Gary Agarwal's Blog

Wake up call on Defence

2008-01-17T14:48:00.000+05:30

Anurag Viswanath: Clouds of history

Anurag Viswanath / New Delhi January 17, 2008

Apart from the border dispute, China's encirclement of India remains a serious cause for concern.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s maiden visit to China with an “open mind” concluded on a high note with the joint declaration on “A Shared Vision for the 21st Century”, a commitment to building a harmonious world of durable peace and common prosperity through developing the Strategic and Cooperative Partnership. The declaration supports China’s commitment to support India’s aspirations in United Nations, cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy, besides positively viewing India’s participation in regional and sub-regional multilateral process and furthering bilateral trade.

Clichés aside, the visit was symbolic — issues such as the border dispute will fester in the background. The PM’s visit to China provides not only an opportunity to deepen a win-win economic relationship but also, importantly, an opportunity to take a well-deserved cue from the Chinese to delineate what should be Indian foreign policy’s pragmatic face.

The visit marked a sustained effort to institutionalise high-level visits and sustain the momentum of dialogue, which received a boost after former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit in 2003. The 2003 visit had concluded on a high note of the Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation, which marked India’s tacit recognition of Tibet as a part of China, in lieu of China’s recognition of Sikkim. Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit in 2005 led to an agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the settlement of the boundary question, and in 2006, President Hu Jintao’s visit reaffirmed the Strategic and Cooperative Partnership.

The bilateral visit comes after the conclusion of the first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation between India and China in 2006 which culminated in the first ever joint military exercise “Hand in Hand” held in Kunming, Yunnan province, in December 2007. This also comes on the heels of the 11 rounds of discussions between the Special Representatives on the unresolved border issue and the Third Round of Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing in 2007.

The visit took place in the backdrop of growing trade between the two. Sino-Indian trade which was $2.1 billion in 2000 has grown dramatically. It touched a high of $35 billion in 2007, up 54 per cent compared to 2006, making China India’s second largest trading partner. The target of $40 billion by 2010 set out in 2006 will be realised earlier.

On this visit, the target is to be further pushed to $60 billion a year. Border trade between India and China has resumed at the Nathu La pass after a hiatus of 44 years in 2006, facilitating the export of 15 listed Chinese goods and 29 Indian goods. However, trade is uninspiring at a meagre $1 billion.

This visit will also take forward the recommendations of the Joint Study Group (Feasibility Study) on the Regional Trading Arrangement (RTA) and measures to facilitate the same. While there has been progress on bilateral trade, India’s growing trade deficit, estimated at $9 billion in 2007, as well as the composition of the trade of low-value primary goods (such as iron ore) is worrisome. India is the 10th largest export destination for China.

The visit comes on the heels of new developments in the border region. Border negotiations continue to be tricky and remain under wraps. During the 11th round of talks between the Special Representatives, both sides agreed to form a Joint Working Group on the framework to resolve the issue.

The dispute in the Western Sector (WS, that is, Aksai Chin) and Eastern Sector (ES, Tawang) remains intractable with 14 areas under dispute (eight in the WS and six in the ES). There is no dispute in the Middle Sector. The dispute in the Western Sector has become complicated with the transfer of Shaksgam Valley (in PoK) by Pakistan to China. China does not recognise the Mcmahon line in the north-east and incursions along the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) have been reported in Arunachal Pradesh, an area which China covertly claims as South Tibet. Indian diplomatic channels have indicated China’s intransigence. China, on the other hand, alleges intrusions by India in the Western Sector.

China’s entente cordiale by way of defence or military arrangements with India’s neighbours — “encirclement” — has been cause for concern. China has upgraded or stimulated communication channels with India’s neighbours. The China-Nepal bus service started on the 736 km Kodari Highway since 2005; China also proposes to build four more road routes through Kunjerab Pass (PoK) to Pakistan doubling the existing network to eight. China and Pakistan also signed an MoU to upgrade the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in 2006. Pakistan has allowed China clout at Gwadar deep sea port at the mouth of Persian Gulf, an important Sea Line of Communication (SLOC). This will reportedly overhaul China’s maritime security, and enable an “energy channel” by giving it a strategic foothold in the gateway to West Asia. Plans are on the anvil to build a rail along the KKH, linking Western China to Pakistan.

China’s $3.1 billion Qinghai-Tibet Rail, which commenced operations in 2006, is also likely to have implications on Indian security. The 1,956 km rail line connects Xining with Golmud (both in Qinghai province) to Lhasa (TAR, Tibetan Autonomous Region). This line is to be further extended by 254 km at an estimated cost of $1.2 billion. The rail line will now extend to Shigatse, TAR’s second biggest city, during the ongoing 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010) and then onwards to Nepal. This would make India more accessible to China’s Chengdu Military Region (MR) and Lanzhou MR manned by the People’s Liberation Army.

