1/2019

The cacophony of the 2019 general elections is probably theloudest that I have heard in the 70+ years of my life. What is

worse is the level of the discourse and debate which has become soterrible, with each party trying to out beat the other in the mudslinging which has gone on. I am non partisan and do not subscribeto any particular party’s views, but cast my vote to the best candidate,and his party. I have voted in every election, be it parliament orassembly or municipal. Alas, one is not so sure about the outcomeof the elections whether a clear mandate will emerge in favour of the existing regimeor we get a coalition of disparate regional and national parties.

The other day I went to an intellectuals gathering called by the Pradesh CongressCommittee to hear Sam Pitroda in April in Jaipur. Sam is an old friend who has taughtme many things and I am deeply obliged to him. In fact he has addressed at leasttwo public events of CUTS in Jaipur in 1988 and 2013. In 1988, Sam addressed ournetworkers meeting as the telecom czar of India. In that address he had called uponour networkers to create a questioning society and that is what I am doing throughmy work as head of CUTS.

There are many factors which will be viewed by voters when they cast their votes,or not: “None Of The Above”. NOTA is a good option for citizens to exercise theirright of dissent. On the other hand, many of us have been campaigning for long tohave the Right to Recall a legislator if s/he has been found to be useless. Hopefully,this will be a reality one day. Like many I too had a thought of casting a NOTA thistime, but I will not. I would rather vote for a strong opposition or continuity of thepresent regime because of its pluses. All have too many minuses so I would choosethe known devil with the highest net strength. In either case, the results would besatisfactory to many of us.

In the State, we did change the party in government this time and one is sure thatthe Gehlot Administration will do better than its last or even Vasundhara’s regime.Rajasthan has proved to be one of the best states in India to practice true democracyby alternating between Congress and BJP, rather than one going on beyond five yearsterm. Alas, the treasury of Rajasthan is not in the best condition due to several factorsbut one is the power sector which has the highest debt burden in the country. Effortsare being made to correct the situation but it is a Herculean task.

Secondly, if there is a BJP-led government in the centre then too it will not be aneasy ride for Gehlot due to dirty politics. One hopes that all parties will worktogether to move the economy so that more jobs are created for our huge youthpopulation and farmers’ distress is reduced.

Democracy, Governanceand Economics

Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General

www.google.com

I N S I D E

Uncovering the Indus ValleyCouple

Jhajharia Awarded for ScalingMt. Everest

Mumbai Model to Serve Jaipur

Plastic Ban Only on Paper

Jaipur Roads Lack SafetyParameters

2

MiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellany

China to Complete Artificial Sun DeviceChina plans to complete the

construction of the artificial sun in 2019,achieving an ion temperature of 100million0C.

The HL-2M Tokamak device isdesigned to replicate the nuclear fusionprocess that occurs naturally in the sunand stars to provide almost infinite cleanenergy through controlled nuclearfusion, which is often dubbed as the“artificial sun.”

Achieving an ion temperature above100 million0C is one of the threechallenges to reach the goal ofharnessing the nuclear fusion and thecore of the sun is widely believed to be15 million0C, meaning that the ion atthe device’s core will be seven timeshigher than that of the sun.

The other two challenges arecontaining the fusion within a limitedspace in the long term and providing asufficiently high density profile.

(PTI, 06.03.19)

Man Cleared after 40 Years in PrisonThe city of Simi Valley, California,

has reached a US$21mn settlement witha man who spent almost 40 yearsbehind bars in the 1978 killings of hisgirlfriend and her four-year-old son.

Craig Coley, 71, was released fromthe slammer in 2017 after beingpardoned by then-Gov. Jerry Brown,who said that DNA evidence and a

thorough reinvestigation of the murdersproved his innocence.

The city said the settlement wouldmitigate lengthy and unnecessary legalproceedings and will be on the hookfor about US$4.9mn, while the rest isexpected to be covered by insuranceand other sources. (ToI, 26.02.19)

Sued for Giving Birth without ConsentA 27-year-old man Raphael Samuel,

resident of Mumbai is going to drag hisparents to court — for giving birth tohim without his consent.

He said that as children arepowerless to decide whether to comeinto this world or not, the parentsshould support them for life. His protestis about procreation, which puts a strainon earth and skews ecological balance.

