Desicritics Category: BizTech: Environment

Frankenstein or Frankincense Crops?

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:23:01 EST

Here is a quite interesting story about GM foods. Personally speaking, I like the idea of having more GM food around the world. Just because the prices are falling a bit, does not mean that the pressure for more food has gone away. The middle classes of the world are demanding higher quality food, meat and the lot. They still need to be fed and watered. Given the lack of additional farm land, water, the only thing to do is to improve productivity of the existing cropland. GM foods provides one with a way to do this. Here are some interesting quotes:

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) said the global area of GM crops increased from 114m ha in 2007 to 125m ha in 2008, producing a harvest worth $7.5bn. The number of farmers planting GM crops rose from 12m in 22 countries to 13.3m in 25 countries.
Clive James, ISAAA chairman, said the most significant development last year was the first commercial planting of biotech crops in two African countries: maize in Egypt and cotton in Burkina Faso. Both crops contain “Bt genes” from bacteria, which kill insect pests. In 2007 South Africa had been the only country on the continent with GM plants (cotton, maize and soya).

Look at some of the benefits:

Of the cumulative economic gains of $44bn over 10 years of growing GM crops, the report attributed 44 per cent to yield increases and 56 per cent to reduced production costs, including the use of 359,000 tonnes less pesticide.

Now isn't that just peachy? Good stuff to read that not only you increase productivity, but production costs are reduced and less pesticide is used therefore reducing pollution as well. Yes, there are quite a lot of issues in this relating to the sale of patented seeds, potential for gene mutation, and the lot, but I think the risks are well worth it. Here is a good report from Friends of the Earth as a counterpoint to this argument. Anyway, I really dont want to get into a head banging argument about this.

One thing which is quite interesting is that if you increase the usage of GM foods, then the sustainability size factor of farms reduces as well. What do I mean by this? Well, in vast swathes of the world, you will see that the actual plot sizes are tiny. Plus with more and more children, the plots of land become smaller and smaller down every generation, till the end where the land is practically too small to support even one family and poverty increases dramatically. But with increase in crop productivity, less production costs, the level at which land sizes are no longer sustainable or able to support even one family increases. So for countries like India and China, this is good news indeed.

But beyond that, countries are now getting desperate for food security. Here’s a great example of what South Korea is planning to do in Madagascar. I quote:

South Korea's Daewoo Logistics this week announced that it had negotiated a 99-year lease on some 3.2 million acres of farmland on the dirt-poor tropical island of Madagascar…….Daewoo plans to put about three quarters of it under corn. The remainder will be used to produce palm oil — a key commodity for the global biofuels market. A Daewoo manager, Hong Jong-wan, told the Financial Times that the crops would "ensure our food security" and would use "totally undeveloped land which had been left untouched."

Here is another example of how Saudi Arabia is doing the same in Pakistan. I quote:

To this end, the Saudis, the Emiratis, and the Bahrainis have been in talks with Egypt, Pakistan, Ukraine, Sudan, Turkey, Yemen, South Africa, the Philippines and Thailand to buy up or rent arable land and expand agricultural production in these countries.

This is actually good, I dont have an issue with this. This is pushing investments in poorer countries and combined with new types of crops, the food situation in the world will get a desperately needed fillip. So instead of these crops being Frankenstein type of horror for the world, I suspect they will more be frankincense.

Technorati Tags: agriculture, India, Egypt

Bimaru States In India

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:53:38 EST

States and regions also become sick besides companies and human beings. When they become sick, you get a doctor, then you dose the patient with some foul smelling medicine, and then you get better, and to stay better, you keep on doing good healthy things so that you do not fall ill. But then, there are some fellows who will smoke, drink, eat fatty foods, then get a heart attack, and then continue on with being a bad old egg.

But what's with Bimaru in the title? It is a play on words, the word itself stands for 4 Indian states, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. When you select those letters together, they mean sick (Bimar in Hindi means sick). And yes, Sir, they are sick in terms of almost every socio-economic indicator that is going.

Obviously, the reasons are multifarious, but mainly is because of the venality of the politicians of all stripes. Corruption is rife, illiteracy rampant, health is poor, economics horrible, generally a sad old reflection of what India's missed opportunities are. What makes it even worse is that these are poor states in a poor country, but other states have done much better. I realise that somebody has to come bottom, but when we are talking about poverty levels which are at or below starvation levels, then being at the bottom has severe implications for rest of the country. It does not also help that these states are some of the most populous in the country.

One would expect that every state would be hell bent in trying to improve its investment climate so that jobs are produced and better quality of life is achieved. But no, most of the leaders of these states are too busy being corrupt and feathering their own nests. By and large, they are a venal lot, seriously. And having had experience of living, studying, working, running firms in these states, I can personally say that the situation isnt improving fast. For entrepreneurs, it is tough, really tough. When you have borrowed money from your father's General Provident Fund (pension fund), and have invested in the anticipation that you will provide sufficient returns so that your old man is not left on the street, the last thing you need is your own government and its officials being like vultures, bent on capturing your hard earned money. Well, perhaps it is too much to expect, but what exactly are the problems facing entrepreneurs?

