Oil shock: India is ‘part of the problem’

There is self-righteous indignation among our netas whenever there is a suggestion that Indians are part of the problem with world oil. How can they! That sums up the reaction, which we heard from Murli Deora during one of his recent speeches.

Finance Minister Chidambaram quickly trotted out the line of a price band to Saudi Arabia and the rest of OPEC, without having much to show for insulation of the economically weak within India, when it comes to education, health and shelter.

Although our political greats, puffed up by their own vision of India’s place in the world, would like to think that Indians are not part of the oil problem, many in the rest of the world think we are. That is evident from the Environmental Capital blog on the Wall Street Journal and the several responses to the post.

It cannot be anyone’s case that Indians should not try to achieve economic and social development, but there is no argument to support the energy profligacy of one per cent of Indians, at the cost of the rest. Many more aspirants to the middle class dream would like to swell the ranks of the energy guzzlers, but it is time the Government of India took a firm stand, and reined in these tendencies when it comes to energy.

We would like to have a walking, cycling, bus and train riding middle class, having access to the best facilities for these activities. We don’t want yuppies in Hummers and other SUVs.

If people own the Mysore palace, why can’t they photograph it?

On a recent visit to the much-publicised and extremely touristic Mysore Palace, I found that many hundreds of people are actually coughing up a lot of money only to visit a relic of the Wodeyar (or Wadiyar) family. As we all know, the unfettered powers of anachronistic monarchies were pounded into bits and melted into the grand canons democratic laws and practice gradually since independence, and definitely with the abolition of privy purses by Indira Gandhi in 1971.

Puffed up as they might imagine themselves to be, and their professed affiliations to democratic parties apart, these “rajahs” of yore and their descendants are obscure personalities today, largely devoid of special attainments in education and culture, and even less in democratic practice.

I have no knowledge of the attainments of Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Bahadur, who is the descendant of the Mysore family, although Wikipedia makes some claims about his accomplishments and political affiliation to the Congress party. He has also consorted with the BJP earlier and contested elections under that party’s banner.

My interest here is less about the man and his lineage. I am focused on the monstrous British-designed palace that his family has built at the expense of the commoner.

I visited this vulgar and loudly decorated palace recently and discovered that it has been turned into a earning machine, one that exploits people’s curiosity about the cruelly opulent lifestyle of another era. The entry fee is a stiff Rs. 20 per head. You are not allowed in with footwear, and to store that, you must pay a small amount. If you have a camera, you must not carry it into the Palace, although you would discover that only after you are near the ticket counter; the visitor then has to go back to the gate and place it in safe custody, for which again, one must pay a charge.

The final rule is that you must switch off your mobile phone, although one cannot imagine why a few semi-literate, boorish staff must feel slighted by citizens taking the odd call or sending a text message.

I did not know until after my visit that an enactment of legislature was made in Karnataka, titled The Mysore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act,  1998, ( No. 32 of 1998 ) which received the assent of the President of India and came into force on 30.11.1998.

After coming to know that I am among the owners of this Palace, as a citizen of India, I am outraged that the average citizen is subjected to virtual harrassment by those in charge of the administration. For one, the public are prevented from taking photographs inside the palace, of mere architecture. It is incomprehensible that a palace acquired as a monument by the Government cannot be photographed - if there are treasures that need to be safeguarded, these could be kept separately and that area earmarked. But why should not the stained glass and the symbols of royal hedonism inside the palace be photographed?

In the event, I could make a couple of photographs of the interiors, using a Nokia 3500c mobile phone. This was noticed by a khaki-clad person, and he questioned me about it. I told him that this was an insignificant issue, and if he wished, I could remove the images. As you can see, I did not remove the images, because I believe that this sort of senseless rule has no place in a civilised society. Museums around the world allow you to take photographs. I have pictures of the displays at the Louvre, at the British Museum and the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. What makes the Mysore Palace any more special or particularly vulnerable because of a photograph?

Actually, I found the answer when I was exiting the Palace central area. Those running the Palace now, either the staff of the Government or the Wodiyar family, have put their own photographs of the interiors up for sale! So a little protectionism in the form of a curb on photos helps with the business.

