The ‘Litti-chokha’ and BT Brinjal

Posted on February 10, 2010 by indra

I never had any inkling that Brinjal is so important among vegetables. My grandfather used the Bangla nomenclature ‘Begun’ to express his distaste for it, as the word means ‘without any value’. As I remember, according to him, the brinjal is not a nutritious vegetable and causes even some typical problems such as gastritis.

Brinjal was never a favourite for us in the family but for some specific preparation. With Litti-chokha getting media attention with Bihar’s social entrepreneur Irfan Khan’s intention to take it to US to present it to Obama as a gift from Bihar, his state of origin, I can only say that baked brinjal messed with baked potatoes is part of typical chokha. People in Bengal like fried ‘beguni’ and offer as the first course in most of the parties. I have seen brinjal pieces in sambhar in south. Brinjal is certainly not one of the most popular among large lot of vegetables getting produced in India. Brinjal has been one of the cheapest vegetables in market.

But Bt Brinjal has suddenly taken the headlines in media for days. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had to tour almost all the main metros in the country and did face also huge protests and even the heckle from the producers of brinjal before he finally said no to the commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal in India.

I only pity Jairam for putting so much of energy, resources and focus on Bt brinjal. Ramesh being an IITian as usual has gone into the depth of the issue and put the opinions from scientists NGOs and politicians on the website of his ministry that runs into thousands of pages. It will be a good research material for anyone interested in the subject.

Were the protests engineered by vested interest or was it a show of the strength of the common people against the entry of foreign multinational in Indian agriculture?

I have been writing about the productivity of agriculture produces in India that in many cases far behind the bests in the world. I wish the scientists focus on those crops such as paddy, wheat, sugarcanes, pulses, soybeans, oilseeds and many other items rather than wasting their energy and resources on brinjal.

Irfan Alam, also known as Mr. Rickshaw, the 35-year-old IIM Ahmedabad graduate from Bihar, has redesigned and smartened up rickshaws and helped boost the pullers’ earnings and dignity. Irfan is one of 79 “unique” entrepreneurs from across the world invited by Obama to an April 26-27 “entrepreneurship meet. As reported, US ambassador is meeting him in Patna on Friday. Interestingly, the ambassador plied a ricksha on the street of Patna with his wife sitting on it.

Being a fan of ‘Litii-chokha’, I still think that the preparation requires certain innovations to be made acceptable worldwide and presentable to the president of India. Now, fortunately after a gap of many years, we have Harendra with us who can take all the troubles that go in preparing Litti-chokha that is best done in an earthen oven with sun-dried cow dung as fuel. I am of opinion that my own home district is the best for this cuisine, though I may be wrong with not much knowledge about the other areas. Anyone wishing to learn the recipe can contact Yamuna on 0120-4358743.

The credit of this entry must go to Mukhiyaji who initiated it on facebook.

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Rural India: Affluence Knocking

Posted on February 9, 2010 by indra

India Today in its recent issue has published a heartening cover story ‘Changing face of rural India’. While one can see the glimpses of emerging India in metros and other cities of the country pretty easily, it is difficult to get the right views of the success stories of rural India that lives in about 6, 38,000 villages. Even most in urban India hardly know about the developments in rural India.

The schemes such as NREGS have helped the landless households. Bharat Nirman has considerably improved the infrastructures, be it road connectivity or rural electrification, which have impacted overall economy of the rural India. The unique expansion of mobile phones is further aiding to revolutionize the rural economy.

The earnings of the farmers have gone up significantly because of the enhanced minimum support price of the produces. Since 2004, the government has hiked procurement prices for paddy from Rs 580 per quintal to Rs 1,030 and that of wheat from Rs 620 to Rs 1,100.

Productivity or yield also has increased, though the potential is still much more if compared to China or developed countries. For example, India’s per hectare yield of paddy has increased from 668 kg to 2,203 kg since 1950 with Punjab’s at top with 3,800 kg/ha , but Bihar at 1,400 kg/ha. China’s average yield is 6,336 kg/ha, and new strain developed has already achieved 10,500 kg/ha that is ultimately is targeted for 13,500kg/ha. On wheat Punjab has hit 4,200 kg/ha, but France is at 6,740kg/ha. Gujarat’s farmers have increased cotton yield six fold in nine years from 175 kg per hectare to 798 kg more than the e world average of 787 kg/ha. Productivity has come because of better seeds, right amount of fertilizers, and water at appropriate time, and also better insecticides if required.

