(News collection for Management studies)

Volume: 02           Issue: 115          8-December, 2009 – Tuesday  Pages: 9

Focus :  Green Revolution. ( Prepared by. Vuppula Vasanthi,  08D61E0058. )

INTRODUCTION TO GREEN REVOLUTION.

The Green Revolution spanning the period from 1967-68 to 1977-78 changed India from a starving nation to one of the world's leading Agricultural Nation.

NEED FOR THE GREEN REVOLUTION.

The world's worst recorded food disaster happened in 1943 in British-ruled India. Known as the Bengal Famine, an estimated four million people died of hunger that year alone in eastern India (that included today's Bangladesh). The initial theory put forward to 'explain' that catastrophe was that there as an acute shortfall in food production in the area. However, Indian economist Amartya Sen (recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics, 1998) has established that while food shortage was a contributor to the problem, a more potent factor was the result of hysteria related to World War II which made food supply a low priority for the British rulers. The hysteria was further exploited by Indian traders who hoarded food in order to sell at higher prices.

Nevertheless, when the British left India four years later in 1947, India continued to be haunted by memories of the Bengal Famine. It was therefore natural that food security was a paramount item on free India's agenda. This awareness led, on one hand, to the Green Revolution in  India and, on the other, legislative measures to ensure that businessmen would never again be able to hoard food for reasons of profit.

However, the term "Green Revolution" is applied to the period from 1967 to 1978. Between 1947 and 1967, efforts at achieving food self-sufficiency were not entirely successful. Efforts until 1967 largely concentrated on expanding the farming areas. But starvation deaths were still being reported in the newspapers. In a perfect case of Malthusian economics, population was growing at a much faster rate than food production. This called for drastic action to increase yield. The action came in the form of the Green Revolution.

The term "Green Revolution" is a general one that is applied to successful agricultural experiments in many Third World countries. It is NOT specific to India. But it was most successful in India.

 The Basic Elements of Green Revolution in India.

There were three basic elements in the method of the Green Revolution:

-           Continued expansion of farming areas;

-           Double-cropping existing farmland;

-           Using seeds with improved genetics.

Continued expansion of farming areas

As mentioned above, the area of land under cultivation was being increased right from 1947. But this was not enough in meeting with rising demand. Other methods were required. Yet, the expansion of cultivable land also had to continue. So, the Green Revolution continued with this quantitative expansion of farmlands. However, this is NOT the most striking feature of the Revolution.

Double-cropping existing farmland

Double-cropping was a primary feature of the Green Revolution. Instead of one crop season per year, the decision was made to have two crop seasons per year. The one-season-per-year practice was based on the fact that there is only natural monsoon per year. This was correct. So, there had to be two "monsoons" per year. One would be the natural monsoon and the other an artificial 'monsoon.'

The artificial monsoon came in the form of huge irrigation facilities. Dams were built to arrest large volumes of natural monsoon water which were earlier being wasted. Simple irrigation techniques were also adopted.

Using seeds with superior genetics

This was the scientific aspect of the Green Revolution. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (which was established by the British in 1929 but was not known to have done any significant research) was re-organized in 1965 and then again in 1973. It developed new strains of high yield value (HYV) seeds, mainly wheat and rice but also millet and corn. The most noteworthy HYV seed was the K68 variety for wheat. The credit for developing this strain goes to Dr. M.P. Singh who is also regarded as the hero of India's Green revolution.

Statistical Results of the Green Revolution

1.         The Green Revolution resulted in a record grain output of 131 million tons in 1978-79. This established India as one of the world's biggest agricultural producers. No other country in the world which attempted the Green Revolution recorded such level of success. India also became an exporter of food grains around that time.

   

2.         Yield per unit of farmland improved by more than 30 per cent between 1947 (when India gained political independence) and 1979 when the Green Revolution was considered to have delivered its goods.

   

3.         The crop area under HYV varieties grew from seven per cent to 22 per cent of the total cultivated area during the 10 years of the Green Revolution. More than 70 per cent of the wheat crop area, 35 per cent of the rice crop area and 20 per cent of the millet and corn crop area, used the HYV seeds.

Economic results of the Green Revolution

1.         Crop areas under high-yield varieties needed more water, more fertilizer, more pesticides, fungicides and certain other chemicals. This spurred the growth of the local manufacturing sector. Such industrial growth created new jobs and contributed to the country's GDP.

2.         The increase in irrigation created need for new dams to harness monsoon water. The water stored was used to create hydro-electric power. This in turn boosted industrial growth, created jobs and improved the quality of life of the people in villages.

