Opinion
Industrial energy conservation: issues for improving industrial operations
16 Sep 2001 |
Mr Kaushik Bhattacharjee
,Ms Archana Tyagi
| TERI Newswire 7(17)
With the opening up of the Indian economy during the early nineties, the industrial sector has awaken to the need of reducing the cost of production thereby trying to make their products more competitive in the market. Energy has become one of the crucial areas where cost reduction is targeted. Efforts in this direction have lead to positive results. The specific energy consumption of some of the energy intensive sectors reflects this change. While these (there?) are reasons for the industries to feel proud of this positive change, a comparative analysis shows that the same industries are way behind their international competitors.
Why should bureaucrats, judges be regulators?
15 Sep 2001 |
Mr S Sundar
| The Times of India
Regulators should have a thorough knowledge of the sector they regulate and a vision for its future, and these qualities are not necessarily present in the civil service or the judiciary. However, a count of the chairpersons of the fourteen State Electricity Regulatory Commissions and the three Central Regulatory Commissions shows that 41 percent are retired bureaucrats, 23 percent retired judges, and 23 percent professionals; 13 percent of the posts are vacant.
Measuring and managing power sector reforms
04 Sep 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Economic Times
Power sector reforms have been very much in the news, and given the precarious state of our power supply industry, the urgency of specific measures is now dawning on the leadership of political parties across the horizon.
Montreal Protocol: a success story of global cooperation
02 Sep 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire 7(17)
September 16 is celebrated as International Ozone Day, and the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Government of India, needs to be congratulated for having observed this day in a series of events held in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Far too much attention has been provided in the past to doing things in the capital city of Delhi. But if environmental protection is to become part of our agenda in every sphere of activity, then it is essential that the message be understood and actions be implemented in the states of the Indian Union. The celebrations in Hyderabad were attended by the Hon'ble Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Mr T R Baalu; the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Chandrababu Naidu; and the Secretary in the MoEF, Mr P V Jayakrishnan, among several others.
Clearing the air: many roadblocks on the CNG route
02 Sep 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Times of India
The government now appears to be seized of the recent problems caused by the CNG crisis and has set up yet another committee to recommend a new auto fuel policy. However, much hardship has already been caused to the ordinary citizen by the CNG experiment. It was supposed to be the fuel of the future for India and the Delhi experience should prove cautionary for other states. A prominent Delhi school recently sent out letters to parents requesting them to consider forming car pools. The same letter also mentions that the school would have perforce to resort to two increases in the bus fee this year, the first on account of increase in the price of diesel fuel, and the second which is to take effect from October 2001 when CNG buses are introduced. Unfortunately, this communication is symptomatic of a much larger reality, which those who recommended the switch-over to CNG for public transport in Delhi, did not bother to consider. CNG is an economic extravagance. There are determined attempts to see that sales tax is not levied on CNG, even though in Delhi it is heavily subsidised, costing only Rs 12.21 per kg as opposed to Rs 18.35 in Mumbai.
Electricity reforms: what next?
01 Sep 2001 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| The Hindu Business Line
The reforms programme in the electricity sector was initiated largely because of the recognition of the need for large infusions of capital if power shortages were not to grow exponentially. The economic compulsion for such reforms arose, undoubtedly, from the impact electricity shortages would have on industry and commerce. However, it can be argued that the political buy-n came from the realisation that the socio-olitical consequences of not catering to the minimum needs of the non-emunerative agricultural and residential sectors could be enormous.
Consumer must get quality service and value for money
25 Aug 2001 |
Mr S Sundar
| The Times of India
Until recently, the quality of infrastructure service provided to consumers was of no concern, either to the government or to the service providers. The law regulating these sectors also did not address the quality of service. For example, while the Electricity Act, 1910, set standards of safety, it did not set any standards for quality of service. Similar was the case in the telecom and port sectors. As a result, consumers usually received poor quality of service. No time limits were set, for instance, for fault repair in the electricity or telephone services, power fluctuations were rampant, or telephones remained dead for days on.
The buses and bicycles option
24 Aug 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Newspaper Today
There has been a great deal of debate on air quality in Delhi, measures taken to bring about an improvement, and their effectiveness. There is a popular perception that CNG, which has been introduced in the city in recent months, has made a substantial difference to air quality in the city. In actual fact this is not borne out by data on air quality provided both by the CPCB from its seven monitoring stations and TERI from its eleven stations. Undoubtedly, there has been a significant improvement in air quality at CPCB's monitoring station located at the ITO crossing, but it would be very difficult to ascribe any improvements that have taken place to the impact of transport-related emissions in general and CNG-related emissions in particular.
Engineered genes: roll over Darwin
20 Aug 2001 |
Dr M S Lakshmikumaran
| The Daily Pioneer
I feel that this whole debate over GM or no GM is a lot in the air. There are no logical reasons to oppose GMOs or their introduction into India. First, the technological aspect: There is absolutely no reason to suppose that GM crops, when introduced on Indian soil, will result in uncontrollable cross-pollination with other indigenous species or with the same plants' non-GM variety. The second argument, that India's food security will be lost to corporates is equally unfounded. Farmers are free to save, reuse, distribute or otherwise channelise their seeds and farm produce.
Trade facilitation and WTO
19 Aug 2001 |
Mr S Sundar
| The Economic Times
The forthcoming Doha Ministerial Conference has put the debate on WM issues in sharper focus. There has, however, been little discussion on the proposal to have a multilateral agreement on trade facilitation in WTO.