To defy such protectionism, I am putting up the two pictures that I took here, both as thumbnails and as full sized images. Feel free to download and circulate them. They represent an assertion of your own ownership of this palace and a blow to crass protectionism, whether of the royal or the Governmental variety.

The text of the Palace acquisition Act is here, taken from the Karnataka National Informatics Centre website. I do not find any clauses in it that prohibit photographing of any aspect of the Palace. If the restriction is being placed officially, it appears to be prima facie illegal.

 

SD cards: avoid being ripped off in Chennai

Those who take pictures with digital cameras know how quickly a cavernous memory card gets filled up. Fortunately, memory prices are falling, and it is possible to buy a one gigabyte SD card for a small sum.

But if you were to walk into some of the camera showrooms in Chennai, such as the big Konica labs, you would be paying more than double for a card. I checked last week in the Nungambakkam Apex Plaza Konica and they wanted Rs.700 for the red-coloured one GB SD card, and Rs. 1200 for the two GB card from Sandisk.

But at Ritchie Street, near the Anna Statue on Anna Road, the same card can be had for Rs. 275 and Rs. 450 respectively. So give Konica a pass. Ritchie Street is centrally located and easy to access by bus and autorickshaw.

The so-called ‘discounting’ online retailers are also charging heavily for the cards, as I found on www.pixetra.com

Review: Dasavatharam explores the futility of religion, orthodoxy

Kamal Hasan’s Dasavatharam begins and ends with cataclysms. It starts with and culminates in epic scenes and overwhelming moments, although the rest of the film runs like an hourglass. It narrows to commercial compulsions midway but expands again and ends staggeringly.

Without making it very evident, Kamal Hasan drives Dasavatharam completely. Where Michael Westmore’s character-changing make-up allows for expression, Kamal shines. Perhaps the best of the ‘avatars’ are the orthodox old brahmin widow of Chidambaram (with shades of Avvai Shanmugi), and the heavily accented Telugu-speaking intelligence officer who has the mannerisms of a bumbling ‘babu’ for the most part, but ultimately carries the day brilliantly.

A film like Dasavatharam generates a lot of excitement and anticipation. It has the potential of elevating the lead star, Kamal Hasan, to cult status. The nearest that he comes to doing this is through the character of the environmentalist in the film. Here, Westmore’s efforts really pay off. Poovaragan bears no resemblance to the star who plays the role: he is a dark-skinned, native, plain-speaking and incorruptible fighter for the earth’s future.

Dasavatharam, centred round a US-based scientist, played by a sober Kamal, trying to save millions from malevolent bioweapons makers is a roller-coaster of characters. It explores the fading enclaves of brahminical orthodoxy, mostly with a dose of good humour that Asin pulls off, but makes a powerful statement in the end with the underlying message of unity of humans as a species. This statement is made in the form the legacy of the valiant Poovaragan and the ageing, senile, Brahminical old lady of Chidambaram.

Avtaar Singh, a pop singer, (see photo above) is another colourful, well, ‘avatar’, aided by a graceful and mature Jayaprada. Avtaar’s sad fortunes, reversed by a late, unexpected twist, provide an interesting contrast to the other characters.

Through much of the film, a thread of an almost comical fundamental religious orthodoxy is explicit, represented by characters like the simple-minded Asin; there is also the message about the folly of stereotyping muslims as less than patriotic. There are some jokes at the expense of President Bush, on his understanding of issues, including his knowledge of basic chemistry; the Caucasian and Japanese ‘avatars’ are true to life. Mallika Sherawat’s pole dancing in a part-fishnet suit and her lethal charm do not linger for long, leaving the field to Kamal and Asin to pursue a fledgling romance that manifests slowly, in the most unlikely setting.

There is a lot to be said for the sound and camera work, with Himesh Reshammiya’s tunes adding to the experience. Kamal Hasan has put in some hard work in the film. It begins on a note of intense and violent religious intolerance within the fold of Hinduism, and ends with a strong environmentalist and rationalist argument about what really keeps the world going. God fails to make the grade, going by Kamal’s concluding lines. Such large-canvas films always bring up the question: will it be even bigger and better for Kamal Hasan next time?