Farmers have started increasing their earnings from switch over to new and profitable crops as well as adapting to new technologies such as drip irrigation or micro-sprinkler systems and experimenting with better farming practices. With better road connectivity, the switch over from the traditional crops to cash crops such as vegetables, flowers, and fruits have provide better and regular earnings. Many progressive farmers have started making the farming run as business and have shaken off the old myths. For example, in many villages the farmers never sold milk and milk products, but today they have started considering that as additional means of household earning. So is the case with vegetable farming that was reserved for some specific castes. The plateuing of the productivity of traditional crops such as paddy and wheat have made them think to find ways and means to improve the earnings.

Barabanki, a district in UP became pioneer in growing mint (for menthe oil). After paddy and wheat season, the farmers grow mint in the offseason between March-June with added earning. And today India is the largest producer and exporter of the oil. Surprisingly, as I wrote earlier, my in-law family in Bihar also followed the practice and got benefited. A village in Telangana (Andhra) has tasted ample prosperity by producing red jowar seeds.

And one can feel and see the affluence in rural India in number of tractors, motor cycles, and modern houses with all electrical gadgets that one normally sees in urban India. And it gives me an immense pleasure to read such cover stories.

The unscrupulous politicians can’t hold the rural India behind.

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Bhishma vs. Arjun

Posted on February 5, 2010 by indra

Arjun is again battling against Bhishma. This is to prove how Arjun compares against Bhishma. Can Arjun win again?

The Indian army christened Russian battle (T-90S) tanks as ‘Bhishma’. DRDO has developed Arjun, the main battle tanks. Even after many tests and trials, the army has not agreed to accept Arjuns and has raised many apprehensions about its specifications and performance.

As reported, to end the debates between army and DRDO, ‘Russian-origin T-90S main battle tanks (MBTs) and indigenous Arjun tanks will finally kick off its performance tests in the Thar Desert in March-April’ for arriving at the comparative performances of the two.

The Army does not want more than the 124 Arjuns that it has already ordered, while it requires 1,781 MBTs to replace the older T-55 and T-72 tanks. The army wants to import 1,657 T-90S tanks.

DRDO, however, wants Army to order a minimum of 500 Arjuns to stabilize production lines and pave the way for the development of a “futuristic” MBT.

As reported, the present cost of one Arjun is Rs 16-17 crore, while it is around Rs 12-14 crore for the T-90S. I am sure Indian engineers can come out with many innovations and make it cost competitive with Russian tanks.

According to DRDO, the army has been frequently changing “qualitative requirements” of the MBT. I doubt if the engineering talent and manufacturing facilities in India can’t meet the army requirements, if the technocrats in army cooperate with the technical experts of DRDO and other vendors.

Many even opine that the army or for that matter everyone in the defense departments responsible for procurements prefer to import its major equipment for unknown reasons.

Are the foreign vendors using some underhand methods with favours of cash and kinds to those in decision making process to get the orders? India is having a very poor reputation of corrupt practices in doing business with the foreign companies.

I have different logic for getting indigenous products and equipment. The volume production of Arjun can boost the country’s manufacturing sector.

No one wishes that the country gets poorer defence equipment because of the emotional decision in favour of the locally developed main battle tanks. But at the same time none will like the men in army to obstruct the project unnecessarily.

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India Growth Story: Some Priorities

Posted on February 2, 2010 by indra

India has earned a rightful place for itself today. The developed West has realized it and also recognized it. It gets revealed even in the name of the successful Hollywood movie, ‘Avatar’.

When China is moving on fast track of growth and building infrastructure that even developed countries today envy, many think, the Indian model is likely to prove far more sustainable than the Chinese one. India must focus on certain areas where it’s strong. It’s happening already. Here are some areas where India can really excel and it’s on the right track.

R&D: Zennov Management Consulting, which helps multinationals explore opportunities in India, estimates that 640 multinationals have together set up 750 R&D centres in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Chennai. If you look at the pink papers, you can find the new ones coming in or the existing one expanding regularly.

