Indian Current Affairs: 29.07.2008

What are the two conferences that are expected to evolve a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol?

Firstly, it states that India’s per capita GHGs emission would at no point exceed that of the developed countries.
Secondly, India has stuck to its earlier stand of not committing to specific emission reduction targets or energy efficiency targets.
Thirdly, the plan would be implemented through eight missions, viz., (a) enhancing solar energy contribution in total energy mix, (b) introducing energy efficiency steps, (c) promoting sustainable habitats, (d) saving Himalayan glaciers, (e) water resource management, (f) protecting mountain eco-systems, (g) improving eco-system services and (h) making agriculture more resilient and adaptable to climate change.

It has produced 42,000 MW of nuclear power in just 10 years starting 1989 to 1999. Today, 70% of its energy is nuclear.

The Drain of Wealth theory was first propounded by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1867. It was set in a perspective of economic colonisation of India to service the needs of Industrial revolution in Britain.

The most fool-proof measure of inflation is the national income deflator, also called the GDP deflator. This is defined as ratio of GDP at current prices and GDP at constant prices. Since GDP also includes services, the GDP deflator is a more comprehensive measure of prices of goods and services.
The only problem is that the GDP deflator is available with a lag of two months, which makes it dated for policy purposes. Also, because it includes services, it is of limited use as far as most vulnerable population is concerned. The services component in their consumption basket is very limited. To that extent, any policy response based on the GDP deflator could impose undue hardship on the vulnerable. For them, food products-dominated basket would be a more relevant measure.

The country is considering imposition of a carbon tax on polluting power stations. The proposal would club India with a select group of countries that tax carbon emissions directly and boost the renewable energy initiative.
The gross installed capacity of grid interactive renewable power in the country is estimated at 11,273 mw, 8% of the total installed generation capacity in the country.

Jim Womack and his co-authors Daniel T Jones and Daniel Roos published ‘The Machine that Changed the World.’
It changed the way many companies linked the markets to the shopfloor — and introduced a new term to managers’ lingo: ‘lean production’.

Single undertaking: It means that nothing is decided until everything being discussed is agreed upon.

Carbon equalisation measures (An excerpt from KG Narendranath’s article on WTO matters)

The European Parliament is likely to take up a legislative proposal envisaging them. As per the proposal, these could be either in the form of a carbon tax or an obligation on developing country exporters to purchase international reserve allowances to sell their products in the EU. In either case, the measure would inflate the cost of exports from developing countries to the 27-country bloc. On the face of it, this is an attempt to “provide incentive to emerging economies to reduce the emission intensity” of their industries through “market-based measures.” The noble intentions notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is such measures could be legitimately seen as disguised protectionism. Of course, even if the law is enacted in 2009, it will come into effect only in 2013, after the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol.
One obvious question is if the measures that the EU is planning are WTO-compatible. Most experts say since the proposed carbon tax could take tariff levels above the bound rates, they violate the WTO. Of course, Article 20 of GATT allows WTO members to take certain measures for environmental reasons and it is doubtful whether the proposed EU measures would qualify under this exception.

He is a well known marketing strategist. He advises several Fortune 500 companies.
With his 1981 classic book, ‘Positioning’, Jack Trout and co-author Al Ries changed the language and practice of marketing strategy. In more than two-and-a-half decades since then, Mr Trout has authored or co-authored some of the best-selling marketing books of all time, including 'Marketing Warfare', 'Bottom-Up-Marketing', and 'The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing'.
He will be India shortly.

Today, while commenting on our intelligence failure concerning the recent bomb blasts, it says:

“After all, it would be hard to imagine how Indian Muslims would want to cooperate with the legal-judicial system they find alienating. The gradual waning of Muslims’ trust in the Indian state is on account of its institutional apathy towards them. The failure of the system to punish the perpetrators of sundry anti-minority pogroms, such as the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 or the post-Godhra massacre of 2002, has exposed our legal-judicial system.”

Oh! What a discovery? I would like to ask the author of the editorial, why only champion Muslims? Has there been a consequent enhancement in trust of the other communities toward the Indian state? I am really saddened that respectable papers like the ET also are falling prey to such populist posturing. Loss of trust in the Indian state’s ability to handout speedier justice, is there with every community that lives within its borders. No single community alone is affected by it. All are equally affected. By saying that Muslims alone are suffering because of this, is nothing but playing politics of the journalistic kind. Hope ET does a review of its opinion and be the neutral umpire that it has always been.

All the proceeds from disinvestment in PSUs cannot be taken as part of revenue but must go instead to the National Investment Fund. But 75% of the annual income of the fund can be used for financing select social sector schemes while the balance 25% can be used to meet the capital investment requirements of profitable and revivable PSUs.

Indian Current Affairs