There are allegations that tunnels built ostensibly for the railway may be used as missile bases. There are also unconfirmed reports that China is working on a military installation near Shiquanhe, Ngari prefecture, TAR. This backdrop explains India’s current initiative to step up infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh — seven roadways in the Indian state have been mapped out and 20 more planned in the border areas in the near future — which the Prime Minister will inaugurate later this month.

While the PM’s visit is a step forward, it is necessary, in the words of a famous sinologist, to see “China by daylight”, that is, to understand China in all its complexities and reign in both unbridled enthusiasm and cynicism about China.

Given the nature of the above developments, rabble-rousing about the “China threat” provides no solutions; the Chinese have not prevented India from setting its house in order, such as developing relations with peripheral states or upgrading infrastructure in border areas. Both vacillate between the promise of genuine friendship and the inextricable cloud of history. It is necessary to close the “knowledge gap” between the two. Geo-strategic compulsions and globalisation have underlined that there are no permanent friends or enemies.

And last but not the least, the visit entails lessons for India from China. From Mao to Market, leadership in China has maintained a constant goal, a long-term vision of fuqiang (fu, rich; qiang, strong) — of making the country rich and strong. China’s infrastructure has been one of the keys to becoming a manufacturing superpower.

What is admirable is China’s remarkable foresight. Defence preparedness, defence cooperation arrangements with neighbouring countries, developing relations around its periphery, progressive multi-dimensional relations with countries as disparate as United States, Congo and Myanmar, to name a few, proactive presence in regional and global fora, and a commitment to the goal of “Development is the fundamental principle” have propelled China’s resurgence in Asia and the world. The lesson for India is to take the cue.

Some thought provoking possibilities

2008-01-16T11:51:00.000+05:30

- Will the Nano or its equivalent finally replace the ‘autos’ in India?

- Can voting for PAN card owners, tax payers be made compulsory and can an e-ballot be casted through the cellphone?

- Can our multinationals, with the power to raise more money than the government does, in just 1 minute, think of adopting a district each for the ‘other India”?

- Reverse colonization- Will Indians spread to all parts of the World in their quest for economic opportunism?

- Could there be an Indian Amazon- how come there are no E-retailers for books, when there are so many for travel?

The book retailing business

2008-01-16T11:42:00.000+05:30

Just an observation- I buy a lot of books on Amazon because they are not available in the retail shops. But if one is in India, it is a bad proposition to use Amazon. On an average it takes 8-11 weeks for books to come to India, if you order on Amazon. I think that is too inefficient. With companies like Reliance getting into book retailing, if a company wants to take advantage of the current situation, it could establish a warehouse at Nagpur, particularly for discounted second hand books and tie-up with an express delivery companies (such as your) for a 48 hours delivery anywhere in India. There are plenty of E- travel agents, infact there are too many for any of them to be profitable for a long time but there currently is no Amazon type book seller in India. Amazon has warehouses even in China- a non-English speaking country, even in France, but not in India. If a tech company or even an existing book retailer wants, it can get into e-retailing in India very easily.

China bans free plastic shopping bags

2008-01-10T17:26:00.000+05:30

China bans free plastic shopping bags
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

China will ban shops from giving out free plastic bags and has called on consumers to use baskets and cloth sacks instead to reduce environmental pollution.

The regulation, effective in June, was decided on about 15 years after shopkeepers started handing out cheap, flimsy plastic bags to customers. "White pollution," a reference to the color of many bags, has cluttered landfills.

"Our country consumes a huge amount of plastic shopping bags each year," said the State Council, China's cabinet. "While plastic shopping bags provide convenience to consumers, this has caused a serious waste of energy and resources and environmental pollution because of excessive usage, inadequate recycling and other reasons."

The regulation is part of Beijing's increased efforts to fight the pollution that has accompanied breakneck economic growth. As factories churn out low-cost products for the world's consumers, they have severely fouled the country's air and water.

Beginning on June 1, all supermarkets, department stores and shops will be prohibited from giving out free plastic bags, the State Council said. Stores must clearly mark the price of plastic shopping bags and are banned from tacking that price onto products.

The production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags - those less than 0.025 millimeters, or 0.00098 inches, thick - were also banned, according to the State Council notice. Dated Dec. 31 and posted on a government Web site Tuesday, it called for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets."

It also urged waste collectors to step up recycling efforts to reduce the amount of bags burned or buried. Finance authorities were told to consider tax measures to discourage plastic bag production and sale.

