exclusive breast-feeding before she can apply for a cash benefit. In Mexico, conditions have been associated with a high incidence of exclusion, as people entitled to the cash withdraw when they cannot comply with them.

Conditions are often difficult to implement and monitor. Each condition that requires a certificate becomes a road block and increases opportunities for corruption. Often, conditions beget more conditions, as they are primarily attempts at social engineering, in which a transfer is used as a carrot and stick, to be given or taken away, depending on whether the entitlement criteria are aligned with state-determined norms. This engineering is most often successful when local infrastructure, like schools and hospitals, is available; although in India, where village health clinics often have abysmal hygiene, CTs associated with hospital deliveries have resulted in multiple deaths.

Unconditional cash transfer (UCT) policies rely on people’s own initiative instead of directing them towards particular kinds of behaviour, expecting that people will use cash wisely for their own and their children’s development. A recent book, Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India, by Sarath Davala, Saumya Kapoor Mehta, Guy Standing and myself, details the results of a survey carried out in 22 villages where UCTs were given to nearly 6,000 men, women and children, sent to their bank accounts and paid individually each month for 18 months. The rigorous study, conducted as a modified randomised control trial, seeks the answers to a number of questions on the effects of such a UCT. The two most commonly asked are: Would unconditional monthly cash payments be an effective tool to reduce economic insecurity and poverty? And would they be likely to lead to wasteful spending on private bads?

A common reaction to the idea of CTs is, “The men will waste all the money in drinking, and will beat their wives to get their money too”. The facts disproved this. There was no increase in drinking among the families who received the transfers, nor was there any anecdotal or qualitative evidence to suggest this. In one tribal village, drinking actually went down. The sarpanch explained, “There is not much employment in these villages so men sit around playing cards and drinking. After the CT, they were able to buy seeds and fertiliser and now they work hard farming their land”.

A heartening finding was that UCTs lead to growth and income-earning opportunities. This was especially true for the poorest tribal families, where 50 per cent said that they had used the transfers to make their lands productive, and the number of livestock in a village increased by over 30 per cent. Overall, more than 20 per cent of the respondents said they had increased their income-earning work. Multivariate analysis suggested that for women, receiving a basic income was strongly associated with diversification into a second income-earning activity combined with a primary one.

Most families in India today, no matter how poor, want better education for their children. The CTs enabled children to go to school, often switching from a non-functional government school to a private one. There was a doubling of enrolment among adolescent girls in secondary schools. Nutrition improved, especially among the poorest tribal and Dalit families, with a substantial increase in food sufficiency. Further, as individuals were able to go to doctors when they got ill and afford regular medicine, serious health incidences in the villages declined.

An emancipatory effect associated with CTs was that, with the increase in liquidity, reliance on usurious debt decreased. It empowered the most vulnerable — Dalits, women, the elderly, the disabled.

UCTs are known as basic income internationally. They give people a choice and rely on individual initiatives to change social conditions. A basic income leads to holistic development and restores people’s dignity. It could be a transformative policy for India.

The writer is national coordinator, SEWA, and board director, SEWA Bank

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New PlanCom may alter structure, focus of Central schemes / Sanjeeb Mukherjee

The new body to replace the five-decade-old  Planning Commission is expected to be structurally different from the existing one. It could bring about a fundamental change in the manner central government schemes are devised and implemented in India.

If the presentation made by the Commission to the chief ministers is followed in letter and spirit, central sector and sponsored schemes will no longer be the domain of central ministries alone. Instead, these would be an amalgam of priorities laid down by state governments, which, in turn, would also have the powers to tinker with the schemes according to their local needs. Whether or not this would signal death of central schemes remains to be seen.

THE NEW PLAN How schemes will be conceptualised and implemented in the new set-up, according to a presentation made by Planning Commission Secretary Sindhushree Khullar:

Overall scheme priorities may be agreed by consensus in a meeting between the Prime Minister and Council of chief ministers Based on the agreed priorities, a basket of schemes may be finalised in consultation with the ministries States may decide to seek assistance under selected schemes that are relevant to their strengths, potential and needs In partnership with the ministries concerned, scheme design to be tailored to the state’s requirement to achieve the agreed outcomes

Simply put, a Grameen Sadak Yojana or a rural drinking water programme, for instance, might either get scrapped or reformed, if state governments unanimously say such a focus is no longer required.

So far, central schemes were primarily designed by the Planning Commission in consultation with line ministries and in keeping with the priorities of the ruling party of the time. So, a National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), for instance, came to reflect the priorities of the Congress-led government at the Centre then, irrespective of whether or not all states benefited from it.

If the proposed changes are implemented, it will be the state governments that will decide if the current model of NREGS is uniformly suitable for all states.

Problems between the Centre and states over Central schemes, first identified in 1998, got further entrenched into the system over subsequent years. It was felt transferring funds to state treasuries for implementing central schemes was not yielding the desired result, as the treasuries were in a mess in most states and the transferred funds more often met only the salary needs.