The World Bank recently released a paper comparing the investment climate in 16 Indian states for which they had data. Here's their main graphic which shows the investment climate in the 16 states.

So what did the author evaluate to make up the index? This is what I mean by saying that the issues with these states are simple but implementation needs just simple hard work. Nothing magical, just keep on plugging away at it. Here are some of the factors relating to infrastructure: Hours of power outages last year, Hours of telephone outages last year, Percentage of sales lost in transit, percentage of sales lost due to power outages, Days of inventories kept for main input (proxy for quality of transportation). What about inputs? Excess labor, Cost of finance: value of collateral required to obtain a loan, Proximity to raw materials (share of inputs bought by domestic sources) Proximity to domestic customers, Share of firms using new technology, Trade credit: share of sales sold on credit, Trade credit: share of inputs bought on credit.

Finally institutions make a huge amount of difference to the investment climate and the authors included security cost, losses due to theft , Manager time spent dealing with regulations, Days spent with officials to deal with regulations, consistent interpretation of rules, Tax evasion (% of sales not declared), Days to obtain a telephone connection, Days to obtain a electric connection, Days to obtain a construction permit, Bribes to "get things done", Share of firms reporting officials request gifts etc. etc.

While one can only exhort the states at the top to do much better, but its the stogy lump of undigested mass of states at the bottom which is the issue. Not only do the good state's get their tax revenues diverted to support these Bimaru states, the diversion of tax revenues is then not invested in productive matters. So, all in all, these are giant holes where a significant proportion of productive wealth generated by India disappears.

The concluding paragraph from the author is particular important but would not be particularly surprising.

The analysis of 46 investment climate variables shows that power, transportation, corruption, tax regulations and theft
remain the major bottlenecks policymakers need to address in order to improve the business environment in India.

Same old, same old. Long way to go, my friends, long way to go.

Technorati Tags: Corruption,Public Sector,Development,Economics,India,World Bank

Action Sociology: Human Rights with Sanitation

Somik Raha — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:34:43 EST

Ever since independence (and from a long time before that), people in India have been appalled with the abuse of the caste system, especially the poor treatment meted out to "untouchables." As usual, well-meaning people think they can change attitudes by passing laws. And so, India has The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, which punishes the preaching and practice of untouchability. Needless to say, the act made little difference on the ground in terms of changing people's attitudes.

There is no dearth of angry activism on this issue in India and outside, and as is the nature of all angry activism, the message is so loud that people close their ears and ignore it. Meanwhile, India's politicians are more interested in maintaining the status quo and milking caste divisions for votes instead of working for the welfare of the "untouchables." In this hopeless scenario, one man is running a silent revolution with a lot of success.

This is the story of Bindeshwar Pathak, whose life transformed as a young man in the 60s, when he was told by the General Secretary of a Gandhian organization that it was Gandhi's unfinished work to remove the profession of manual scavenging from India and liberate the untouchables. The General Secretary told the young Pathak that he had to finish Gandhi's mission and added, "I see light in you." The young man had no clue what this meant, but he read a few books published by the WHO on sanitation, and decided to live in a scavenger's colony for two months to understand them and their problems. People thought he was crazy. He survived, and came back with an understanding that was different from any social activist in this field.

He felt that the discrimination of the untouchables was due to technical reasons. The untouchables, or manual scavengers of toilets, were considered dirty as they dealt with human excreta while cleaning "bucket toilets." Human excreta would be pulled out of such toilets into buckets and then, scavengers would carry buckets on their heads to a location for disposal. If there could be an alternate toilet designed to be self-cleaning, then it would be cheaper for the consumer as they wouldn't need to hire people to clean it. It would also eliminate the need for the scavenging profession.

Pathak started "Sulabh" (which means "easy") to address this. He came up with the two-pit pour-flush toilet which would work in the Indian context. One pit would be in use at a time. Once the pit was full, it would would be closed and the other would be in operation. Over a year, the first pit's contents would turn into manure and could be used as fertilizer in the field. Thus, there would be no need to scavenge and clean these toilets. Sulabh's toilet product turned out to be a great hit, with over a million pieces already sold. Sulabh then channeled their profits toward retraining the untouchables to enter mainstream society - as cooks, beauticians, electricians, etc. Today, Sulabh has a whole array of toilet products to suit your budget.