And it’s not only the technology companies. For example, Emerson, the $21 billion US-based technology giant, has set up a design engineering centre in Pune to provide product and software design, and engineering services for Emerson’s divisions worldwide. Siemens is making India a major hub for R&D related to computer aided detection products for medical diagnostics tools.

Win Africans: China has gone a long way to win over African countries on its side, and India must not fall behind. India has certain advantages and can very easily win the race if Indian government makes a right move taking cue from a recent statement of Nimisha Madhvani, the Ugandan high commissioner to India, who belongs to a family that owns and runs one of the biggest business conglomerates in East Africa. “The Indian government has not really focused on the Indians in Africa which is why many of the big Indian business groups of Indian origin in that continent do not look at putting their money in India but instead tap business opportunities in Europe and America.”

Export Indians: http://business.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?263916 India huge human resources will be its great asset and export. With the government facilitating the supply and if it does it right, India could emerge as the talent supplier to the world. India has signed two CEPAs, with Singapore and South Korea. CEPA, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covers movement of both goods and people. It is currently negotiating for two more on the same lines, with the European Union (27 countries) and Japan. And the special thrust on improving the quality of education raises hope for better performance by Indians all over the world in larger number.

India will have to leapfrog its dominance in manufacturing sector. It has all the potentials. The government must take steps to open and encourage defence and other sectors primarily with government to private players. Clearly, the sectors such as aviation, power equipment, satellites, and even railways have got the potential to flood the country with manufacturing possibilities. Is it not a shame that the country can’t build sufficient number of power plants as there is one supplier of power plant equipment named BHEL? How can one think of having any development without power?

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Spiraling Prices: Who’s Responsible?

Posted on January 30, 2010 by indra

Who is responsible for the spiraling process?

Hoarders, politicians, government-both at centre and in the states, traders, farmers or the people of the country!

How is this country with more than 70% of the population without any salary cheques coming every month carrying on with this tremendous price rises? As reported, ‘food inflation touched 17.40 per cent for the week ended January 16 on account of high prices of vegetables and pulses.’ Is it not strange that pulses are selling at Rs 100 to 110 per kg, higher than the price of branded refined edible oils?

As reported, ‘the prices of essential commodities have been on an upward spiral since 2004. In the last decade, rice prices have risen by 130 per cent cent while sugar prices have shot up by 193 per cent. And since May 2004, prices of rice have gone up by 77 per cent and that of tur dal by an astounding 252 per cent.’

India is unfortunate to have one so senior a minister who keeps on giving irresponsible and every time varying statements, more on possibility of the rise in the price rather than acting on and talking about the measures on the price control.

Is it because of the politics even in matters of grave national concerns? As per one estimate, the government spent about Rs1.25, 000 crore very successfully for its vote banks such a loan waivers and NREGA. It hardly executed any major irrigation programme for improving the productivity in agriculture. Would not the country have debated the choice between the investments for vote banks vs. that in improving the productivity of agriculture sector? Who can stop a government from allocating most of its revenue for appeasing the vote banks?

And what can happen if the concern of the politicians leading protests for price rise is so much political?

“Take us and keep us in 1 Anne Marg (chief minister’s official residence). I will issue an order to bring down the prices within a minute,” Lalu claimed when the police arrived to arrest him during recent Patna Bandh.

And another chief minister has funnier solution. He can stop price rise by writing a letter on rising prices to the Congress president in Italian to get her attention.

Why do the politicians and the government behave so irresponsibly? They have nothing to lose. They have their store rooms and lockers full. And still the crowd is with them and votes them to power. Is not the country is getting what it deserves?

Let us not hope for any control on prices of the essential commodities, be it sugar or onion or pulses and try to live with it, work harder to pay more for the ineffectiveness of the governance.

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Product That Prides: iPad and India’s own Kindle

Posted on January 28, 2010 by indra

Image

The techies in US and world over appear to be talking today of only one product iPad that Apple’s Steve Jobs unveiled. Will it be as popular as iPhone or iPod? Anand was the first to send the message as he had been talking about it with a lot of expectation for a long time. Apple has become a benchmark of the tech products, and all its products have been unique.

