No rain, no gain?

Will the real insurer please stand up?
Does anyone care if it rains in the first week of June or the third? Obviously, millions of Indian farmers do. As weather conditions become more unpredictable, the chances of not repaying the loan by a farmer are also becoming more evident. And now, most disappointing statistics from the government reveal that while 65% of Indian agriculture is dependent on natural factors, particularly rainfall, any discrepancy in rainfall accounts for over 50% of variability in crop yields. Then there are the most inane insurance schemes set up under the aegis of National Agricultural Insurance Schemes for farmers’ future. The present schemes illogically settle claims based on actual area yield. Worse, the settlement process is generally delayed, in some cases up to 6-12 months from the occurrence of the event, till which time the farmer is bankrupt many times over. Besides, only notified crops, not all, are eligible for the above crop insurance schemes. Wonder why it’s no wonder that the number of farmer suicides is increasing!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

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Increased precipitation

Already, there are instances of increased precipitation in many areas and excessive droughts in many more, and phenomenal heat waves in many more. Pest population of locusts, mosquitoes, rodents et al are also on the rise, thanks to shorter winter spans that would otherwise have killed them, which means more diseases for crops as well as for humans. Sea levels too would continue to rise with the melting ice, which is putting coastal regions across the world at risk. And knowing how soon this could happen is as tough or as easy as predicting how quickly and dramatically the melting Arctic ice sheets would cause sea levels to rise. So consider millions dead due to unprecedented rise in sea levels and millions more losing their homes. Think about unprecedented famine, epidemics, heat waves and water shortages, and how they would threaten so many lives. Think about losing glaciers and the related tourism industry, not to mention the loss of so much of flora and fauna. And all this is not fiction, not any more... But hey! Like we mentioned, haven’t we heard all this many times over?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

Pollution levels

Surely, it is argued that even these stringent norms cannot on their own reduce pollution levels, and there has to be means through which the industry is encouraged to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Even hybrids are economically unviable currently as Rajeev Chaba, President & MD, GM India, tells B&E, “Customers have to give the push and all stakeholders must work together. Hybrid cars would otherwise become very expensive.” So the Indian government has taken certain initiatives as an attempt to bring about the needed change – a change in the petroleum consuming habits of Indians. For starters, fuel blending has been fixed at 5%, implying that every litre of petrol will comprise 5% of ethanol, while for diesel, it would be Jatropha bio-diesel, which is still under preview right now.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

BETTING ON BIO – FUELS

DuPont is one of the world’s largest alternate energy solutions providers for quite some time now, and has relentlessly worked towards providing industry with the best economically viable energy alternatives. Along with long term ties with energy behemoths like BP, DuPont subsidiaries like Hi-Bred International today are providing upto 180 types of hybrid seeds in order to increase the efficiency and practicality of ethanol based fuels. According to John Ranieri, Vice President, DuPont Biofuels, “From our strong seeds and crop protection products offering for biofuels today to signifi cant transformative opportunities in new biofuel technologies, I am confident in DuPont’s capabilities to meaningfully increase the use of renewable feedstock with smaller environmental footprints in place of petroleum.” DuPont’s biofuels division spends a substantial part of its $300 million profits on research and development on alternative fuels and leads the way for the industry to adapt comfortably without going out of the way. Quite ahead of its time indeed.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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

When UK’s gotta take a cue from the bagpipes...

The Scottish decentralised political system has a lot of lessons to the UK
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has won a plurality in the devolved Scottish parliament – one of Tony Blair’s great legacies. Does an SNP-led government herald the break-up of the United Kingdom? Does nationalism, that product of nineteenth-century politics, still have a role to play in Europe? The answer to the first question is certainly no. Nationalist polled only 31.9% of the votes cast. Proof positive that proportional representation can produce strange outcomes. Some suggest that the SNP’s accession to power in Scotland does herald the rebirth of a nation, many others regard that claim as rhetoric, which ignores the tremendous advances made in the quality of life, opportunity and living standards.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

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