Pathak also felt strongly about the problem of open defecation. Unlike those who faulted the "Indian civic sense," he recognized that the problem was that we didn't have enough public toilets. This is also a question of human dignity, especially for women, as they would suppress the call of nature the whole day and only go very early in the morning or in the night. Even so, such trips would make them a target of sexual predators, snakebites, diseases due to defecating in unhygienic environs, etc., not to speak of the health problems that come from suppressing the call of nature the entire day. Again, this was a technical problem waiting to be solved. So, he started the first public toilet in (hold your breath) Arrah, Bihar, a state where people would rather travel on top of trains than buy tickets. Pathak believed people would pay for a clean toilet experience, and he was proved right. The people of Bihar paid and sustained the public toilets. Today, Sulabh has built over 5000 public toilets all over India, including the largest toilet in the world at Shirdi for pilgrims.

Not only do these toilets generate local employment, they also collect raw material for Sulabh's energy innovation - bio-gas and electricity production. You have to see it with your own eyes - yes, your excreta can now be used to produce cooking gas and electricity.

Pathakji also understood that he needed to help the children of the scavengers get the same opportunity as others. Sulabh uses its profits to run a school where children of the scavengers get free education, books and uniforms. They also eat together with children of other communities, and learn Sanskrit, a language they were earlier denied access to. The children in this school are taught all religions so they can celebrate all of India's traditions.

And the story does not end here. Sulabh also has a toilet museum which is now on the tourist maps of New Delhi. They have expanded to eco-sanitation projects that help with pisciculture, among other things. Throughout these projects, Pathakji continued his education to go on for a Phd and a D.Litt, and has coined a new term, "Action Sociology," which he advocates as a way to solve social problems.

Behind all of these efforts is a deep-rooted spirituality. Pathakji's day begins with the entire Sulabh community praying (they sing a universal prayer) and filling their hearts with positive vibrations. When I interviewed him, not once did I sense anger against society for discrimination of the untouchables. At the same time, there was no acceptance of the injustice. Like Krishnammal and Sandhya, and in a completely unique manner, Pathakji has transcended anger and hatred to make a difference, a big difference, through social entrepreneurship. He is indeed a bright light in India who has illuminated our conscience and given us great hope for the future.

You can meet him by going to the Palam Vihar (New Delhi) office of Sulabh International Social Service Organization (although he travels often, he is generally accessible). You can also meet the other heroes of Sulabh and see their toilet museum and a demonstration of bio-gas and electricity from human excreta in the same complex. There are several volunteering and internship opportunities with this organization, if you have the time.

And if you can't visit them, here is a film I made on Sulabh in 2006. I recommend watching it in full-screen mode (press the TV icon) and using headphones.

In case the full screen feature does not work below, you can watch it directly on Blip TV.

Errata: the film says Sulabh has built over 500 toilets, when in fact, the number is ab

Terrorism - What's Under The Surface?

Uma Ranganathan — Fri, 5 Dec 2008 01:45:43 EST

There is a good and a bad side to almost everything, when you think about it. Maybe this is part of life’s complexity, it occurs to me, especially in times of adversity. However, given the incalculable loss in human lives, destruction of property, and other resources could there be anything good about the fiesta of destruction on which ten young men from across the seas recently embarked, in which over 200 lives were lost and so much havoc was caused?

I look at this way. These are events, no matter how horrible, which give the rest of us a chance to think things over, to start life afresh, to wake up to changes that are crying out to be made. When you look at it in this light, at least you get the feeling that the lives which were snuffed out were not lost in vain. That the people who died, did so in order to give the survivors a chance to live differently, to improve their circumstances. One wishes there could have been another, less painful way but since we are so slow and so unwilling to open our eyes to reality perhaps this is the only way left to jolt us into waking up.

So what is it we really need to wake up to? Is it to the need to subject our already restricted lives to even more control? More policing? A huge announcement by one of our daily papers asks us to serve as the “eyes and ears of the nation” by reporting suspicious happenings wherever we go, pertaining not only to terrorist activities but to any “ills that plague society”. Just think of some of the possible repercussions if such a movement were to come into effect! Should we emulate countries like Israel (whose young visitors to India are so unpopular on account of their aggressive and crass behavior) - or the U.S. which so many of our fellow citizens have been citing as a prime example of a country which has fended off terrorist attacks since 9/11? Really? We should invade and destroy countries which we have convinced ourselves are the source of our problems and even risk the danger of nuclear war to make a point? Do we really think that military might or that turning India into a quasi police state is going to ensure us the health, wealth, safety and happiness we are all looking for?

Or could it be that events like the one we’ve recently witnessed are a call for us to wake up to, and address the gross inequalities in the world. Is not the violence which we are subjected to so often, ranging from city murders to wars, to acts of terrorism, inviting us desperately to redress the injustice and crazy distribution of wealth and the fact that there is a serious breakdown of values wherever we look, a dissolving of whatever it is that holds the community of human beings together? The horror which is unfolding before us everywhere, is it not begging us, among other things, to give back to the people who are slogging their ass off for the country, at a very concrete level, their dignity? Among others, our farmers, without whom we would not survive more than a few weeks at the most, the workers who put up our buildings, bridges and other constructions, or the coal miners who risk their lives to keep our electrical circuits running?