Internationally, legislation to discourage plastic bag use has been passed in parts of South Africa, Ireland and Taiwan, where authorities either tax shoppers who use them or impose fees on companies that distribute them. Bangladesh already bans them, as do at least 30 remote Alaskan villages.

Last year, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban petroleum-based plastic grocery bags.

Roger Cohen: Brazilian lessons for '08

2008-01-04T10:39:00.000+05:30

By Roger Cohen

Published: January 2, 2008

RIO DE JANEIRO: It's good to begin the year in a country where coconuts are cleaved with nonchalant grace and the air is salty-sweet and there are guys on the beach from the "Life is Too Short Surf Club" and the Minister of Tourism advises those frustrated by long lines in airports to "relax and come."

That last remark, from Marta Suplicy, was voted one of the quotes of the year by the daily O Globo, along with another from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva evoking the most sensitive point of the female anatomy to explain his search for the essence of an energy accord with the United States. Brazil is different.

This is a serious as well as a sensuous country with a stock market up more than 70 percent in 2007, burgeoning oil and ethanol industries, planes for export, iron ore to keep the Chinese happy, and much else to buttress its rising-power status. But pleasure trumps sacrifice and there's a "jeitinho" - ingenious fix - for anything.

So I've resolved to adopt Brazilian karma for 2008 and forget all the little irritants that plague American lives: microwaved croissants, high-five contagion, globalized brunch, death by PowerPoint, shops calling themselves "shoppes," the inconsistency of belt- and-shoe-removal rules at airports, Apple addicts vaunting the latest gadgets and people who convey agitation or anger by writing in ALL CAPS.

I'm not even going to be irked by automatically flushing toilets that flush before you're done, "hot towels" that are just wet, automatically activated faucets that never activate, congealed risotto, the prodigious capacity for getting tangled of cords for iPods and computers and cellphones, backpacks with wheels, rolling backpacks being rolled by adults, voice-mail hell, or the middle-aged trying to sound hip about the Web.

Nope, I'm done with irritation. Give me expiring hotel key cards, yet more on Princess Diana and Dodi, TV correspondents waiting for hurricanes, headache-inducing prosecco, Web sites I'll only visit once that require a password, conspiracy theorists, people afflicted with the control-freak-martyr syndrome ("I do so much I never have time for myself"), tape dispensers that don't work, sommeliers who decant indifferent wine, even Christmas starting the day after Halloween - I won't raise an eyebrow.

Test me with flickering video images on planes, the noun-verb frenzy as in "you disrespected me," the insidious beat from others' iPods, people who say "waiting on" rather than "waiting for," the systematic relegation of Saddam Hussein's crimes to a subordinate clause, offshore wind turbines, the unerring instinct of hotel mini-bar replenishment people for arriving at the wrong moment, equally ill-timed calls from mothers-in-law, and the decorative use of indigestible red peppers. You'll find me happily tuned to Bossa Nova.

I refuse to be troubled in '08 by sensible "orthotic" shoes, kids staring at computer screens, kids saying "wait" at the start of sentences, surreptitious below-the-table BlackBerry use (the technological equivalent of picking one's nose, as my colleague Jill Abramson noted), undercooked arctic char, cinnamon or chocolate on cappuccino, greetings on your TV screen in hotel rooms, overfilled wine glasses in restaurants, organic everything, or people on the train saying "Hi, honey, I'm on the train" into cellphones. Nope, this is my Candomble season.

You can throw it all at me: overheated rooms, bank clerks who ask "Have I exceeded your expectations?" and rob you with the fine print, Brian Williams' bristling chest, theft-dissuasive hotel hangers that can only be suspended on rings with key-like slots, super-sized sushi, "adventures" in Africa for the rich, fear-mongering from banks about identity theft, Starbucks staff operating in slow motion, Chicago's ban on foie gras, and, as my daughter Jessica pointed out, all those people who respond to a compliment by telling you how much they paid ("I got it at Banana Republic for 75 percent off"). I'll be viewing the world through the surfer's prism.

I know, starting in Iowa today, we will watch the race for the most important post on earth unfold, one that will end our subjection to President Bush's irritating smirk and Vice President Cheney's irksome scowl, and we will watch in the hope that the fear that has pinched our lives and made us more irritable will be undone by November's winner.

No new president is going to deliver a tropical United States, which is more or less what Brazil is, or cabinet members who recommend sex for airport blues.

Still, it's a rich political moment. We've got a woman, a black, a Mormon, a creationist and perhaps a Jew in the race: Some U.S. taboos are falling. The end of a vexed political season may be in sight. Here's to an irritant-lite, liberating 2008 for all, and not just in Copacabana.