3.         India paid back all loans it had taken from the World Bank and its affiliates for the purpose of the Green Revolution. This improved India's creditworthiness in the eyes of the lending agencies.    

4.         Some developed countries, especially Canada, which were facing a shortage in agricultural labour, were so impressed by the results of India's Green Revolution that they asked the Indian government to supply them with farmers experienced in the methods of the Green Revolution. Many farmers from Punjab and Haryana states in northern India were thus sent to Canada where they settled (That's why Canada today has many Punjabi-speaking citizens of Indian origin). These people remitted part of their incomes to their relatives in India. This not only helped the relatives but also added, albeit modestly, to India's foreign exchange earnings.

Sociological results of the Green Revolution

The Green Revolution created plenty of jobs not only for agricultural workers but also industrial workers by the creation of lateral facilities such as factories and hydro-electric power stations as explained above.

Political results of the Green Revolution

1.         India transformed itself from a starving nation to an exporter of food. This earned admiration for  India in the comity of nations, especially in the Third World.

2.         The Green Revolution was one factor that made Mrs. Indira Gandhi (1917-84) and her party, the Indian National Congress, a very powerful political force in India (it would however be wrong to say that it was the only reason).

Limitations of the Green Revolution

1.         Even today, India's agricultural output sometimes falls short of demand. The Green Revolution, howsoever impressive, has thus NOT succeeded in making India totally and permanently self-sufficient in food. In 1979 and 1987, India faced severe drought conditions due to poor monsoon; this raised questions about the whether the Green Revolution was really a long-term achievement. In 1998, India had to import onions. Last year, India imported sugar. 

However, in today's globalised economic scenario, 100 per cent self-sufficiency is not considered as vital a target as it was when the world political climate was more dangerous due to the Cold War.

2.         India has failed to extend the concept of high-yield value seeds to all crops or all regions. In terms of crops, it remain largely confined to food grains only, not to all kinds of agricultural produce. In regional terms, only Punjab and Haryana states showed the best results of the Green Revolution. The eastern plains of the River Ganges in West Bengal state also showed reasonably good results. But results were less impressive in other parts of India.

3.         Nothing like the Bengal Famine can happen in India again. But it is disturbing to note that even today, there are places like Kalahandi (in India's eastern state of Orissa) where famine-like conditions have been existing for many years and where some starvation deaths have also been reported. Of course, this is due to reasons other than availability of food in India, but the very fact that some people are still starving in India (whatever the reason may be), brings into question whether the Green Revolution has failed in its overall social objectives though it has been a resounding success in terms of agricultural production.

4.         The Green Revolution cannot therefore be considered to be a 100 percent success.

The New Manager – Interview -Outlook
How innovation can help rebuild post-crisis -V.K. Varadarajan

The debt woes of Dubai World might have thrown a spanner in the recovery efforts of global economies, following the financial crisis touched off by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year. But this tech entrepreneur is optimistic that an emphasis on innovation and supported by its technical manpower, India can provide hope for building a stronger economy post-crisis.

“It will take a lot for the world to come out of the financial crisis and completely recover. With investment low and cost-cutting still the order of the day, innovation must become the building block of the new era,” says Sachin Duggal, 25, who co-founded SMX iNet Global Services (a software company focusing on Internet technologies) at the age of 15, and later started Nivio (which has developed a platform for cloud computing). He went on to do his graduation even while he was overseeing his companies' progress.

Blending his technological expertise with social consciousness, the President and CEO of Nivio has also worked for the United Nations and wrote the declaration of youth rights before he completed his first degree from Imperial College.

Duggal, who was awarded the Technology Pioneer Award 2009 for Nivio at the World Economic Forum earlier this year, was recently named Youth Leader of the National Computer and Electronics Committee by Assocham. He shares his views on the importance of innovation as a tool to reshape the world economy post-crisis.

On the role of innovation in rebuilding the economy.

Every crisis, economic or otherwise, gives rise to new opportunities, new growth and new direction. Innovation, and more so technological innovations, will play a key role in creating a new, balanced world. We continue to view innovation as a fancy tie when it is in fact the shirt and jacket we wear. Innovation is not about a wheel that runs fast nor is it about creating business models. It is about solving a problem. This is why successful entrepreneurs are not the ones who build business to earn money, but who aim to solve a problem; money comes gradually. Corporate social responsibility should be in our DNA not a badge on our uniform. This is innovation. It is about a paradigm shift on how we do things.

Is India prepared for a transition to the technology era with innovation as the key, from the service-centric economic environment?

