Energy and Environment

The most important tool to protect our environment is development of alternative fuels or renewable sources of energy. Use the source which is available in abundance like Solar energy, wind energy etc. Renewable energy should be integrated in transport sector. By land, air and sea there are plenty of oppurtunities to reduce Carbon emissions from vehicles.Security of supply and climate change are high on the global energy agenda. Energy consumption for transport purposes represents 20% of the world’s total energy consumption. Few things can bring a huge change. They are following:
By land

Private cars: The numbers of cars in the world are growing rapidly. In the short term it is possible to make the cars far more fuel efficient. In the longer term electric cars charged by wind turbines, for instance, seem to be a fine solution for the global energy system. In the long term, cars powered by fuel cells and hydrogen can supplement electric cars. Road charges can also help reduce CO₂ emissions, regulate traffic and reduce local pollution. There should be emphasis on more kinds of alternative fuels, so that vital transport activities are not affected by supply failures. Public transport which is dismal in India should get a face lift. People should be encouraged to use bicyles and other modes of clean and green environment.

Vans and trucks: So far diesel engines have been the most efficient way of freight transportation on highways. A good alternative could be gas. Today's battery technology is not suited for electrically powered trucks. However, the distribution of goods in cities can be done with small electric vans. Drivers can be trained in driving energy efficiently. Taxes and duties can provide better and smarter transport solutions with lower energy consumption.

By sea

International shipping: Accounts for 90% of the global transport of goods. In order to reduce CO₂ emissions, shipping could be adjusted to a slower traffic, as well as a better planning of routes and logistics. This could save 10-15% of CO₂ emissions. The ships can furthermore be constructed with better propellers, hulls with less water resistance and new types of smooth bottom paint be used. Wind and solar power can also be used together with better engine technology. This could save 10-15% of CO₂ emissions. Thirdly, there can be legislation for achieving less CO₂ emissions. This as well could save 10-15% of CO₂ emissions from sea transport. To not distort competition, the legislation must be agreed on internationally.

By air

Passenger air transport: Passenger planes can become much more fuel efficient. Construction materials can be lighter. The air drag from planes can be reduced. Hydraulics can be replaced with electric engines. Solar energy can be used in a far better way. Efficient and climate-friendly fuel cells can produce electricity to all the electrical installations in the aircraft. Flight speed can be reduced, that is if the passengers are willing to accept longer flight times. As to routes under 800 kilometres, planes can be replaced with high-speed trains. Fossil fuels for aircraft engines can be replaced with biofuels.

The control of air traffic can be optimized so that planes avoid waiting at airports before departure or in the air before landing. The entire airspace can be used better, so that the planes do not have to criss-cross around the forbidden zones. Finally, you can legislate to reduce CO₂ emissions from aviation, but it must happen in global agreement in order not to distort any competion.

Agriculture Extension

Bhoomi a E-Governance project of the Government. 20 million land records of 6.7 million land owners in 176 taluks of Karnataka have been computerised. This system works with the software called "BHOOMI" designed fully in-house by National Informatics Center, Bangalore. While the project is largely funded by Government of India; some critical components of this project are funded by State Government. It provides total transparency in land records administration with added advantage of security and reliability. Overwhelming success of Bhoomi project has made computerisation of land records mandatory in all states of India.

"Bhoomi" is a very comprehensive software designed by NIC, Bangalore. This software provides for printing of land records as and when required. It incorporates process of online updation to ensure that the RTCs provided to the farmers is in sync with the time. The manual land records in operationalised taluks have been declared illegal. All the mutations to the land records database are done on the computer itself so as to ensure that data on computer remain current with time.


It incorporates the state of the art bio-logon metrics system from Compaq, which authenticates various users on the Bhoomi software on the basis of fingerprints. This ensures that no body can hack the system by imitating other users. The replacement of password security system by fingerprint authentication system would go a long way to ensure that database are free from any hacking and that the non-repudiation system is in place. This software also has the provision of scanning of original mutation orders of the revenue inspector who is the authorised person to pass orders in the mutations in the field) and notices served on interested parties. Both documents are scanned to ensure that not only responsibility can be fixed on Officials by showing the original documents signed by them but also to ensure that the intestered particies do not claim in the court that they were not served with the notice before effecting the mutation.