Govt plans financial sops for solar power units

2008-01-03T17:12:00.000+05:30

New Delhi, Jan. 2 The Centre plans to offer financial sops for the running of solar power units to enable developers to overcome high initial costs and ensure electricity generated by these units become cost competitive for injection into the grid.

“We will provide financial assistance amounting to Rs 12 per unit to developers in case of solar photovoltaic and Rs 10 per kilowatt hour in the case of solar thermal power fed to the electricity grid under a demonstration programme,” the Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Mr Vilas Muttemwar, said here on Wednesday.

Pvt sector investment

Addressing a press conference, Mr Muttemwar said the private sector is expected to invest about Rs 1,000 crore in solar plants eligible for assistance under the scheme during the current Plan period. The demonstration programme would be limited to a total installed capacity of 50 MW of solar power during the Eleventh Plan. A maximum capacity of 10 MW in each of the country’s States and a maximum of five MW per developer will be considered under the scheme.

“To generate each unit of solar power, it costs around Rs 15 and the cost per MW comes to around Rs 20 crore. But with the announced incentives, more people would be interested,” he said.

Incentives

Developers would sell electricity to state-run utilities and the incentives will be paid to them based on the tariff the utilities provide. Project developers will be given the incentive at a fixed rate for a period of 10 years and these incentives would be over and above any financial assistance extended by States. “Due to the incentive, the volumes are likely to go up, which would further bring down the cost,” Mr Muttemwar added.

Currently, renewable energy accounts for about 7.5 per cent of the country’s installed generation capacity of 1,27,673 MW, with most of it coming from wind energy projects. The share of solar power in renewables is small and only 2 MW of grid interactive solar power is generated in the country.

Diamonds, Gold & War

2008-01-03T16:15:00.000+05:30

This looks like a sequel to Guns, Germs and Steel.

When Frederick Boyle, an author, returned from diamond diggings in 1871, he wrote about the need for monopoly in the industry, thus: “You cannot drown the market with an article only appertaining to the highest luxury — without swift and sudden catastrophe…”

By royal monopoly alone, or by means of great and powerful companies, can jewel digging be made a thriving industry, he proposed. Citing this, Martin Meredith writes in Diamonds, Gold and War ( www.landmarkonthenet.com ) that several attempts at amalgamation had since been made. “Two companies had emerged by 1885 as the most likely nuclei for a diamond mining monopoly: Kimberley Central and De Beers,” he narrates. “Both set about crushing smaller rivals by producing as many diamonds as possible; in the words of a Standard Bank report, by ‘swamping them with production’.”

De Beers developed its operations at breakneck speed, doubling the amount of ground it excavated in the process and showing, according to the Standard Bank, ‘a reckless disregard for human life’, informs the book. “With accidents multiplying and disease rife, the death rate in the mine reached 150 per thousand employed.”

Within a few years, at Cecil Rhodes’ behest, a new company was set up — De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd.

“Instead of being limited to diamond mining, Rhodes wanted the new company to be able to engage in any business enterprise, annex land in any part of Africa, govern foreign territories and maintain standing armies.” At the first annual general meeting of the company, held on March 31, 1888, Rhodes “triumphantly proclaimed his determination to make De Beers ‘the richest, greatest, and most powerful Company the world has ever seen’.”

By September 1889, he had achieved ‘a complete monopoly of all Kimberley’s mines – 90 per cent of the world’s production.’ Together with the world’s principal diamond merchants, he then set out to achieve a marketing monopoly of the diamond trade to ensure that the market could be manipulated to the best advantage, keeping supply in line with the highest price available…”

Standing tall: The hardground barasingha

2008-01-02T19:09:00.000+05:30

Kanha National Park, Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh

The Kanha National Park is spread over Mandla and Balaghat districts with the Mukki range in Balaghat district being one of the homes for the rare hardground Barasingha (Cervus duvauceli branderi) with the swamp dwelling barasingha (Cervus duvauceli) being found in Terai, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Besides Kanha National Park, the hardground species is not found anywhere else. The best place to see the swamp barasingha is the Dudhwa National Park, put up by Billy Arjan Singh in U.P.

At one point of time in the 1970s, the number of hardground barasingha had dropped to 66, going by an article, Hardground Barasingha, written by Kishor Rithe in Sanctuary dated October 2005. Today, the number of barasinghas is put at slightly over 300 and is thought to be a viable population.

After a 25-km run to Mukki range from Kanha, Ganesh and this writer, hit the Bishanpura meadow, which impresses one with its quiet spread, rather more than the Kanha meadows. Tall, dry grass nod with the wind and at a distance one could see with the help of binoculars (also naked eyes) a barasingha family – a male, a female and a cub. One also noted, far away, a sizable herd of the animal.

We were keen on seeing the animal from near and our guide took us to Sounp Meadows, where again one spotted a male and a female together. The rutting season is on in the winter months and one heard the rutting call resembling “a shrill baying sound” as S.H. Prater puts it. However, the best viewing was the last, Friday morning drive into the Park. Motoring along at a slow pace in the Kanha meadows, we watched a male barasingha, looking comical with grass stuck at the top of its left antler. Taking dainty strides, the animal walked past our vehicle, waited for a few moments near the forest track, before crossing over followed by a second male, which had lost its antlers.

“There is a handsome grace in the animal,” remarked Giri and it seemed so. Kishor Rithe writes, “Barasingha have special habitat requirements. They feed on special grasses and enjoy aquatic plants found in and around water bodies on the hard grounds. Though their diet consists chiefly of grass, they also enjoy the tender leaves of sal and other trees. The presence of tall grass is essential to their breeding, as it provides shelter to pregnant females and protection for young fawns, from tigers, leopards and jackals.” Our guide told us wild dogs went after the animal as it was sluggish, and a tad dumb, mover.

Over the years, the park officials tried their best to alter the environment to lift the number of barasinghas. Kishor Rithe contends: “Though the efforts of most researchers and funding organisations came to naught, the barasingha eventually responded to that most simple of solutions – village resettlement, habitat regeneration and minimal forest management designed to keep meadows healthy and vibrant.”

Khageswar Nayak, who was the Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Kanha National Park, in his book Kanha: Glimpses of a Tiger Reserve, writes of a future plan to keep this animal going. “The Kanha meadows are anthropogenic – old sites of relocated villages and abandoned agricultural fields – and are in an arrested stage of succession. Besides, the meadows have become regressive due to the long history of annual early burning. These have resulted in the encroachment of grasslands by woody species such as Butea monosperma (Palas), Lagerstroemia parviflora (Lendia), Shorea robusta (Sal) and Diospyros melanoxylon (Tendu). ….Keeping this is view, the park management erects chain-link enclosures before monsoon in some portions of the grasslands that require this treatment and allows them to recuperate for a season or two until they grow rich in heterogenous species,” writes Nayak.

Today, the barasingha have moved from Kanha to Kisli, Mukki, Supkar and Bhaisanghat. One can hope to live with this fascinating animal, with its antlers dancing above the grass, for long into the future.

Surprisingly, the book of Nayak seems to have missed out on the rare white-backed vultures (Gyps bengalensis). We saw nine vultures a distance away from Shravan Tal – five in flight taking the thermals and four absorbing the sun atop a dried up tree. In the bright sunlight, they circled the air and on the turn one could spot the white back of theirs which while resting is hard to see.

There is a crash in the population of the white-backed vultures and the drug Diclofenac has been banned. Expert Rishad Naoroji in his book – Birds of Prey of the Indian Subcontinent – says most of the potential substitutes for Diclofenac hurt the kidneys of the vultures. He is in favour of captive breeding “to ensure viable populations for future reintroduction (into the wild).”

Rounding up the case for vultures, Rishad says: “At the time of this book going to print, permissions have not yet been granted for holding and captive-breeding facilities and capture of three species of vulture, despite the gravity of the situation. The MoE has shown itself to be completely impotent and this lack of effectiveness and bureaucratic indifference will be recorded by history.” Well, the way the script is running, every common bird of yesteryear, including the common house sparrow (Passer domesticus), could become uncommon.

P. Devarajan

A stove that can trigger a fuel revolution

2007-12-26T18:47:00.000+05:30

IN SEARCH OF CLEAN ENERGY: PART III

Sreelatha Menon & Sapna Dogra Singh / New Delhi December 26, 2007

Jatropha oil and solar stoves for cooking? Many environmentalists see cooking as the right use for jatropha oil and other bio-fuels which are now being used only for running vehicles.

The reason is that 80 per cent of the renewable energy now in use is in the form of twigs and cow dung that the rural woman uses for cooking. Jatropha oil and solar stoves could help continue using a green fuel even when she leapfrogs into affluence.

Says environment activist Sunita Narain: This woman is cutting more CO2 emissions than the big companies which have been running windmills, because her stoves outnumber the windmills. She is too poor to afford a kerosene stove or a gas stove or a microwave. Women like her form 80 per cent of the entire gamut of renewable energy, while wind, solar power and other forms comprise just a fraction of 0.4 per cent. Her chulha (oven) forms 39 per cent of India’s primary energy use. The need of the hour is to find an alternative for women like her. That would provide a beginning towards a low carbon economy.”