Dasavatharam leaves fans excited

Dasavatharam - Scenes from the special screening in Chennai

Plea against ‘Dasavatharam’ rejected

Previews of heady praise 

The oil squeeze: fertilizer prices begin to bite

The impact of high oil prices has begun to affect agriculture in a fundamental way. Fertilizer, on which much of the intensive agriculture of the world has come to depend, is now both scarce and more expensive for many farmers.

Combined with the decline in production of grains in some countries, this is very bad news for global food availability and prices.

Riots have begun to erupt in several parts, as farmers are at their wits end. The after-effects of oil addiction of Governments, and neglect of organic, water-saving methods in agriculture are all beginning to show. With organic farming, the need for fertilizer and water would have been greatly reduced. This is proven in an experimental context, and The Hindu Survey of the Environment 2008 (160 pages, Rs. 55) carries an article on beneficiation of agricultural land with city compost, written by Almitra Patel. Get a copy from your nearest major news outlet.

The story above is from the latest edition of Pasumai Vikatan, the agriculture magazine of the Vikatan group.

Here are some of the reports appearing in today’s newspapers on the fertilizer crisis.

One killed, 13 hurt as farmers resort to violent protest in Haveri

Fertilizer fury spreads

Seeds of crisis in shortage of fertilizer

 

Neel Metal Fanalca and waste recycling

I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog, that the clauses in favour of taxpayers in the agreement with Neel Metal Fanalca are not implemented by the Chennai Corporation.

Today, I found that there is an interesting trail for the garbage picked up by NMF from the streets if it has some residual commercial value. The staff of NMF drive their small pick-ups to local waste handlers and dispose of these recyclables to them.

These pictures tell the story.  The same thing is available as a YouTube video here.

Neel Metal Fanalca worker picks up waste from his small pick-up

We have nothing against such a trade happening, although the locations of such operations are often incompatible. Waste handlers are setting up shop in residential buildings and converting the footpaths into their open-air godowns, as in the pictures above.

From the perspective of NMF, it could have got into the act on its own, but obviously, there is no incentive for the waste collectors to dispose of their recyclables to their employers! This simple truth speaks volumes about the concept of Solid Waste Management being followed by the Chennai Corporation. Conversely, it also highlights the poor involvement of residents in their own waste management affairs: many residents welfare associations could make some money with such recyclables themselves, but they would rather throw the items on the street.

I was having difficulty posting YouTube videos on to my WordPress account, and gave only the link above, but after looking at the code from earlier videos that I had posted, I got it to appear here, finally. So here it is. Photos and video shot with Nokia 3500c.

 

Two Indias: not just a theory, a living reality

The “two-nation theory” may signify something extreme for some, drawing upon notions of cultural and religious supremacy, but in the economic realm, that has its own meaning for millions.

Those who have a supremacist view about India generally don’t like discussing the widespread poverty. Their blinkered view was summarised by the “India Shining” slogan before the last Lok Sabha elections. Many of the bigoted sections predictably get hot under the collar when this aspect of India is discussed.

To me, that is the most potent argument available to Indians interested in real progress, to face up to the ultra-conservatives.

This set of pictures and the accompanying story in the New York Times provides good anecdotes for the discussion.

Tata Sky DTH violates TRAI norms on Quality of Service

There is a very public war going on between Tata Sky DTH and some television channels, although the newspapers and TV channels are generally looking the other way rather than come out in support of their readers and viewers.

Tata Sky, which is part of the reputed Tata group (see The Hindu’s report on this subject today) has been treating its subscribers in the most cavalier fashion during the past month. For many who thought that the shady cable operator era had been wiped out and one of competitive market forces and accountable corporate operations had arrived, it was a deeply disappointing experience.

The serious issue about the spat between Tata Sky and ESPN Star, Star Cricket and Star Sports is that there is a clear violation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India norms on Quality of Service. The DTH operator has brazenly ignored the service norms relating to notice to be issued before a package is changed (see clause below).

Consumers are also being insulted by Tata Sky with this SMS to registered mobiles: “Our new package pricing has had a huge demand. So you are not able to reach us. Apologies! For help press help on your Tata Sky remote. Thanks for your patience.”