In fact, India has the world's best middle management but lacks talented professionals with leadership skills due to several reasons. With little incentive to work in the country, a large number of bright minds have moved to Europe, the US, and West Asia. What is more, our professionals are followers — they have not been trained to take the lead in creative projects but have the exceptional ability to improve existing projects. That is why we have shown remarkable progress in outsourcing IT technology, for instance, as opposed to developing IT technology in-house.

Another issue is the lack of a gender-balanced working environment. Nivio itself is working on raising the ratio of women on its staff. To accelerate the innovation process, Government support is essential to involve more women in Information Technology and other industries, providing a convenient fiscal and tax policy, encouraging women's education and entrepreneurial attempts.

But innovation lacks both funding and enabling support from the Government. What is your take?

India requires venture capital funds that have the domain knowledge to provide management support to new enterprises, especially the technology start-ups. While some would say the Indian Government should also focus on the next-generation sectors, for example, biotechnology, in order to create an innovation hub, besides industry-academia partnership, research and development investments and funding, we should also focus on capital infrastructure such as telecom, roads and better schools.

The absence of angel and investor funding in India is a constraint. The mindset of Indian venture capital is typically to invest in lower risk or existing revenue-based businesses.

Take our example – we raised capital from outside India and see what we achieved – a computing solution for Rs 3,000.

Creation of new tax incentives, particularly for risk-taking small companies and start-ups, would offset costs for the private sector, reducing their R&D expenditure.

Does India have the talent to achieve good innovation standards in the country? How will innovation act as the key to building the world post-crisis?

While I would stress on leveraging human capital by focusing on technology and, importantly, the potential to convert knowledge to national wealth, I see a good opportunity in the Government's recent initiative, through a platform created by CII and the Ministry of Science and Technology, which stresses on strategies such as industry-academia partnership. If executed well, it will help take our economy to the next level.

We should emulate the example of top universities such as Stanford and MIT in directing students towards market-driven research rather than a basic research. This could be achieved by encouraging bodies such as the Fraunhofer Society and the Indian Institute of Science.

The move mentioned by Mr Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, on building 14 universities based on the key theme of innovation is a good idea.

Nivio is itself working on an innovation - a platform which has the potential to increase computer penetration while promoting computing freedom, liberating users from the frustration of data loss, obsolescence, viruses and accessibility. Nivio provides each of its users with a personal, secure, virtual Windows Desktop, running in the Cloud, accessible through Internet connected devices and computers.

DAY FOCUS:  Focused by J.Deepthi, 1-Sem MBA (09D61E0011)

Govt seeks to raise public spending by Rs 25,727 cr

The Government on Tuesday came out with the first batch of supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha seeking to raise public expenditure by an additional Rs 25,725 crore during the current fiscal.

The important expenditure proposal include Rs 800-crore equity infusion into the ailing National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), the state owned company which operates Air India, according to the supplementary demands tabled by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, in the House.

Besides providing funds to NACIL, the Government has earmarked additional money towards Commonwealth Games, National Calamity Contingency Fund, metro projects and food and fertiliser subsidies.

Although the Government is seeking Parliament’s nod to raise public expenditure by Rs 30,943 crore during 2009-10, the net impact would be Rs 25,725 crore as Rs 5,217 crore would be met through savings.

The Government comes out with several batches of supplementary demands for grants during the course of the financial year to modify expenditure proposals made in the Budget and also seek Parliament’s approval for incurring additional expenses not anticipated at the time of formulation of the Budget. For the current fiscal, the Government in its Budget in July had pegged the total expenditure at Rs 10.20 lakh crore, which will now go up marginally by Rs 25,725 crore.

‘2010 hiring levels will be like pre-recession period’

India has once again emerged as the most optimistic nation in terms of hiring plans for the next three months and the recruitment pace is expected to return to the pre-recession level in the New Year, according to global staffing services comp any Manpower.

“There is no more ‘cautious optimism’ among employers anymore; it has given way to ‘definite optimism’. Besides, the pace of hiring will be back to the 2007 level in the next year,” the Manpower India Managing Director, Mr Naresh Malhan, said.

According to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, India has a net employment outlook — a measure of recruiting plans — of 39 per cent for the first quarter of 2010, the highest among 35 countries surveyed.

India has been reporting the strongest hiring plans globally since the third quarter of 2008.

The country’s outlook has improved by 11 percentage points on a quarter-on-quarter basis and by 18 per cent year-on-year.

A sectoral analysis shows that hiring outlook has risen across all sectors. Job seekers in the services, public administration, education, mining and construction, finance, insurance, real estate, and the wholesale and retail trade sectors, could look forward to the most favorable hiring environment in early 2010, the survey said.