Around 10 years ago, a mechanism was devised for Central schemes through which funds from the central government flowed directly to societies or panchayats, under overall supervision of the local administration, bypassing state treasuries. After state governments repeatedly raised concerns over this, it was decided at one of the National Development Council meetings that funds allocated for central schemes would be transferred to state treasuries. The plan finally got implemented in the interim Budget for the current financial year.

Another set of problems in Central schemes arose with states complaining the schemes were too rigid and their priorities were not in tune with the needs of the state concerned, and reflected only the vision of the central government. For instance, Gujarat complained it had built adequate number of rural roads, so the funds allocated to it under the Gram Sadak Yojana was of no use it; instead, it required funds for drinking water projects.

However, because of the rigid nature of central schemes, funds allocated for rural roads were not allowed to be spent on drinking water. Also, there was little operational flexibility within the schemes, which states resisted. “If we take the example of the Gram Sadak Yojana, it says funds will be allocated if roads of certain width are built. Now, states in the Northeast have always complained this has little relevance for them as they cannot build wide roads because of the terrain,” a senior official said.

Former member-secretary of the Planning Commission, Sudha Pillai, said the mechanism for consultation with the states has been grossly inadequate.

“The Planning Commission  also remained a central government organisation. This will change  for the better. One important difference  among  states is the presence or absence of a healthy resource base. This aspect has to be factored in while discussing a differentiated approach. The new body should structurally be able to do so,” she told Business Standard.

The existing Planning Commission had tried to solve some of these issues by providing 10 per cent flexible funding in centrally sponsored schemes, as recommended by a committee headed by former Cabinet secretary and Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi, but that was not seen as sufficient.

But the new mechanism for devaluation of Plan funds, some experts point out, might face some big challenges. The first could be in arranging for funds. Any scheme or programme or broad outlook devised in consultation with states is most likely to overshoot its budgetary allocation.

In the current mechanism, the schemes and their funding are devised in consultation with Central ministries, so managing with low funds is not a big problem. As soon as states get involved and a broad priority is decided, the budget will jump.

“Evolving a consensus among states for identifying a common priority could be tricky affair,” said the official quoted earlier. The central ministries need to be in tune with the changed format.

Former Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri, however, said: “Taking the power of Central ministries in fund allocation for Central schemes is challenging, but involving state governments in designing schemes and programmes is a good idea.” said.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/new-plan-panel-may-alter-structure-focus-on-central-schemes-114120800382_1.html

Fire In The Blood (2013) | Review

Medicine, monopoly and mass murder

Its a while since i  wrote any review here.. There is reason... My internet connection reached limit and we are surviving on KBPS speed. So, obvious that i am unable to watch any new movie. 'Fire in the Blood' was in my lappy since 2-3 months and as its a documentary so it took time to make mind to watch this film (or documentary whatever you say).
Its a documentary about AIDS-Drugs (ARVs ie AntiRetroViral Drugs) or more precisely about the battle between big pharma companies and global public health community. First AIDS drug was developed in 1963 (as Yusuf Hamied said ) but still in hands of big companies and due to high cost never reached pure Africans.
Documentary gives idea about, how big companies charging to much ($15000 per year) for ARVs since 1996 and poor Africans (and so south Americans and Asians/Indians) were forced to pay for that! 'The medicine to cure decease is where decease in not, and decease is where medicines are not!'
Yusuf Hamied an Indian and chairman of Cipla, (a man less famous than any outspoken Imam or RSS man in India ) helped global public health community by providing generic ARVs drugs for just $350 a year! at 45 times lesser prices!! Thanks to documentary, I got know about this great man!
Battle haven't ends here, government's laws in African country were not allowing generic drugs in the countries (influenced by US policies), but similar to declaring Anthrax as medical emergency in USA, here in Africa states started declaring AIDS as medical emergency and allowed generic drugs produced by Cipla.
Documentary ends at new discussion about regulations of TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and WTO's motives behind it.

* As of 2003 only 8000 people in Africa were able to get medicines of AIDS, after generic drugs, in 2010 8 Million people reached medicines.
* 85% of R&D on pharma sector is government funded (means, public-money funded). It means companies are investing less on developing new drugs and just earning!

Director/ Producer: Dylan Mohan Gray

Watch For : Many reasons.... To understand Global Public Health, To know struggle of people for medicine, Desmund Tutu, Yusuf Hamied, Zackie Achmat's efforts.

Do not Watch If : Its a must watch, there is no reasons to not watch it.

My Rating 100/100 (yeah, its 100%) !!!

"I was enraged as I watched, thinking of those years I spent as the Envoy, watching people die. [...] I rarely watch 'AIDS documentaries'; they're remarkably repetitive as a rule, largely uninspired and yielding almost nothing new. [Fire in the Blood] is in a wholly different category; a terrific, riveting documentary... dramatic, compelling, but most of all, wonderfully humane. [Gray is] a remarkably gifted documentary film-maker." 

-- Stephen Lewis (Former (2001–06) United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa)