Monday, April 12, 2010

The issue of human cloning is a grave ethical concern

Nevertheless, some concerns related to biotechnology are clearly not baseless. Technical issues like proper genes delivery mechanism, limited knowledge of the functions of genes to be used, multigenes disorders and environmental impact are yet to be properly researched and clarified. Also, the spectre of evil use of biotechnology is also looming large, as there is danger of biological weapons passing into the hands of terror groups.

The issue of human cloning is a grave ethical concern. Combined with nano-technology, this field is expected to (in the near future) provide workable solutions to reverse aging completely. The sociological dilemma that humans will have has not even been discussed properly, leave alone researched. Nevertheless, the good that biotech can do is still overwhelming. Over 9 million people die worldwide every year out of hunger and malnutrition, of which 5 million are children. GM crops do carry the promise of helping them out. 7.6 million people die out of cancer annually. Around 31.3 million adults and 2.1 million children had HIV by the end of 2008. Can biotechnology save such cases? Perhaps. Should research be promoted? Definitely.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Friday, April 09, 2010

A brief visit isn’t enough for this place

“About six lakh tourists visited Gulmarg last year. This year we are expecting more, so we are trying to develop the infrastructure by giving licences to the locals to set up guest houses in the area,” Ilyas Nasir, chief executive officer, Gulmarg Development Authority, told TSI. Pahalgam is another beautiful place where tourists from across the country and foreigners prefer to spend much time during their Kashmir visit. Pahalgam was once a preferred location for Bollywood films. It is located at an altitude of 2130m above sea level amidst the great Himalayan range. A two-hour drive (95 km east of Srinagar) leads to this beautiful place which presents glamorous look due to its pine forests, snow clad mountains, healthy climate and vast meadows and pastures. The place is Kashmir's premier resort, cool even during the height of summer when the maximum temperature does not exceed 25 degree centigrade. The Liddar river is popular for trout fishing. Travellers interested in fishing have to obtain a licence from the Directorate of Fisheries in Srinagar which is being easily provided to them. Pahalgam is the starting point of a number of trekking and hiking trails to the surrounding mountains.

Trekking around Pahalgam is exhilarating, as it takes the traveller through virgin pine forests, clear mountain streams, and meadows of wildflowers. Pahalgam is also the entry point for the famous Amarnath Cave, a holy site for Hindus. Most of Amarnath pilgrims choose to return back from the Baltal route to see charming beauty of Sonamarg.

Sonamarg (meadow of gold), situated at an altitude of 2730 m has snowy mountains as its backdrop. The Sindh river that meanders through the valley abounds with trout and mahaseer. Ponies can be hired for the trip up to Thajiwas glacier, which is a major local attraction during the summer months. Sonamarg is the base of a major trek that passes along several mountain lakes –Vishansar, Kishansar, Gadsar, Satsar and Gangabal. Sonamarg is also the take off station for the drive to Ladakh across the Zojila, a major pass in the Great Himalayan Range, through which the Srinagar-Leh Road passes.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Thursday, April 08, 2010

A haven for eco tourists

It has some way to go before it can match the best, but gujarat's lone hill station is still ideal for a weekend family holiday

There are plenty of holy places across the state of Gujarat. Every single day, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit these spots. This probably reflects the religious mindset of the Gujarati people.

But along a1600-km-long sea coast from Saurashtra to Surat, the state also has numerous sandy beaches – Chorvad, Somnath, Dwarka, Ahmedpur Mandvi, Tithal and Dumas. However, due to lack of a concerted tourism-centric approach, these beaches have remained untouched.

But not so Gujarat’s solitary hill station, Saputara, which, too, has suffered years of government apathy. But happily, the Gujarat government has turned its attention to this tourist spot of late and chances are that Saputara will evolve in the years ahead.

Saputara is located1000 metres above sea level. For many Gujaratis, Saputara is not so much a hill station as a retiring spot en route to Shirdi in Maharashtra. Waghai is South Gujarat’s tiny town with a humble tribal population and dense jungle. Most tourists use this route to reach Saputara as it is directly linked to Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat. Another road to Saputara is from Ahwa, the district headquarters of Dang, Gujarat’s smallest district.

The bus ride from Ahwa takes three hours and the road is treacherous. It is like a roller-coaster ride and, halfway through the journey, I feel like throwing up. But as I breathe the fresh air of the hills, I begin to feel much better.

In 1960, after Gujarat was carved out from Mumbai state, the government decided to develop Saputara as its only hill station. Nestled in the womb of nature, this sleepy resort attracts tourists that are endowed with an adventurous streak. Saputara's eco tourism circuit, too, attracts many.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Stop al-Qaeda and the Taliban

Arif N Pervaiz, an eminent environmentalist and independent consultant, said Washington would not be of any help in resolving the water dispute with India. “No third country can solve a bilateral water dispute between India and Pakistan.” There are apprehensions among peace activists in Pakistan that acquiring sophisticated weapons from the US would escalate the arms race between two nuclear-powered South Asian neighbours who have fought four unproductive wars since achieving Independence.

Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Karamat Ali recently said that the “permanent establishment” in the two neighbouring countries do not want peace in the subcontinent. Since the Mumbai carnage, he said, the US had sold armaments worth $15 billion to both Pakistan and India and it seemed that the two countries were now the main buyers of weapons from the superpower.

Ali said that there was a five-to six-fold increase in conventional weapons after Pakistan and India tested nuclear bombs, despite the fact that it was propagated that a nuclear bomb would be a “deterrent”.

But Pakistan’s top defence analyst and scholar Dr. Hasan Askari-Rizvi rejected the notion that in the current situation the subcontinent might witness an escalation of the arms race between the two South Asian neighbours.

“The military assistance from the US will not start an arms race between Pakistan and India because India is obtaining weapons keeping in view its requirements and Pakistan is also acquiring equipment primarily to cope with terrorism pressures,” he told TSI.

Dr. Askari-Rizvi agreed that the “strategic dialogue” between Pakistan and the US has been “reasonably successful” in addressing the issues between the two countries.

“They have agreed on a framework for pursuing bilateral relations, including the Afghanistan problem,” he said. “The US is now shifting the focus towards long-term socio-economic development of Pakistan while keeping the security concerns in mind, war on terrorism and upgrading the military,” he said.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Monday, April 05, 2010

There is an urgent need for reforms in the food processing sector

Better news for those willing to delight the Indian food-lovers is the fact that expenditure on food items account for the largest chunk of expenditure for Indian households; they spend 31% of their incomes on it. By 2015, the Indian food industry is expected to clock turnover figures of $258 billion, from $181 billion registered in 2008. In India, increase in food consumption has happened more due to an increase in per capita expenditure, rather than an increase in the number of mouths being fed. And the urban-rural divide is visible here too. Economic liberalization causing a growth in the urban middle class and their disposable incomes has taken urban food consumption far ahead of rural India.

But, in stark contrast to the developed world and even some of our developing counterparts, India’s total food processing output is estimated at $70-75 billion – just 40% of value of the entire food industry. It is presently growing at a CAGR of 15%, but is predicted to leapfrog at 35% per annum in the future. From mind crunching numbers to headcount, the sector employs an estimated 15 million people. According to an analysis by Dr. J. S. Bedi, “without any replacement of labour, the employment intensity in the organised food processing sector per million rupees of investment currently stands at 1.8 directly and 6.4 indirectly.” As far as the unorganised section of the food processing industry is concerned, there the employment intensity is estimated to be approximately 10 for both direct and indirect employment per million rupees of investment. However, there are concerns as whenever Indian agriculture goes into a state of disarray, farm processing runs into a rough patch. A sneak peak into the economics & dynamics of the sector, and you realise that it scores just a tad better than agriculture, which in India, still remains largely subjected to the vagaries of the weather!

What are the roadblocks and challenges going ahead? Currently, the food processing industry is both nascent and highly fragmented. In sharp contrast to developed countries and even China where food retailers are much larger than food processors and producers, India’s packaged and processed food makers are much larger than food retailers, largely because of the 100% level of FDI allowed (as compared to zero FDI allowed in food retailing where many brands are sold).

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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