Opinion
Viable alternatives
05 Feb 2003 |
| Deccan Herald
As the first Secretary to the Government of India in the newly established department of Science and technology, Dr Arcot Ramachandran, who has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan award this year, had a major role in the setting up of agencies like the National Remote Sensing Agency, the Ocean Science and Technology Agency, Environment Planning, Co-ordination and Research Programme, the National Information System for Science and Technology, and the New Energy Sources Research and Development Programme, all of which have become ministries now, besides formulating the country's first Science and Technology Plan. Along with scientists like Dr M S Swaminathan, Dr Ramachandran is one of the few scientists in the country who have a strategic vision for India's development that links progress with technology development and transfer. He started off with research on the dynamics of heat transfer, a field of study which has wide ranging applications from rocket re-entry to domestic geysers, and it was under Dr Ramachandran's initiative that the School of Heat Transfer and Energy Research in the IIT, Madras was established, besides the Indian Society for Heat and Mass Transfer. Dr Ramachandran, for a long and extended tenure of 13 years has also lead the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, formulating programmes like the 'Sustainable Cities' programme and the Sustainable Human Settlements Development Programme, which have been transforming the lives of millions of people across the globe. Dr Arcot Ramachandran now focuses his attention on alternate and renewable energy sources serving as chairman of Tata Energy Research Institute, and holds that access to energy (sources) and power are the two things that can pull our villages from poverty and propel them into the forefront of development. He speaks to Hema Vijay on the possibilities that lie ahead in alternative energy sources.
Regulatory relationships - the management perspective
05 Feb 2003 |
Ms Anjali Garg
,Ms Ekta Bhardwaj
| The Hindu Business Line
Are regulatory relationships in India well-managed? In fact, are they managed at all? To answer this, one has to go back a little into their history. The establishment of regulatory bodies in India in the mid-1990s marked the beginning of a new phase for various utilities. The requirements of the new regulatory role included internal and external co-ordination by the utility. However, at that time, only a few utilities were equipped to deal with this added responsibility and not enough resources - financial and human - were devoted to this function.
Trade and environment set to lock horns at WTO
04 Feb 2003 |
Mr Sandeep Singh
| The Financial Express
Less than eight months remain before the Cancun Ministerial meeting and two years before the Doha Round of WTO negotiations is scheduled to conclude. As with most contentious issues, the negotiations on trade and environment are moving nowhere. Yet they are of special significance as they are likely to set in motion the direction for further integration of trade and environmental objectives in the WTO.
Environmental goods at WTO - the question of tariff reduction
02 Feb 2003 |
Mr Sandeep Singh
| The Hindu Business Line
In WTO, the developed-developing dichotomies are more often than not insignificant, as countries adopt different positions on individual issues that suit their specific interests. At the Doha Ministerial Conference, for instance, the common position of developing countries failed to converge when they gave up on environment at the last moment. Consequently, substantial aspects of the trade-environment debate were made part of negotiations.
The pipeline of peace - What could also flow through the India-Iran pipeline: improved Indo-Pak relations
22 Jan 2003 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Indian Express
It is significant that the chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade would be the President of Iran, Mohammed Khatami. Prior to the visit of the Iranian President, a team of officials from that country led by the Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Mohammad Hossein Adeli have done valuable preparatory work.
Nuclear power pipedream
27 Dec 2002 |
Asha Ram Sihag2
| The Hindu Business Line
Nuclear power is back in the news again, with ambitious plans being unveiled for India going full speed ahead on this energy option. India's nuclear energy plan is based on the three-stage nuclear power programme drawn up by Homi Bhabha in 1954.
In defence of Kelkar
19 Nov 2002 |
Asha Ram Sihag2
| The Hindu Business Line
The draft report on direct taxes of the task force headed by Dr Vijay Kelkar has drawn much undeserved and ill-informed criticism. This is unfortunate, as the report presents a coherent vision of a modern and transparent tax regime and administration, which is simple, equitable and treats tax-paying citizens with dignity.
Reading between China's miracle lines
17 Nov 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Indian Express
The most remarkable feature of China's growth in the past two decades has been its ability to set course and stay on it against all odds and eventualities.
Chinese vision, Indian blinkers
16 Nov 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Indian Express
Now that the Prime Minister has highlighted the reality of India competing with China, this nation must reflect on the nature of this competition. At no stage must we compete with our neighbour in a spirit of confrontation, but essentially on the basis of mutual respect and also with growing bilateral linkages between us.
Reconfirming regulator's legitimacy
07 Nov 2002 |
Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
| The Economic Times
Of all the court decisions on infrastructure regulation, perhaps the most significant one in setting at rest the jurisdictional controversy between regulators and the judiciary, is the Supreme Court judgement of 3 October 2002 which has laid down important principles for regulatory governance.