Bhoomi is one such step in agriculture extension. There were more who followed and there will be more to follow. As India has been an agrarian economy since British times, land recording is really neccessary and Bhoomi software has really helped in this regard.

EDUCATION

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has launched a new scheme of Community Development through Polytechnics (CDTP). It is aimed to provide informal short term, employment oriented skill development training to various sections of the community, particularly the rural, unorganized & disadvantaged sections. It will harness the infrastructure available with the existing Polytechnics.

These courses are to be offered without any fees from the candidates and there is no restriction of age and qualification.

The CDTP Scheme is one of the components of the Ministry's major new initiative - "Sub-mission on Polytechnics under coordinated action for Skill Development", which has been formulated as a part of the National Skill Development Mission.

Under the CDTP Scheme, the selected Polytechnics will be provided financial assistance by the MHRD, to run short duration non-formal skill development courses.

A variety of employment oriented courses are envisaged to be offered under the Scheme depending on local demands and needs.

These courses will be offered by the Polytechnics in its premises, as well as its extension centres, to be set up in nearby locations, from where these courses can be offered to the local community.

The Scheme also envisages transfer of technology and extending technical support services to the local community for which the Polytechnics would demonstrate, adapt and aid the assimilation of new technologies useful for the economic activities of the local community and provide technical support for their adoption.

The CDTP Scheme is to be implemented through 1000 AICTE approved polytechnics all over the country. The Ministry has invited applications from all eligible Polytechnics, interested in implementing the Scheme and contributing to a vital area of the nation's development, to submit their proposals in the prescribed format, latest by September 10, 2009.

This move by the government can help the youth force to hone their skills and earn meaningful livelihood. This will make them more industry competent and experienced.

Another news which caught my attention is persons of Indian origins but not the citizens of this country will soon be able to join Indian Government Jobs. It is a welcome change for Indian Universities as this move will attract the talented teachers teaching in reputed foreing universities. HRD ministry is calling it " Brain Gain". The ministry is working on a change in Citizenship Act , 1995, as ammnded in 2003. Ministry is also planning to give a resource endownment fund of not less thanRs 200 crores to each university per year. This move is significant for the expansion of higher education in India. There used to be 7 IITs , 6 IIMs and 24 Central Universities uptil 2007. Now there are 15 IITs and IIMs are going to become 14. Plus 12 new central universities are added to existing 24. The faculty will be able to decide the exam pattern, course design, fees etc. Ministry is also keen in forming networks with eminent professors and researchers working abroad to act as facilitators for sourcing talent for appointment in higher educational institutes. This move will surely make our education system world class and truly empowered.

Health and Family Planning

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's suggested that the best way to curb population growth was to provide electricity to rural areas. Couples would spend more time watching television and less time making babies.

Although his suggestion was regarded as frivolous in some quarters, Azad was making a serious point. With the country's population increasing by 18 million a year, he urged couples to wait until they were 30 before they married and started a family.

"It's a great concern. We need to work at supersonic speed to curb population growth," he said.

India's approach to population control has been anything but consistent. Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first prime minister after independence, considered a large population to be an asset for a poor country. That did not stop India introducing its first family planning programme in 1952, promoting the use of contraceptives, although it was not a great success.

By the 1970s, under Indira Gandhi, India was pursuing an aggressive policy of forced sterilisation for men with two children or more. That was abandoned when Gandhi was forced out and a more moderate policy of "Hum do, hamare do" (one family, two children) was adopted.

Advertisements were issued by Ministry of Health denoting the benifits of two children. One such ad was where a Jar full of tomatoes beyond its capacity is forced to be covered with its lid, the result all of them got squeezed. This funny but interesting ad did make an impact.

Now government is providing cash incentives to thousands of couples in India who agreed to put off having babies for at least two years after their wedding. It is the health officials attempt to curb the country's rapidly growing population.

While neighbouring China shows the first signs of relaxing its strict policy of one child per couple in the face of an ageing population, India is searching for a way of restricting the size of families as the battle over scarce resources grows.