Indeed, many subscribers have been showing too much patience and tolerance towards a powerful corporation that is taking consumers for a ride.

It would appear that there is a strong case for consumer action for damages from Tata Sky, for the disruption it has caused so far. If you are running or plan to organise an association for Tata Sky owners, please post your contact information in the comments here, to bring all those affected together.

The salient features of the DTH QoS Regulations issued by TRAI are as follows:

(i) The order will take effect from 1.12.2007.

(ii) The DTH operator will formulate schemes to offer customer premises equipments (including the set top box) to its subscribers on outright purchase basis, hire-purchase basis and rental basis. Authority may also prescribe suitable schemes in this regard in future if necessary.

(iii) The DTH operator, while formulating its scheme for hire-purchase, will make provision for refund to be given to subscribers if they choose to return the customer premises equipment. This facility, together with rental scheme, is expected to provide commercial interoperability to DTH subscribers in addition to technical interoperability which is already there in DTH licensing conditions.

(iv) The DTH operator will devise the format for application form, and will assign a customer identification number to each such application received.

(v) A time limit of 5 working days has been prescribed for complying with requests relating to shifting, disconnection and reconnection.

(vi) DTH operator will give notice for discontinuing a channel or for disconnecting a subscriber.

(vii) DTH operator will not disable the set top box if the subscriber has opted out of his service. This will enable the DTH subscriber to use the STB for receiving other DTH services.

(viii) The subscription package offered to a subscriber will not be changed for 6 months. However, the subscriber can opt out of a particular package for any other package at any time.

(ix) Post paid subscribers, if any, will be issued bills containing details such as charges for subscription package, value added services, customer premises equipments, taxes etc.

(x) DTH operator will establish call centres with sufficient number of telephone lines with “toll free” numbers, such that the benchmarks relating to response time are met (e.g., 80% calls to be answered within 60 seconds in case of voice operators and within 20 seconds if answered electronically, etc.).

(xi) Each request or complaint to a call centre to be assigned a docket number.

(xii) 90% of complaints regarding non-receipt of signals to be redressed within 24 hrs., and 90% of other type of complaints to be redressed within 48 hrs. No complaint to remain pending beyond 5 days. All billing complaints to be redressed within 7 days.

(xiii) DTH operators will nominate Nodal Officers for redressal of grievances of those subscribers who are not satisfied with the redressal at call centre level.

(xiv) The Nodal Officer will redress the grievances within 10 days of registering of the complaint.
(xv) Complaints received by TRAI and forwarded to DTH operator will be redressed within 15 days of forwarding, and outcome intimated both to the subscriber as well as to TRAI.

(xvi) DTH operator will prepare a manual containing details such as benchmarks for grievance redressal, call centres, Nodal Officers, operating instructions for STB, etc. A copy of the same to be supplied to each subscriber.

Fuel price hike: Paying for carbon profligacy

Just as the media is waking up to the reality of a bleak energy future, the UPA government has done the inevitable. The price of petrol is up by Rs. 5 a litre, diesel by Rs. 3 and cooking gas by Rs. 50. This rise may still not shake the dollar-denominated jet setting types, whose ranks have grown in recent years. After all, BMW laments the lack of visibility of its vehicles among this class, and Tata Motors must feel genuine pride only when Jaguars and Land Rovers scatter the gravel on our bumpy roads to signal the rise of a tumescent India. The Tata Nano’s birth is also keenly awaited, but it is coming into the world in troubled times.

But the average Indian, whether in Dravidian land or in Aryan land, both rotting at the core, cannot take comfort from this muscular Bharat. Many realise that it is these carbon profligates that have given the case for the global oil industry, and their shady supporters in some governments, to speculate and pump up the price of oil.

The energy wastrels who strut about in India and elsewhere have been pushing a model of growth where individual consumption, mostly non-essential, luxurious and hedonistic, is the barometer of economic progress. Sadly enough, this is a Catch 22 situation. There are so many Indians that if they all do the same, along with their Chinese brethren, it gives the international speculators an even stronger excuse to raise prices.

What can be the effect of this price spiral? The hope would be that the crisis would reach a flash point where electoral democracy will push our policymakers into doing sensible things. That means improving the mobility of people through tough measures to improve public transport, while making the carbon profligates pay. 