The lone terrorist to be caught alive following the recent onslaught – Mohammed Ajmal Kasab - according to newspaper reports, comes from a poor family in Pakistan. There are two reasons that seem to have motivated him to become a terrorist. One is, that his best friend Fayaz Ahmad who he believed was innocent, was killed in an encounter three years ago, by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The other is that his father persuaded him to join the LeT in return for money, in order that the family back home might survive.

As long as there are people starving in the world, as long as a large number of deprived human beings continues to be not only confronted with existential problems but is simultaneously forced to watch crass indulgence by sections of the population, who ignore the basic needs of the poor, we can be sure of by being plagued by rebellion in various destructive forms since that is the only way apparently, in which the poor can make themselves heard. It is not enough to blame the criminal minds making use of the poor – be they slimy, mealy mouthed, manipulative politicians or hate filled, power hungry maniacs who brainwash and train frustrated youngsters to blow up public facilities and kill large numbers of people wherever it may be, leaving a trail of blood and gore behind them.

As far back as 1972 the disastrous consequences of our consumerist attitude and crazy way of life, was documented in a book called “Limits to growth”, published by the Club of Rome. Sadly, over thirty years later, when wars are actually being fought over oil, over water, and other natural resources in short supply, when the effects of the lopsided growth around the world is known to be leading to violence and destruction, we are still thinking in terms of the sort of growth which can only lead to further destruction and are hardly giving a thought to measures we need to take to save our resources and to use them in a way that benefits the maximum number of human beings in the world.

What is scarier than the terrorists is the fact that not enough people even now, seem likely to wake up to the urgent need for us to change the way we relate to each other in the world – politically, economically, and most significantly in the realm of personal relationships, which is where all transformation really begins. The fact that so many of us go through life like self satisfied zombies, indicates that by and large we are not leading happy lives, that we lack genuine fulfillment – because otherwise we would be longing to share our joy and to extend the sense of fulfillment to others – not to cut ourselves off from the world as we have done and to live in our own separate cocoons without caring about the rest.

Today I am wondering, who are the real terrorists? The people we think of as terrorists? Or is it all those who hold the world to ransom with their greed, their hunger for power, their exploitative attitudes? Are the real terrorists the men and women who have been seduced into joining criminal organizations in order to feed themselves or their families, or is it people who have unfairly amassed wealth and power and who now refuse to use it for the common good, to bring about a society which is peaceful and democratic in the true sense of the word?

World Oceans Turning More Acidic

DeeptiA — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:53:29 EST

The oceans of the world hold a huge amount of life, and are seen as the life giver to the world. The oceans trap many greenhouse gases, provide food to vast communities, are a critical part of the world climate. However, the increasing emissions of greenhouse gases (especially Carbon Dioxide) have been seen as a major risk factor; the validity of this theory has been disputed for some time. Getting absolute proof of this theory is fraught with risk; exact climate models are so complex that modeling them leads to more controversy. The only proof is when this actually happens and that will be too late. Scientists have been studying this possible impact, and here is a news item that researches whether the acidic levels of the oceans increase:

WASHINGTON: In a new research, scientists at the University of Chicago, US, have documented that oceans are growing acidic faster than previously thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). "Of the variables the study examined that are linked to changes in ocean acidity, only atmospheric carbon dioxide exhibited a corresponding steady change," said J. Timothy Wootton, the lead author of the study and Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.
The ocean plays a significant role in global carbon cycles. When atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid, increasing the acidity of the ocean. During the day, carbon dioxide levels in the ocean fall because photosynthesis takes it out of the water, but at night, levels increase again. The study documented this daily pattern, as well as a steady increase in acidity over time.

Human activity may be overwhelming the capacity of the system to respond. The increasing acid will start to have a negative effect on sea life, thus also impacting the food chain that is based out of the oceans, and this is bound to have a major effect on a large section of humanity. And given that emissions are not being capped or rolled back, there does not seem to be an easy way of reducing this acidic level of the ocean in the near future.

Cops, Drug Smugglers, and Picturesque Himachal

B Shantanu — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 13:04:08 EDT

As I chanced upon this news-item yesterday, “Five cops suspended - nexus between cops and the drug mafia“, I was reminded of this article from earlier this week: Vulnerable India faces a new threat by Ramtanu Maitra in which he wrote, “…India is becoming increasingly unstable…(and) the latest source of instability is the growing inflow of drugs and the establishment of drug-trafficking networks inside India…”

Sh. Maitra cited the latest report (March ‘08) of the International Narcotics Control Board which mentioned (that): “…the use of courier services for drug trafficking is on the rise in India, and the country is increasingly being used as a major transit as well as destination country for smuggling of banned substances…”

While the International Narcotics Control report did not go into any details about drug trafficking in India, the increasing prevalance of drugs in the border areas and rise in drug trafficking is well documented…

Alongside Goa, Rajasthan and Himachal are fast becoming major transit areas for movement of drugs within and outside India.