A brief description of iPad is as follows
iPad is a half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds, with a 9.7-inch capacitive touch screen IPS LCD display, and it’s running a custom 1GHz Apple “A4” chip developed by the P.A. Semi team, with a 10-hour battery life and a month of standby. It’s a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. The cheapest will be $499 in US (around Rs 25,000). I don’t know when Indian enthusiasts can have iPad and at what price. However, I enjoy immensely the excitement of the younger generation about these gadgets represented pretty well by Anand.

Kindle, the e-reader of Amazon is another product that is making waves in US and perhaps world over wherever Amazon has launched it.

I was amazed to read a news item in business page of Times of India today.

“A 34-year-old Indian is looking to revolutionize the way the printed word is read in India. Ahmedabad-based Vishal Mehta, a former employee of Amazon, is launching a product in India, which could challenge the hegemony of his former company’s Kindle in e-reading.”


I wish Vishal a success. It will be a great product for book lovers, if he can tie up with the publishers and other service providers including Amazon. And if he can cut down its price, it will be a great example of reverse innovation. He will have a market of millions world over. India badly needs such product developments. However, I shall feel really bad and pained if it turns to be a fraudulent claim.

The people, particularly the students and teachers, world over badly need a really cheap laptop. Many have been attempting for it. It started with the initiative of ‘One Laptop per Child’ (OLPC), the MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte’s non-profit effort that conceived a no-frill $75 or $100 laptops to be produced in millions to meet the target price.

The government of India had announced a project of even $10 laptop (Rs 500). And I don’t know what happened to it. I wish the scientists of all the IITs, IISc, CSIR, and DRDO or company such as HCL Infosystems could have made it happen.

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Dr. Rajendra Prasad: Bihar’s Legendary Son

Posted on January 27, 2010 by indra

I wonder how many know about the academic record of Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Most of the younger generation has forgotten even this first President of India, who could also be the prime minister.

Subhash C Kashyap, the expert of India’s constitution, in one article to celebrate 60 years of India becoming republic writes so correctly in Times of India:

“It will forever remain an intriguing ‘what if’ of history. But I believe that if Jawaharlal Nehru had been India’s first President and Rajendra Prasad its first Prime Minister, our political system would today be more presidential than parliamentary without any change in the Constitution.

As the top two functionaries of a nascent Republic, India’s first PM and President often clashed over their respective powers. Through these conflicts, the polity itself was being determined and the Constitution tested and shaped in practice. And what was settled in each case strengthened the concepts of parliamentary democracy, ministerial responsibility and prime ministerial authority.

There could hardly be two personalities more strikingly different from each other. Nehru was a modernist and a liberal with a commitment to secularism and socialism, while Prasad, a brilliant intellectual himself, was a religious minded man with a traditional and conservative approach.”

I wonder why Dr. Rajendra Prasad doesn’t get his due position in the country by its people. Why are most of the nation’s institutions named after one or the other of Nehru’s descendents? Why in New Delhi one can’t find a memorial dedicated to the first president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad?

I am not writing this because I also studied for two years in Presidency College that Dr. Rajendra Prasad attended for at least four years or because I had an opportunity to speak with him when he came to Calcutta to attend a function in Presidency College and vested Hindu Hostel too. Dr. Rajendra Prasad is one who must be an icon for the whole of Next Generation of the state to take the state ahead, as he had proved that one needs not be a politician but even an intellectual can get at the top of the nation,

Amazingly, the state capital of Bihar also couldn’t build some memorial to match his stature as the national leader, great intellectual and the first president, though he spent the end of his life in Patna though he could remain in New Delhi. Does not Dr. Prasad deserve one memorial like one built for CM Annadurai or MG Ramchandran on Marina Beach of Chennai that every chief minister and person of Bihar visiting Tamil Nadu would have seen? Unfortunately, the state and particularly its leadership has been so much caste-oriented that it has hardly built any memorial for its great sons suitable to their achievements, be it JP Narayan, or the first chief minister Shri Krishna Sinha. The state treats even its literary intellectuals starting from the ancient India to present era in the same shabby manner. Hardly any in the state today takes pride in remembering its great sons.