“I want everyone in India and theworld to realise that they are broughtin this world without theirconsent...they do not owe their parentsanything and if we are born withoutour consent, we should be maintainedfor our life. We should be paid by ourparents to live,” he said. (BBC, 07.02.19)

Skyscrapers Make a ReturnMore than a century after steel and

concrete became the standard forbuilding high-rise buildings, the humbletree is making a comeback.

Sidewalk Labs LLC, a unit of Googleparent Alphabet Inc, is planning to use

timber to construct all of its buildingsfor a mixed-use community alongToronto’s eastern waterfront. Meanwhile,Oregon became the first state of US toamend its building code to permit tallerbuildings made from timber.

Karim Khalifa, Director of BuildingsInnovation at Sidewalk Labs, said thatthe material can contribute to people’swellness, is easy to assemble and strongenough support to build dozens ofstories. And unlike concrete and steel,which are very carbon-intensive toproduce, using timber in buildings takescarbon out of the atmosphere.

The push comes as timber becomesmore cost competitive as steel pricesrise and the use of pre-fabricated woodpanels allows for quicker constructionwith less labour. (BL, 08.02.19)

Tuna Sold for a World RecordThe owner of a Japanese sushi

restaurant chain set a record by payingmore than US$3mn for a Bluefin Tunain the year’s first auction at Tokyo’s newfish market, exceeding his own recordprice of 2013.

Kimura had held the record for topprice paid for a single fish at the newyear’s auction for six straight years until2017. But in 2018, the owner of adifferent fish restaurant chain paid thehighest price.

After the auction, the fish was takento one of Sushizanmai’s brancheslocated in the old market of Tsukiji.Tuna is prized around the world for itsuse in sushi, but experts warn growingdemand has made it an endangeredspecies. (WP, 05.01.19)

Uncovering the IndusValley Couple

About 4,500 years ago, a man and a woman were buried in a grave togetherin a sprawling cemetery on the outskirts of a thriving settlement of one of

the world’s earliest urban civilisations.In 2016, archaeologists and

scientists from India and SouthKorea found these two ‘veryrare’ skeletons in a Harappan(or Indus Valley) city – what isnow Rakhigarhi village in thenorthern Indian state ofHaryana. For two years, theyresearched the ‘chronology’and possible reasons behindthe deaths; and the findings

have now been published in a peer-reviewed international journal.Archaeologists say this unique ‘joint grave’ was not an ‘outcome of any

specific funeral customs commonly performed at that time’. They believe that theman and the woman ‘died almost at the same time and that, therefore, they hadbeen buried together in the same grave’. (ToI, 08.01.19)

3

MiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellanyMiscellany

Feroze Gandhi’s Grave Lies ForgottenFeroze Gandhi may be the patriarch

of the Congress’s first family, but theparty as well as his family membersseem to have neglected his cemetery inAllahabad, now rechristened asPrayagraj. As per records, CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi last visited thegrave of his grandfather way back in2011.

The tombstone of Feroze, consideredIndia’s original anti-corruption crusader,sits in a neglected state in a corner ofthe Parsi cemetery at Stanley Road onAllahabad-Lucknow Highway. It is justmiles away from Anand Bhawan, oncethe seat of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Tourists visit Anand Bhawan, theancestral home of the Gandhi-Nehrufamily, but anyone hardly goes toFeroze’s tombstone. The cemetery hasnearly 100 Parsi graves.

(DNA, 08.01.19)

Chinese Most Widely SpokenA report described how Zhou Xin

of Beijing Foreign Studies University(BFSU) uses the film 7aum Arivu (2011)and works of literature to teach herstudents Tamil. BFSU also has coursesin Hindi and Bengali.

The latter two Indian languageshappen to be among the 10 most widelyspoken in the world, while Tamil toofeatures in the top 25. The list is headedby Chinese, a broad category thatincludes a number of dialects andvariants.

Against the broad head for Chinese(macrolanguage), which includesindividual languages such as Mandarinand Yue (Cantonese), Ethnologue givesa worldwide total of 1,311 millionspeakers, as first language. (IE, 19.03.19)

1st Cruise to Commence OperationsJalesh Cruises is our first brand that

will offer multi-destination cruise line.‘Jalesh’ means ‘Lord of Water’, which isdesigned to offer a rich experience of

Indian culture, hospitality and food todomestic and international travellers.

The first cruise started from Mumbaion April 17, 2019 and headed to Goa.

According to the plans, Jalesh Cruiseswill offer onshore destinations andexcursions across Indian port cities ofMumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Mormugoaand Vizag. The international locationsinclude Abu Dhabi, Colombo, Dubai,Muscat, Penang, Ras Al Khaimah andSingapore.