“The good news is that employers’ hiring expectations across all industry sectors are improving in the first quarter of 2010, and job seekers in key industry sectors can look forward to the most favorable hiring environment in over a year,” Mr Malhan sa id. 

Info-Tech -Symantec, Wipro enter pact for data security

Symantec Corporation and Wipro Ltd on Tuesday inked a new partnership under which Wipro Infotech will offer data loss prevention and backup and recovery infrastructure consultancy services based on Symantech Technology.

Announcing the pact here, Mr Ajay Verma, Director, Channels and Alliances, Symantec India, told reporters “Information is the most valuable asset of any organisation and ensuring it does not fall into wrong hands is critical to its reputation and busines s. The partnership will offer customers a better insight into data risk’’.

Symantec’s content-aware data loss prevention solution spans data at the endpoint, in storage and network. When offered through Wipro’s technology practice, it will provide customers the confidence that their information is secure in today’s connected wo rld, he said.

Wipro’s cross-platform expertise along with Symantec Veritas Backup Reporter’s capability to identify and quantify exposures before they impact backup operations, will help customers achieve greater efficiency, security and cost reduction, Mr Vikas Sriva stava, Vice-President and Business Head, Infrastructure Technology Solutions Division, Wipro Infotech, said. 

Logistics -Disputes settlement blocks Rs 8,508-cr road projects

About a third of the highway projects involving a sum of Rs 8,508 crore are stuck in arbitration despite the Government’s best efforts to speed up road development in the country. According to official data, as many as 123 highway projects out of a total of 406 awarded so far by the National Highways Authority of India since 2000 are caught in the arbitration tangle.

The disputes have arisen due to reasons like input cost escalation, royalty charges on minerals, entry tax and removal of public utilities on acquired land for road construction. “Very few cases are stuck over problems relating to land acquisition. They are mostly over removing utilities and other issues which are to be taken care of by the private developers themselves,” a senior government official said.

Among the major companies engaged in arbitration is Larsen and Toubro which has five projects under dispute settlement involving an amount of Rs 576.45 crore. Similarly, Hindustan Construction Company has three projects worth Rs 73.54 crore under arbitration. Nagarjuna Construction has two projects undergoing dispute settlement involving Rs 66.39 crore and Gammon India has three involving Rs 61.04 crore.

The official said it is convenient for both field officers as well as private parties to blame disputes on land issues. If a private party has problems over acquiring a few km of land somewhere, at least they should develop road on whatever land they hav e and not delay it.

“Similarly, even the engineers on field do not at times complete their home work and encounter problems after a projects starts. Then it is obviously easy blaming disputes on land acquisitions,” the official said.

Out of the 123 projects under arbitration, 103 cases are being settled at the Dispute Review Board formed by the NHAI, while the rest are under various courts. As many as 119 projects under dispute are on Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) basis, while the rest are on build-operate-transfer (BOT) annuity basis.

In an EPC contract, the Government pays the entire cost of developing a project to the private contractor upfront, while in the BOT-Annuity arrangement, the Government gives the investment for construction and maintenance of highways in six monthly insta lments. 

MANAGEMENT TIPS: MEETING DEADLINES

No one will be happy if your team has to rush around at the last minute to complete a project. Follow these tips to make deadlines less stressful for everyone.

Only promise what you can realistically deliver. Don't create deadlines that you know you can't meet. By only promising what you know you can do, you'll be able to finish on time.

Set clear goals. Once you know what you need to accomplish, it helps to know how and when you want to do it. Put your goals down on paper and make sure everyone on your team gets a copy.

Organize a team. Many of your employees will have unique strengths and training that can make them great assets to certain projects. Pick a team that has the right skills to carry out the job.

Delegate tasks. Spread work among your employees in a way that doesn't leave anyone overburdened while also allowing the project work smoothly.

Create milestones. Creating milestones for you and your team will help you keep track of your progress and also give you a sense of accomplishment as you reach each milestone.

Keep communication open. Keeping everyone in touch with the status of the project is key to making sure it's completed on time.

Do it right the first time. Planning ahead will help prevent you from delivering a substandard product. Having to redo something for a client costs money, and, more than likely, future business opportunities.

Stay organized. Staying organized will help keep you from wasting time chasing down important documents and information.

Make sure expectations are clear. Be sure that each member of your team knows what their specific responsibilities are. This will save time and prevent tasks from being overlooked.

Create a plan. Compile your goals and milestones into a comprehensive plan for attacking any project you are given. This way, you can make sure you're staying on schedule and that all of your employees will be clear about how and when things should be done.

Focus – Day Tip Education must implant elevating ideals, and kindle the lamp of wisdom.