The political leaders have kept the people of the state so busy in today’s politics and doing only the things to win the elections that they have forgotten everything else that builds the state and its image.

I have only one request to the present chief minister to get the villages of all the past chief ministers developed as a model village with an institution for higher education, a very good health centre, and a trade school to cater to the population of the hinterland. All these will come to the people there as tribute to those leaders and in the process so many of the villages in the state will get a real gift.

The chief minister has been appealing rather demanding to get a Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur can do the above without any assistance from the centre, and I feel this will be a better tribute to the great man.

On the same line I appeal to some journalists of the state to write in detail about all those villages so that the people of the state can know about them.

Can we expect something to happen on the ground for celebrating the Republic @60 instead of just speeches?

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Republic@60

Posted on January 26, 2010 by indra

India became ‘republic’ in 1950, and interestingly, I started my formal schooling in the same year in class VI in Birlapur Vidyalaya. And now I am 70+. While there is hardly anything to achieve for me, I wish the republic at 60 to go stronger and stronger every year and make the prophecies of many to overtake china correct.

Some achievements of the republic in its life of 60 years are really amazing. The whole world is looking at India with a hope to be a savior.

The population grew by 220% since 1950 from 361 million to 1161 million.

Per capita income increased by 14600% from Rs 255 in 1950 to Rs 37490 in 2010.

Total wheat output increased by 1100% from 6.5 million tonnes in 1950 to 78.6 this year, whereas per capita power consumption saw a growth of 3950% from 15.6KWh in 1950 to 631.

In 1951, 19 million were enrolled at elementary level (classes 1 to 8), just 1.5 million from 9 to 12. Today, elementary sections have over 130 million enrolled, 37 million in higher classes.

Higher education has seen a stunning 100-fold enrolment growth — from 1.7 lakh students in 1951 to over 12 million currently.

And some growth figures are just unbelievable for a common man: Government revenue in 2010 (Rs 10.2 lakh crore) was more by 301100% when compared with 1950. The amount earned in 2010 from the export was Rs 77 lakh crore (higher by126900%) as the export earnings in 1950 was only Rs 606 crore.

During the last 60 years, India, a largely agriculture-dependent economy in 1950, has become an economy mostly driven by service sector. Contribution of agriculture to GDP has drastically dropped from over 53% in 1950 to 21% in 2008. While industrial sector’s contribution has risen from 14% to 27%, the services sector has zoomed from 33% to 52%.

But the burgeoning crisis is because of the diminishing returns in agriculture. It’s becoming unviable for cultivators. Contributing to farmers’ distress is the continuing fragmentation of land with average land-holding size getting halved from the beginning of the 1960s. Latest NSSO reports show that more than 67% of cultivated area is held in holdings less than 4 hectares in size, compared to just 35% in 1953.

Can some way be found to make this crisis in India’s agriculture create with some new innovative model to bring back its glory?

Further, who will help in crossing the hurdles and speed breakers required to get ahead of the competition for the country where the bureaucrats and politicians are still easy in mastering the art and science of corruption and red tape?

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Manufacturing Sector- India’s Hope

Posted on January 25, 2010 by indra

“If India is to realize its potential as an economic superpower, it will have to keep following China’s path by becoming one of the world’s factories. The IT sector gives India a good brand image, but most Indian jobs will have to come from manufacturing.” Business Week

It is not the big houses that have contributed in big way. 99 per cent of businesses in India fall under the SMB (small and medium sized businesses) segment, and are responsible for almost 50 per cent of the GDP of the nation; account for around 40 per cent of the country’s industrial output; and 35 per cent of direct exports.

Some started with a lot of handicap.

Subhash Lohakare, a shoemaker from Pimpri, near Pune manufactures industrial shoes for small and medium enterprises. He started with one client. Today his quality has got many others placing orders with him and has an annual turnover of Rs 52 lakh. Lohakare is the epitome of an entrepreneur. And he’s a Dalit. And the likes of Lohakare are on increase.