In pristine Himachal, the roots of drug smuggling can be traced to the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which led to “settlement of displaced Afghans in Kullu” and consequently “…to the first planned business in trade and cultivation of narcotics in that area. Afghan settlers preferred the hilly terrain of Kullu-Manali for climatic reasons. They gradually developed links with local youths, and soon heralded the era of “smack, heroin, and brown sugar” in that region…” [ link ].

Manali’s links with the drug trade have been known for at least a few years now as is the heavy presence of Israelis in the region. According to this report in The Hindu, the Israeli government …”has established a camp in Manali town of Himachal Pradesh to rescue their citizens from becoming drug addicts and educate them about their religion.”

Alongwith Manali, Kullu too is becoming increasingly popular with foreign visitors (again, mostly Israelis) - a vast majority of whom come their in pursuit of cheap and easy drugs. Harsh Thakur’s report (cited earlier) mentions that “Cannabis took root in the area after 3,000 Israelis made Kasol their home…“. This report mentions that almost 70,000 Israeli’s visit the region each year.

In McLeodganj alone, the number of Israelis staying in and around the town is more than 4,000. [ link ]. This is predicatably causing local issues but more worryingly, this large semi-transient population of foreigners is both - a distribution network as well as a consumer of cheap, local drugs.

It is not clear to me precisely how these foreigners have managed to “settle” here… I need not mention the ineffectiveness of local administration in handling this problem (- or worse their possible collusion in this activity which lets it continue unchecked). To get a sense of how bad the situation is, read this extract from Harish Thakur’s first-hand report from Manali:

An Israeli revealed some interesting facts about the trade. Kutla, a remote village in Parvati Valley, is the hub of charas cultivation. Police have little access here and people work fearlessly. Foreigners hire one acre of land for just 10,000 rupees (about $223), and raise about 40 kilograms of charas. Cheap Nepali labour makes things easy, as villages such as Malana, Kasol, and Tosh compete for higher production.

The drug mafia has set up “headline fields,” which can be sacrificed if the police carry out a raid. But fields in the higher slopes of the mountains have been left untouched, and production there thrives. The trade here is mostly controlled by drug cartels from Israel and Italy. About 90% of the Rs. 900-crore trade is controlled by foreigners. Police protection is secured – at a price. For good charas people trust Italians more and a gram of Kullu charas that costs about Rs. 25 locally can fetch as much as Rs. 3000/- in Holland.

According to a State Narcotics Report, over 3,000 acres of mountain land in Himachal Pradesh is under illegal cannabis cultivation, run by the Italian and Israeli drug mafia through local residents.

The government is well aware of the illegal cultivation as well as reports which indicate that “drug syndicates are trying to spread their operations in the country by joining hands with poachers…” but is hampered by political compulsions and socio-economic circumstances…

Last month, efforts by an NGO to encourage villagers to grow herbal alternatives in place of cannabis did not yield much results:

The Himalayan Phyto-Chemical Growers Association (HIMPA), an NGO that came here on Sunday with a proposal to provide a viable economic alternative to cannabis cultivation in the Malana area, faces a huge task as around 2,100 villagers remain a divided house over its proposal.

…Narcotics smugglers remained absent from the seminar on alternative crops that was held here on Sunday

Not surprisingly, at least part of the reason why this trade flourishes here is poverty and general under-development:

Extreme poverty usually compels many poor villagers in far-flung hinterland to accept the offers made by smugglers to cultivate cannabis. Its cultivation has affected a major area of the State which is major tourist destination for its spectacular view of Himalayan peaks and picturesque valleys.

Lured by the chain of drug traffickers, small local farmers and villagers grow cannabis to earn a fast buck. Officials say villagers are advised by the drug traffickers to cultivate cannabis in the forests to avoid police cases…Local cannabis usually make its way to adjoining States of Punjab and Haryana besides capital New Delhi and far off Goa, a popular destination for foreign tourists on the western coast of India. [ link ]

…but the really worrying thing I found was the evidence of links between drug trade, terrorism and hawala transactions…Last month:

The district police…recovered 450 gm poppy husk and Indian and foreign currency from two vehicles intercepted at Kandwal barrier on the Pathankot-Kangra road.

The Kangra SP Atul Fulzele while talking to The Tribune said the objectionable material was recovered from two Scorpios at the naka. … The police also recovered Rs 3.30 lakh in Indian currency, $ 2500 and a truck engine and a generator from the vehicles.