The energy advisor in Greenpeace India says the idea does not make economic sense as the jatropha grower would prefer to sell the oil to a company like Reliance, for say Rs 30 a litre, and buy kerosene for Rs 2.

However, Subrato Mandal, a bio-fuel expert and an economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), says the economy of fuels is skewed as subsidies are determining the prices of fuels. The environmental viability of fuels should also be taken into account. He says there are scattered instances of jatropha and similar plant oils being used for cooking purposes. But it has not been documented.

He says it can definitely be a medium for cooking as it can be directly put in the stove and the wicks burn like they do in an oil lamp. It can definitely be a good alternative for a petroleum product.

He says that the clean development mechanism (CDM) should be used to make the prices affordable for the poor.

If the CDM is used to fund jatropha use for cooking oil, it should translate into carbon emission reductions (CERs) and earn in euros to the grower and if it is being sold to an auto fuel company then the CERs should be denied to it, says Mandal.

Currently, a CER earns 21 euros — double of what it earned a year ago. So CDMs should be exploited to make such green projects like solar stoves and bio-fuels viable and profitable, adds Mandal.

The bio-fuel expert says solar stoves can supplement other cooking medium in cities and villages. He says if a solar stove can help a housewife cut LPG use from 14 cylinders a year to four a year, then why not?

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Renewable Energy has no project for green cooking fuels. It has 4 million family-size biogas plants, about 1.4 million solar photovoltaic systems for lighting and other applications.

It is, however, supporting deployment of renewable energy systems by providing fiscal and financial support to reduce the capital costs of these systems.

It is left to communities to exploit the green opportunities, says the ministry.

Seeing a tiger at its own sweet will

2007-12-26T18:26:00.000+05:30

Kanha National Park, Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh A chital alarm called as our Maruti Gypsy rolled down Bison Road in Kanha National Park at about 8 in the morning. A few minutes ago, the Park, with a core area of 940 sq.km and a buffer zone of 1,005 sq.km, had just shed its mist cover. The chital alarm called again possibly from the far side of Shravan Tal at the end of Bison Road. We moved back and forth Bison Road when our guide, 30-year-old Kamalesh Maravi, advised us to halt the vehicle at the end of Bison Road in front of Shravan Tal.

Kishor Rithe of the Satpuda Foundation, at the wheel, switched off the engine and we waited. By about 8.20, one got the first glimpse of the radio-collared tigress as it climbed on to the embankment, strolled along before moving down towards us and away into thick, dry light brown grass. From a distance of about 80 ft. we could take some pictures as the tigress walked in and out of the skylight. Kishor refused to age the tigress while Kamalesh Maravi thought it was a full grown, six-year old female. It has three cubs and has earned a frightening reputation as some of the guides believe it had killed a human intruder into the Park some time ago. Kishor, Giri Venkatesan, this writer and his son, Ganesh, had a peaceful viewing as there was only a second Gypsy parallel to us.

Over five days, Ganesh and this writer (Kishor and Giri had to break off on work at Mandla) had five tiger sightings. Evening trips in Kanha start at 3 p.m. and end at 5.30 p.m. while the morning rides start at around 6 a.m. and end at 12 in the afternoon. There were about 30 minutes to go that evening as we were driving in second gear along Dhawajhandi fireline before touching the Indri-Chimta Road. Our guide Phagan Singh Maravi is passionate about tigers. He has a sixth sense as he told us in Hindi, “Saab, idhar tiger dekhne ko milega (Saab, we are sure to see a tiger here).” Sure enough at around 5.10 on the left side of the forest track, we sighted the powerful head of a heavy, radio-collared male. It was a profile in tiger thought as we switched off the Gypsy engine to watch. After a few minutes, it rose, looked round and walked away sedately in silent mode.

It was 5.15 p.m. Yet again, we were alone on the forest track. We moved along to spot a second male, probably mightier than the first, on the right side above a nullah. A peacock was strutting in front of it calling desperately. But the tiger did not attack. For a few moments it sat on its hind legs staring at the peacock nervously pacing in front. The tiger walked down the nullah, circled a tree to smell it and moved away as a few vehicles saw the action. The peacock also made it with its life. “Chalo aaj bach gaya (He is saved for the day),” remarked Phagan Singh Maravi. On the following evening, a male tiger sighting was ruined by many crowded Gypsies, desperate to see the animal. It lay curled up in the grass with its head tucked into its belly and did not bother to raise its head. Perhaps, from an aesthetic angle, the radio-collared tigress at the Kanha Meadow was the prettiest sight.