But are our leaders sensible enough? The experience so far, and the clout of the automotive lobby makes it appear that the threshold may not be reached soon. It may take 200 dollars a barrel to make progress on that agenda.

What is scary, however, is the misplaced optimism that the peak oil prices will dip, and then there will be relief. There is no argument on what is pushing up global prices. Increasing petro-product consumption in China and India are now routinely cited. In fact, current rates of automotive growth indicate that China will have more cars than the US, in 17 years.

This is the time to abandon carbon profligacy. No one will advocate a downgraded quality of life. What needs to be done is to improve the quality of our public services, our buses, our trains, taxis, autorickshaws and our information systems. Our transport systems are hopelessly antiquated, under-invested and corrupt. If Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and the rest can clean it up, by forcing State Governments to invest some of their money in such modernising under law the situation can improve (the states do not have responsibility in ensuring energy supply and to mitigate climate change, so they must abide by a compulsory national initiative that ensures both). It would be healthy to set a target of compulsory introduction of 5,000 buses in each metro, with a prescribed operational schedule and an annual real growth rate of 10 per cent.

All urban train systems must double their operations, which is possible with current signalling technologies. Integration of trains and buses must be introduced summarily by law, with operational costs met by the State government through appropriate taxes or Central funding. Buying tickets from poorly motivated and untrained conductors, a deterrent to using transport networks among the middle class, must be replaced by ticketing systems that are off-bus, oriented towards daily, weekly, monthly and yearly pass-based travel.

Where private bus systems are operational, they should be given subsidised fuel and compelled to operate a prescribed number of trips with automatic logging through Global Positioning Systems in order to ensure compliance. If they fail, a nationalised network has to be introduced.

The autorickshaw operations in several cities today do not meet either market principles, or regulatory norms. It is time that they were also given an offer to run according to rules, with a defined fuel supply at lower rates, and with strict enforcement.

The bottomline is that doing nothing is not an option for Manmohan Singh, or any of our leaders.

Winston Churchill said in his time that we would be ruled by men of straw who would slap a variety of poorly conceived taxes on a malnourished mass of people. Many Indians would say that was an observation born out of frustration at a successful people charting their own destiny, freed from the Empire. But looking at leaders of neo-liberal India, with their complete disdain for public welfare, public services, public infrastructure and their wholesale corruption, even in the face of democratic compulsions, many might feel the statement has a ring of truth in it.

 

Green farming: DIY Organic fertilizer and pesticide

There is a great deal of interest in organic agriculture around the world and some Indian states such as Kerala are completely dedicated to this nature-oriented method of cultivation. Tamil Nadu also has a growing organic farming movement.

In coming weeks, I propose to extract this traditional wisdom reproduced by organic experts such as Mr. Nammalwar in popular magazines like Pasumai Vikatan, for the benefit of the community. Links to mainstream media will also be included. Whether you are big farmer, a small farmer or just a homesteader, these formulae are bound to be useful.

Here is the formula of Panchakavya, the biofertiliser and biopesticide that is very potent and easy to produce. I am thankful to Pasumai Vikatan for sharing this traditional formula with its readers, and which I have translated here for the benefit of those who do not know Tamil. If you do know Tamil, I urge you to read Pasumai Vikatan regularly and benefit from its repository of rediscovered wisdom of traditional, organic agricultural practices. Download the PDF for the formula here.

 

I will continue to add to this post as I work on this theme. Here is a biofertiliser named “Amuthakaraisal”, also called “Amruthakaraisal.” This requires the use of cow dung, cow urine, jaggery and stablisation for 24 hours in the shade. Here is the formula.

Today’s edition of The Hindu (2008/06/05) carries an article on a variety of plant-based pesticides that can be made on the farm or at home. These are derived from pungamia, neem, calotropis, turmeric and so on, some of them using cow urine as an additive. The entire story, titled “Taking a leaf from the book of ancient time tested practices” is here. 

This is the latest formula from Pasumai Vikatan for a biofertilzer that they call EM. It adds to soil health by boosting microbes, and acts as a growth promoter. You can also download a PDF version of this formula here.