In 2010, M&M will drive into the world’s biggest automotive market, the US. M&M will capitalize on the fuel savings and environment-friendly aspects of the Scorpio. Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector (FES) is already in US with a network of over 250 dealers, selling 10,000 tractors annually. About 15% of overall FES volumes come from global operations with US contributing half of its overseas revenue, followed by China, Africa and South Asia. Tata Motors is already getting Nano readied for US market. Auto components manufacturers and pharma sectors have grown world-class in manufacturing though both are far behind in scale of production. The launches of Nano, Scorpio, and many successfully selling two-wheelers show the capability of manufacturing sector. The winning of Deming Prizes by many companies of auto component sector makes India’s image robust. The Indian products can easily get into and compete effectively in developed markets. Will Indian manufacturers cash on this phenomenal opportunity and get confidently into global market?

It’s exhilarating to find India emerging as a centre of manufacturing for international vehicle makers, which are adding huge capacities. And as estimated by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), it will result in the hiring of five million new employees over three years between now and 2012.

Last year, Tata Chemicals (TCL) launched the Swach (clean) filter-based water purifier, targeted at people with lower incomes. TCL and other Tata companies filed 14 patents in the process of developing the product. The total project investment was Rs 25 crore. TCL envisages setting up a manufacturing plant in Haldia for the Swach purifier with an investment of around Rs 100 crore and a target to sell 1 million units in the first year. Will it catch the attention of other backward nations in Africa and Latin America for the households at the bottom of the pyramids?

Again the most exciting story was one of the Reva Electric Car Company driving into the American imagination. General Motors will use Reva’s technology to make the electric variant of its small car, Spark. Maini is at the forefront of GM’s clean-tech R&D in India. If the electric Spark takes off, it will put Reva’s intellectual property into the global spotlight.

While all these developments give hope that Indian manufacturing sector will grow fast enough to be a great global power, it will require some change in the mindsets of the country’s trading community that is hell bent on importing all the rubbishes from China for mass consumer market starting from the Kirpan for Sikhs to Ganesh and Lakshmi for Dipawali.

Another reason for this comes from the concept of “Reverse Innovation” and the role of MNCs in India that are developing products in India for selling worldwide. For example, GE India has developed a hand-held electrocardiogram that sells for about $1,000. Many are expected to follow GE’s route. Furthering the ho[e is the news that the largest engineering offshoring country is India, with about 25 percent market share.

With a government that now realizes the necessity of the growth of the manufacturing to take the mass of the population out of poverty, I hope all the speed breakers on growth path gets removed.

My hope gets boost with the media reports such as one in the editorial of Hindu’s Business Line: “Over the past several months, anecdotal evidence suggests that India may well be on its way to becoming a global manufacturing hub.

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Will Gen Next Save Bihar?

Posted on January 23, 2010 by indra

I am shocked. Some politicians of Bihar are making Rana Pratap the same as some in Maharashtra did with Shivaji. I don’t know why Rajasthan is not objecting to their hijacking of Rana Pratap. Rana Pratap and Shivaji are two Indian icons. They never belonged to any community or caste. But as these leaders can neither invent any new issue nor they are ready to look after the development of the region they represent, they keep themselves busy with the caste based politics. Who can put a stop to such unscrupulous leaders from organizing such functions or rallies?

I wish the Gen Next could do that? Let them start questioning these leaders. How can Rana Pratap represent only a particular caste? What about the tribals of Rajasthan who helped Rana Pratap or Bhamashah who financially helped Rana Pratap? Why do these leaders still trying to take shelter in caste to keep themselves relevant?

One thing that I hate in Bihar is the useless affinity shown by its people for the leaders of their own castes, though they hardly help them anyway unless one is useful to them.

I have one more question to these leaders. Why don’t they find some local icons? Is there a dearth of them? They could have put forward Kunwar Singh, the fighter of 1857. And there must be some more if they research.

Let these leaders and all the people of Bihar understand and appreciate that these divisive approaches are damaging the image of Bihar more than anything else. Bihar will have to emerge strong only with its hard innovative success stories from farm fields, educational institutes, handicrafts cooperatives, and by finding ways and means to manufacture some key consumables for marketing all over the country. Let me also make it clear to all those assuming themselves in ‘sabarn’ or forward categories that they are just as backward as OBC. Exceptions are minuscule in number.

I appeal the younger generation to come forward and create a new social order and environment in Bihar with a contemporary mindset, and they can do that.

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