The country's population stands at 1.2 billion and is expected to reach 1.53 billion by 2050. But there are not enough resources to feed this growing population.

A pilot project in the Satara district of Maharashtra has proved a success and other states, including Delhi and Assam, are now considering cash incentives.

Satara, funded by the National Rural Health Mission, is offering couples a reward of 5,000 rupees (£62) if they delay having a child for two years (70 rupees a day is a good wage in rural areas). If they wait another year, they receive a further 2,500 rupees.

The birthrate in the district rose from 16.5 births a thousand people in 2005 to 17 in 2007. The project initially attracted 977 couples, but that figure has risen to 2,366.

Satara has about 25,000 marriages a year and 80% result in the birth of a child wit in the first year. Only 155 couples on the programme left to have children.

The first cheques are to be issued on 15 August, with officials cautiously optimistic about a reversal in the birthrate, which is now down to 16.1 per thousand. Couples who take part are also eligible for family planning advice and free condoms.

Vivek Baid, president of the Mission for Population Control, said India could no longer sustain large families, and that it should now aim for zero population growth. "We feel that two children is a necessity, but that a third is not required. It is better for families to control their family size," he said.

Indians have traditionally had large families, partly to counter the effects of high infant mortality. The preference for a male child has also led to large families as couples continue to try for a boy.

With more than India's population under the age of 25, having more children means no improvement in economic situation as it places them under greater financial pressure and exposes them to malnutrition and diseases and they do not have the money for education and clothes.

So it is always better to have less children and providing them with best facilities so that they prove to be an asset for nation's development and progress.

Women Empowerment

http://go.worldbank.org/8Z3GHYVJU0

After reading this article, I felt that World Bank through its

Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project .
has made huge impact on the lives of poor women along with their families. Self Help groups also played a major role in this project. This project has led to eradication of several practises like Jogini(temple concubine), Child Marriage and all. It has prevented more than 5,000 child marriages and helped in letting joginis marry as per their wish. Moreover new schools have been opened up to educate the girls. This project has provided financial stabilty to women through its thrift savings program and easy loan availability. It has stopped women and children trafficking and domestic violence. This project advocates safe sex, family planning. It has also tried to resolve gender and economic issues by training and providing meaningful livelihood to women. Destitute women especially elderly women are provided with food security. Health insurance is also introduced for this women and almost 1.2 million SHG women have purchased life insurance cover. Women groups in Andhra Pradesh held against use of pesticides in farming and promoted natural pest control leading to cost cuts in cultivation. This Grassroot program has given political empowerment to women with 32000 women filing in nominations for variety of positions and 9500 women from SHG's and their federations have been elected at various levels.
The World Bank Project has taken its initiative to all 22 distrcits of Andhra Pradesh. It has also become a livilihood role model for other states, including Tamil Nadu and Bihar. Hope this success story is followed by more success in all parts of India which can only be called as true Women Empowerment.

Women Empowerment

http://go.worldbank.org/8Z3GHYVJU0

After reading this article, I felt that World Bank through its

Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project .
has made huge impact on the lives of poor women along with their families. Self Help groups also played a major role in this project. This project has led to eradication of several practises like Jogini(temple concubine), Child Marriage and all. It has prevented more than 5,000 child marriages and helped in letting joginis marry as per their wish. Moreover new schools have been opened up to educate the girls. This project has provided financial stabilty to women through its thrift savings program and easy loan availability. It has stopped women and children trafficking and domestic violence. This project advocates safe sex, family planning. It has also tried to resolve gender and economic issues by training and providing meaningful livelihood to women. Destitute women especially elderly women are provided with food security. Health insurance is also introduced for this women and almost 1.2 million SHG women have purchased life insurance cover. Women groups in Andhra Pradesh held against use of pesticides in farming and promoted natural pest control leading to cost cuts in cultivation. This Grassroot program has given political empowerment to women with 32000 women filing in nominations for variety of positions and 9500 women from SHG's and their federations have been elected at various levels.
The World Bank Project has taken its initiative to all 22 distrcits of Andhra Pradesh. It has also become a livilihood role model for other states, including Tamil Nadu and Bihar. Hope this success story is followed by more success in all parts of India which can only be called as true Women Empowerment.