The SP said that during interrogation the accused told the police that they purchased American currency from a person in the Kashmir valley. The police is suspecting the accused might be involved in hawala trading…

Laments aside, what can really be done? When I began thinking about this, I realised that there are no easy answers (e.g. a zero tolerance policy - which will only end up getting the smallest fish in jail or hanged)…

What may work are these suggested steps…

1. Increasing skills-based training, better (and more facilities for) education with an emphasis on female literacy

2. Developing new local industries; in particular, hydel power generation (and possibly solar/wind)

3. Creating alternatives in the established tourism sector (adventure tourism), high-end tourism

4. Stricter law enforcement…E.g. read this extract:

I was shocked when I saw the scene of the mela to find cannabis being sold openly. There was a shop where shake made of marijuana was freely available and local police was doing nothing. Gambling was also openly played. Its pertinent to mention that according to law sale of cannabis is banned and gambling in public places is also banned. However when I spoke to gambling vendor, he said he paid Rs. 1000 to local mela committee and around Rs. 1500 to local police. So there was no chance of him getting stopped by law or by local community. Not to mention the local MLA was chief guest of this mela (fair). I brought the CD and photos as evidence and would happily share them with government if they plan to take any action. [ link ]

5. And finally (as always), “better” local leadership which translates as clean, efficient and genuinely committed to public welfare…

But I am sure there are other, better ideas out there….What do readers think? How can Himachal be pulled out of a vortex of drug cartels and mafias?

Comments and thoughts welcome as always…

Find of the Day: Malana

Markham Ice Shelf Breaks Away In Arctic

Ashish — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 12:34:29 EDT

With our current sea water levels, we maintain an uneasy balance with the seas and oceans in coastal areas. Housing, habitation, and other forms of human existence are almost on the ocean's doorstep, and there are millions of people living on islands that are only a few meters about the surface of the seas. When we get a storm (call it a hurricane/typhoon/cyclone), the wave front pushed up by the storm typically expands inwards towards land and causes damage; the stronger the storm, the more the damage.

We are also getting more and more into the region where we can start seeing the effects of global warming, and as yet, the engines of civilization are still pumping more chemicals into the air that increase the speed of global warming. Worldwide, countries are not able to agree on what to about global warming, since they fear that any such action will cause an economic damage (never mind that 20-30 years later, we will see much more damage to humanity). As per projections, the massive ice shelfs that exist in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and Greenland contains enough water to raise sea water levels by many meters, and thus unprecedented damage. Scientists are slowly observing that they were not paranoid enough, that there are changes happening to the ice shelfs much ahead of projection:

A 19-square-mile (50 kilometers) ice shelf attached to an island in Canada's northern Arctic for thousands of years has broken from land, another sign of the effect of global warming, scientists said. Nearly the size of Manhattan, the 4,500-year-old Markham Ice Shelf separated from Ellesmere Island in early August and is now floating in the Arctic Ocean, said Luke Copeland, director of the Laboratory for Cryospheric Research at the University of Ottawa.

In January, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said net loss of ice mass in Antarctica increased to 196 billion metric tons in 2006 from 112 metric tons a decade earlier. To have a chance of containing the average worldwide increase in temperature to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) would require cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 85 percent by 2050, according to the UN panel. Ice shelves, which attach to land and float on the ocean's surface, form through the accumulation of snow and freezing water.

Movement towards preserving the continued economic growth and future of humanity is conditioned upon being able to forestall events that can cause harm to humanity, and this dithering over responsibility and fear of current economic harm if trying to implement caps on emissions is slowly destroying our future.

Navadarshanam: An Experiment in Alternative Living

Anuradha Goyal — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 09:08:25 EDT

Navadarshanam is a 120 acre self sustained settlement, 50 km south of Bangalore. It is an experiment in alternative living, living in a way that does not disturb the balance of the nature around you, unlike what most city dwellers end up doing intentionally or unintentionally.

The Navadarshanam (ND) campus is something that probably many of us would wish to be in, but may not have the necessary courage to create something like this. In its 120 acres, it has few cottages made with eco-friendly construction methods, a small space to process, manufacture and sell health foods, a common kitchen that cooks on health food principles, a gobar (cow dung) gas plant that supplies cooking gas to the kitchen, a wind mill and a few solar panels that generate the electricity for the campus, a cow shed that houses a few cows, some fruit trees and tons of self generated greenery. Anathu, founder member and permanent resident of ND, explains how the barren land regenerated itself, and lakhs of trees germinated out of nowhere, including thousands of sandalwood trees. There are interesting exercising devices that generate electricity and water plants as you exercise. The periphery of the campus is a cool 4km walking track, ideal for a morning and evening walk. You can buy health foods from their simple store, these foods are also available through select Namdhari outlets and a couple of other outlets in Bangalore.

There is an interesting story behind the origin of ND, how some people who were all very highly educated, lived across geographies and were a part of a study circle, came together to create ND. As you listen about this story from Ananthu, you see the elements of destiny, some good intentions and most importantly the intent of actually doing something that people usually keep talking about. And the fact that an external agent in the form of a Swamiji came and put the action into what was being studied, was being spoken about, discussed and written about. Swamiji in a way threw a challenge at this brilliant young team to actually create a space that lived by these principals that this team was inclined to explore. The story of the initial years, of being cheated for the land price and dealing with working on an absolutely new concept in an absolutely ambiguous situation. After all what do you do with so much of barren land, and nothing as your support system. I would like to sit with Ananthu again and explore their journey, because their ND journey is documented, but I want to know about the personal journeys that they have to tread, to create such a concept.