Driving along the edge of the Kanha meadow, we (along with our guide Kamalesh Maravi) thought we heard a high-toned roar and stood still at the spot. Two wild boars were feeding at a distance of about 80 ft. when Maravi took us back to the rim of the Kanha Meadows. At 8 a.m., in sparkling sunlight, a radio-collared tigress strode out across the grassless part of the Meadow towards a banyan tree. Two elephants tried to trap the lady (for the popular Tiger Show) as it crossed over into the forest beyond. For about a forever 10 minutes, one stood rooted at the easy grace of the lady as she made the distance. Panthera tigris is alone in the super league of Nature. Kamalesh Maravi had his own construct on the event. Possibly, the tigress was mating with a male and went off the scene for its own reasons. The elephants failed to trap the female but got the male for the Tiger Show. Three to four elephants surround a tiger or tigress for the public riding on the elephant’s back to have a sighting. Most wildlifers scorn the Tiger Show. This writer would ban it for the reason that the Tiger Show comes in the way of seeing a tiger at its own sweet will in the wild by the ordinary public.

On holidays (like the one starting ahead of Christmas and ending around the first week of January), more than 70 vehicles enter the Park when the carrying capacity is 55 vehicles per day (six to a vehicle). This information was given last year to this writer by Khageswar Nayak, Chief Conservator of Forests, Kanha National Park. With the media (including this piece) exclusively chronicling the fate of the tigers, the visiting public is exclusively tuned on the animal; the rest of the sal and bamboo forest and its citizens, which is Kanha National Park, are set aside. Using own funds liberally to reach Kanha, the public wants to see a tiger and at some places vehicles form double rows (with none yielding space) when the animal is spotted. It does not have an easy solution as disappointing too many visitors could get them forever against Nature, argues Giri. There is a scientific way to measure the carrying capacity of vehicles in a Park and that could act as the limit, says Kishor Rithe.

But one cannot understand the move of the Park management to open a third gate at Bitcha to add to the rush; currently there are two gates – Kisli and Mukki. In the bargain, the Tiger Show needs to be stopped as it is demeaning to the tigers, if not to the humans.

Public frustration can be really sharp going by the tale told us by Phagan Singh. A frustrated visitor, having spent well over Rs. 20,000, yelled at Phagan Singh Maravi and threatened to report the non-sighting of a tiger to forest managers in Bhopal and New Delhi. “Ek do tiger ko idhar bandh ke rakkho (Tie up one or two tigers in the Park),” he shouted at a scared Phagan Singh, who humbly replied, “Saab, aap kuch bhi karo. Mere ko chod do (Saab, you are welcome to do anything but leave me alone).”

Some time in the future the public may be able to see more tigers as the Satpuda range as Central India becomes one integrated piece of Tigerland. Proof: Dr. Y.V. Jhala of the Wildlife Institute of India, has radio collared a few tigers in the area and one tiger collared in Kanha National Park was found recently in Pench Tiger Reserve Maharastra, some 250 km away.

P. Devarajan

Recycling company building $50m plastic-to-fuel plant

2007-12-18T14:47:00.000+05:30

Enviro-Hub's plant will be able to convert into fuel 30,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year

By Jessica Cheam

AN EXCITING new use has been found for the annoying plastic waste that often washes up on beaches and clogs rubbish dumps: fuel.

It may sound too good to be true, given the soaring price of crude oil and the global hunt for alternative fuels, but mainboard-listed Enviro-Hub Holdings says it is building the world's first large-scale, commercial plastic-to-fuel plant.

The waste management and recycling firm yesterday announced the construction of Singapore's first $50 million plastic-to-fuel plant - which converts waste plastic into useable fuels and gases.

Its executive chairman, Mr Raymond Ng, told The Straits Times that Enviro-Hub had been researching a long-term environmental solution for plastics since 2005.

Success came only last month, when a pilot plant it built proved that the technology imported from India worked.

This patented technology, for which Enviro-Hub now holds an exclusive licence, heats waste plastic with a special catalyst that breaks it down into 85 per cent diesel, 10 per cent liquid petroleum gas and 5 per cent coke.

'This plant is a historic milestone for the company,' said Mr Ng, formerly the co-founder of waste recycler Citiraya Industries, now known as Centillion Environment and Recycling.

'Plastic waste has always been a big problem for the world. The commercial potential in this technology is huge,' said Mr Ng.

Enviro-Hub's new 200,000 sq ft plant in Tuas, which will cost an initial $30 million to build, will be able to convert into fuel 30,000 tonnes of waste plastic a year.