Team at ND is working primarily in five key areas:

1. Eco-restoration: Allowing the earth to create a cover for itself, with a belief that earth is alive just like us and has the power to regenerate for itself.
2. Natural farming: Farming without using any artificial chemicals and without destroying the ecosystem of the surroundings.
3. Health & Food: Research and production of foods that do not disturb the ecology of the body, by way of undigested food.
4. Energy: Generation of energy using wind power, solar energy, animal waste and Honge seeds, all of which are available in abundance.
5. Eco-housing: Construction of houses using the local material and labor, designed in such a way that need for energy is minimal.

ND is a completely Saatvik place, where a conscious effort is made to keep the Rajsik and Tamsik elements away. In that kind of an environment you feel one with nature and one with yourself. This is an environment that makes you question a lot of things that you are doing without questioning. It forces you to think about your purpose of existence. The biggest question that I had in mind was, why we complicate our lives so much, when everything we need is available right there with the nature, why we keep running after all the gadgets and collecting all that we really do not need. I got reminded of my Bhutan visit, where there were no garment stores and people weaved their own clothes, and everyone there was as well dressed as people in any other part of the world.

Though Navadarshanam does not encourage more people visiting it, at least not more than what it can handle, but if this post rings a bell somewhere, it is definitely a place to visit while you are in Bangalore.

Banning of CFC Inhalers - Another Stupid Ban

paul7anderson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:00:56 EDT

Earlier I commented on banning tin in solder (Problems implementing the Restrictions of Hazardous Substances). The August 2008 issue of Scientific American carries an article about the problems about to happen with the banning of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) driven inhalers. Here, just as in removing tin from solder, banning a known hazardous material from a trivial use can cause very significant consequences. Emily Harrison in her article "Changes In the Air" gives the history. She goes on to explain why one member of the FDA advisory committee, Nicholas J. Gross of the Stritch-Layola School of Medicine has publicly regretted the decision, recanting his support and requesting the ban be pushed back until 2010 when the first patents on replacement propellants hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) expire. Gross noted that the decision had nothing to do with the environment, Albuterol inhalers contributed less than 0.1% of the CFC released when the treaty was signed. "It's a symbolic issue", Gross remarks.

To quote Harrison's article

"Some skeptics instead point to the billions of dollars to be gained by the three companies holding patents on the available HFA albuterol inhalers, namely Glaxo-SmithKline, Schering-Plough and Teva. Although the FDA advisory committee recognized that the expenses would go up, Hendeles says it also believed that the companies would help defray the added costs for individuals. Fims, for instance, had committed to donating a million HFA inhalers around the country, According to Hendeles, Glaxo-SmithKline did not follow through, although Schering-Plough and Teva did. Glaxo-SmithKline did not resond to requests for comment." (emphasis added)

It might be noted that Leslie Hendeles of the University of Florida has pointed out there are differences in the mechanics and maintance. The HFC inhalers must be primed more carefully and rinsed to accomodate the stickier HFC. The HFC inhalers run out suddenly without warning that it is getting low. This, of course, now puts the patients themselves at increased risk. Who is responsible if a person dies due to an acute asthma attack because they did not know their inhaler was going to run out suddenly? Hendeles points out that pharmicists may not warn patients and doctors do not know.

The HFC inhalers cost three times more than generic CFC inhalers.

Just as removing tin from solder, replacing CFC with hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) gives an inferior product at greater cost.

Clearly, someone profits from doing something that is not in the best interests of the user or the medical community. Profiting from doing harm to society is ordinarily some kind of crime.

To quote Harrison

"The main public health issue in this decision may be the side effects of the economics, not the drug chemistry. Multiple studies have shown that raising costs leads to poorer adherence to treatment. One study discovered that patients took 30% less anti-asthma medication when their co-pay doubled. In the case of of a chronic disease such as asthma, it is particularly difficult to get people to follow regular treatment plans, "generally speaking, for any reson you you don't take a medicine, cost makes it more likely" that you do not , comments Michael Chernew, a health policy expert at Harvard Medical School."" (emphasis added)

Harrison continues,

"Such choices to forgo medication could affect more than just the patients themselves. "For example," Hendeles points out, "in a pregnant mother with untreated asthma, less oxygen is delivered to the fetus, which can lead to congenital problems and premature birth." And considering that the disease disproportionately strikes the poor, what seems to be a good, responsible environmental decision might in the end exact an unexpected human toll."

This differs from the case of tin in solder, but perhaps not by much; removing lead from solder and replacing the less-expensive-lead with all-tin in solder was much more expensive than using the tin/lead solder that was doing a better job ar a lower cost. Here we are again being forced by government regulators that evidently need to suppliment their meager public-service salaries with hidden compensation from industries who benefit from their regulations to spend more money for an inferior product.

Who benefits? Certainly not the end user.

Problems Implementing The Restriction of Hazardous Substances

paul7anderson — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:08:25 EDT

If we are to believe the Wikipedia article "Restriction of Hazardous Substances", it has been a big success. However, Wikipedia articles need not have any reliability as they reflect the views of the last one to edit them, and that can be anyone. It might be useful to look at the facts regarding a very controversial aspect of this directive. The directive required that solder contain less than 0.1% lead. This simple directive was issued without consideration of all of the consequences. The proof of that statement is that there is NO evidence that all the consequences were considered. Even before the 2006 EU ban, most manufacturers made the switch in advance due to shelf-life of products and need to work out problems with the new material. There have been problems. Serious problems.

Often, the removal of lead from solder has been by replacing it with SAC305 which is 96.5 % tin, 3.0 % silver and 0.5% copper. The increased in tin content will increase the use of tin by about 11,000 tons a year. The world production of tin is roughly 300,000 tons. This 3 or 4% increase is small but in context of estimates of the exhaustion of the world's tin deposits in 20 -40 years, it is worth considering. ("How Long Willl it Last" {May 26, 2007} New Scientist 194 :38-39)

Another part of the problem with removing lead from solder is the loss in reliability of electronic devices. Lead solder made tough, flexible (not brittle) joints that were resistant to mechanical shocks. None of the replacements have anywhere as good mechanical properties. Dropping a cell phone accidentally is common, but now it is much more likely to die.

Removing lead from solder has brought a new problem into play. Tin without lead grows whiskers, crystalline filaments. These filaments can and do produce random short-circuits. They have destroyed billions of dollars worth of satellites. They have created incidents at nuclear power plants including a false shut-down command at the Millstone nuclear reactor at Millstone, Connecticut. NASA and other agencies have documented many cases where tin whiskers have been responsible for failure of electronic equipment. However, most electronic equipment failure is just accepted as a matter of fact and no effort is made to pin point the actual cause of failure. In truth, many failures are the result of mechanical shock or tin whiskers. NASA scientists have verified this but manufacturers prohibit a public release of the information. The manufacturers don't want you to know.

The NASA website http://nepp.nasa.gov/whiskers gives scientific facts about what we know and what we don't know about them or what causes them. The bottom line is that no one fully understands what causes them. We do know that a few percent lead will prevent them. At the present time, in the absence of tin, we can not estimate when tin whiskers will form. They might form in a few months and in other cases can take ten or more years. They adversely affect the reliability of electronic devices. Their random behavior has made research very difficult.

It is well established that lead is harmful when ingested. It might be argued that any lead in the environment is bad. Eleven thousand tons is a lot of lead. However, 11,000 tons compared to 3 or 4 million tons of lead used is rather small, About 88% of lead is used in storage batteries, 3% is used for ammunition, glass and ceramics use 3%, casting metals about 2% and sheet lead about 1%. Solder used to consume about 0.5 %. That's all: one-half of one percent. The havoc caused by using one-half-of-one-percent less cannot be justified by any stretch of the imagination.

Most of the lead ingested by humans originated from leaded gasoline. Leaded paint is still a major source of lead for humans, particularly that coming from China. Several Ayurvedic medicines have large quantities of lead. Some forms of cosmetics have a lot of lead. There was a time when tinned cans were soldered. This resulted in contamination of the food. Even today, there is some lead in the tin used to plate tin cans and this leaches into the food. Canned pineapple, fruit cocktail and canned tomatoes have lead levels in excess of the legal maximum of fifty parts per billion, and the food manufacturers know this. Why is nothing being done about lead in our food, and yet this witch-hunt for lead in electronics? Who eats their computer?

There is a published account of children getting lead from lead fishing sinkers stored on the floor on which they played. Workers working with lead are known to accumulate lead in their bodies. The proper design of the work place should greatly reduce this. The cost of properly designed work spaces is trivial compared to the $38 billion and climbing cost of removing lead from solder. (Technology Forecaster Inc.)

Lead poisoning is difficult to diagnose. Most commonly, diagnosis is done by measuring the lead content of the blood. It might be of slight interest that in most of the cases of lead poisoning due to herbal remedies described in PubMed, the doctors are outside India describing patients who have taken Indian medicines.

To summarize, adding lead back into solder will greatly increase the reliability of electronic devices. The effect on humans is small compared to the other sources of lead. The effect on humans can be mitigated by properly designed work spaces.

What should be done? The first thing that must be done is the recognition that the removal of lead from solder was unwise. It was a mistake taken without considering the total costs and consequences. In the United States, it might be possible to require an Environmental Impact Report before any lead-free devices could enter the country. I do not know that any was ever done before electronics without lead were imported. That was clearly a mistake. It should be remedied now.