Mr Mohamed Gani Mohamed Ansari, business development director of Enviro-Hub unit Cimelia Resource Recovery, said the diesel produced - unlike in older technologies - would have low sulphur content and also lower carbon dioxide emissions. The heating process of converting the waste plastic into fuel would also be emissions-free, said Mr Ansari.

Enviro-Hub is now looking into seeking carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

These credits are savings in carbon dioxide emissions - largely blamed by scientists for global climate change - that can be traded on the carbon market.

Enviro-Hub's facility - equivalent to a 24MW plant - will use about 5 per cent of the fuel it generates to power itself.

The rest will either be used to power the rest of Enviro-Hub's plants nearby or sold to industries.

The plant will start operations by the second quarter of next year, with its capacity expanding to 50,000 tonnes a year at an additional cost of $20 million by end-2008, said Mr Ng.

Enviro-Hub yesterday incorporated a new unit - Enviro-Power - to operate the plant.

Funding for the plant is internal, the firm said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange.

Singapore is estimated to generate more than 300,000 tonnes of waste plastic a year - a capacity Enviro-Hub hopes its plant will eventually reach.

Enviro-Hub also announced late yesterday that it would invest US$4.2 million (S$6.1 million) in a 30 per cent stake in Enviro Energy - a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

Enviro Energy, through a unit in Thailand, will also be looking to set up a similar plastic-to-fuel plant in Thailand.

The setting up of Enviro-Power and the investment in Enviro Energy are not expected to have any financial impact on the company's current financial year.

Enviro-Hub's shares was 0.5 cent higher at 57.5 cents at yesterday's close

Leadership in Governance

2007-12-18T12:11:00.000+05:30

MEN AND IDEAS

Blueline solution in Indore

GURCHARAN DAS

To be able to kill 113 persons in less than 12 months in broad daylight is something of an accomplishment. The distinction belongs to Delhi’s Blueline buses. Desperate citizens tend to blame drivers, police, politicians, or transport officials. They are all guilty, of course. The real problem, however, lies elsewhere. A few months ago a prominent public figure even blamed ‘privatisation’. A staggering comment, i thought, considering that major cities in the world (including in France and England) have excellent, privately run bus services.
   Closer to Delhi lies Indore, a city of 20 lakh people. Vivek Aggarwal, a 34-year-old IAS officer, became its collector in 2005. He had a hobby — he studied bus services in different cities. With a tiny capital of Rs 25 lakh, he launched a public-private bus partnership in Indore based on best practices in the world. Two years later, Indore has a fleet of 98 modern, low-floor buses with computerised ticket-vending. Electronic signboards at bus stops announce when the next bus is due based on satellite data. Investment in the system has risen to Rs 40 crore, all done privately. The city has made a profit since inception; so have its six private partners who run the buses. Soon, it will have 500 buses. Indore is now quoted (with Bogota) as having the best bus service in the world.
   What can Delhi learn from Indore? First, it must ditch the old socialist idiocy of ‘one bus one owner’ — a product of the ‘small is beautiful’ thinking of the Eighties. This same stupidity made India reserve 800 industries for the ‘small scale sector’. Economists believe this was perhaps the most harmful industrial policy of the past 50 years, which has effectively prevented our industrial revolution. Indore did not have such socialist hang-ups — it selected the most capable entrepreneurs and companies to run its buses. Secondly, Delhi must not allow two operators to compete on the same route. This leads to speeding and accidents as drivers scramble to maximise revenue. Bus owners must get exclusive routes and earn revenue based on distance travelled, and this can be easily monitored by an affordable satellite system that tracks bus movement. Indore has a daily and monthly electronic pass, whose revenues are shared between companies. Tomorrow, if Delhi switched to a system where Blueline buses earned revenue per kilometre, traffic deaths would disappear.
   Delhi must also have a regulatory body which assesses demand, plans routes, fixes fares, gives out tenders, and monitors daily performance. Indore has a five person team which does this continuously, and this is the secret of its success. Delhi is finally planning to have a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, but unless it gives it teeth, it won’t succeed. Some will argue that Indore is too small to be an example for Delhi. These are the same second rate minds who scoffed at Japan’s miracle in the Sixties and Korea’s in the Seventies, arguing that these countries were too small for India to copy. Just think of Delhi as 10 Indores!
   Another painful lesson from this tale of two cities is that it takes a bit of luck to throw up officers like Vivek Aggarwal, who have the knowledge and the will to deliver. The average IAS officer spends a lifetime pushing files and still gets promoted. Vivek Aggarwal, i fear, may actually be punished by a system that puts down achievers. But before that he would have had the moral satisfaction of bringing a smile on 20 lakh faces in Indore — something that most of his colleagues will never experience in an entire lifetime.