The plan is to operate two luxuryliners. The first vessel, Karnikacommenced operations in April and thesubsequent ship is likely to arrive eitherby the end of 2019 or early in 2020.

(DNA, 08.01.19)

‘2018’ Fatal for Island BirdsThe year 2018 was yet another

testament to the rapid decline of wildlifein a world that constantly faces thegrowing challenges of climate change,large-scale deforestation andanthropogenic pressures.

Conservation groups, such as BirdlifeInternational, said in its study that threebird species went extinct in 2018. Ofthe three, two species – CrypticTreehunter and Alagoas Foliage-gleaner– were songbirds native to Brazil, whilethe third species was an insect-eatingforest-bird, Po’ouli, endemic to Hawaii.

Besides these three species, 2018also saw the extinction in wild of Spix’sMacaw, the attractive blue-coloured birdwhich gained popularity due to the2011 animated film Rio based on thebird. Ironically, a few of them are stillfound in captivity. (DNA, 02.01.19)

Authors Writing Debut NovelsOlder authors have a wealth of

experience, at a basic level, simplybecause of the changes they seen.Inspired by her reflections about howmuch India has changed since she wasa child, Shukla Lal enjoys writinghistorical romance novels.

Lal may be unique in the sense thatwriting seems to be a meditativeexperience for her, but she isn’t theonly Indian author who has penned their

first book at anolder age. JharnaBanerji, 82, beganwriting her novel,‘Perched on thePeriphery,’ whileher husband wasailing with Parkinson’s disease. Her bookis about an older widow who has beenmade to immigrate to live with herchildren, and how she grapples withfinding her own identity.

Parth Mehrotra, commissioningeditor of publishing house Juggernaut,says, “Especially in non-fiction, an olderauthor brings a lifetime of experience.A journalist or a civil servant or apolitician or a doctor, looking back ontheir career can have invaluableinsights.” Kamal Meattle, 74, is perhapsthe ultimate exemplification of this kindof non-fiction writing. (ToI, 28.02.19)

Jhajharia Awardedfor ScalingMt. Everest

Asha Jhajharia’s (40-year old),confidence was soaring high as

her dream of scaling the MountEverest was fulfilled. She works as agovernment staffnurse at aPrimary HealthCentre in Alwardistrict ofRajasthan.

J h a j h a r i acompleted herMount Everestjourney in 40days, and madethe state proud.She is one of theeight women,who wasawarded by the Department ofWomen and Child Development onthe occasion of International Women’sDay at Jaipur, on March 08, 2019.

She realised that the society hasan inclination towards the male child.To spread the message of saving thegirl child, she took a banner of ‘betibachao, beti padhao’ during her MountEverest journey. She said that stillwomen are not treated as equals withmen in the society. (ToI, 08.03.19)

4

City BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity Briefs

Airport-like Feel for Train StationsAfter promoting local art at

various railway stations in NorthWestern Railway, the lighting andillumination at Jaipur junction hasbeen given a major improvement by

railways now. High quality LED lightshave been installed at various pointsat Jaipur junction and its now givingthe feel of illumination like JaipurAirport.

In all these stations, railway boardhad decided some set standardsregarding illumination of lighting atmain places like concourse hall,platform, waiting hall, reservationoffice, parking space, escalators, etc.

A 100-foot long national flag hasalso been installed at the railwaystation and it has continuously beenbeautified in recent years andachieved the second position in theCleanliness Survey Report 2018.

(DNA, 19.01.19)

Mumbai Model to Serve JaipurA new model of water supply

and sewerage management to becarried out by a dedicated waterboard is being planned in Jaipur cityand in adjoining areas. The functionsrelated to the water distribution willthen be taken over by the new Board.

Currently, water supply fordifferent parts of Jaipur is beingcarried out by multiple agencies,such as the Public Health EngineeringDepartment (PHED), Jaipur NagarNigam (JNN), Jaipur Development

Authority (JDA), Rajasthan HousingBoard, Rajasthan Urban DrinkingWater, Sewerage & InfrastructureCorporation and Rajasthan UrbanInfrastructure Development Project.However, the water production workis carried out by the PHED.

With the growing water demandin the city, it was, therefore, felt thatthere is a need to take cohesiveapproach for planning, development,implementation and management ofactivities related to water supply andsewerage services in Jaipur city andadjoining areas. (DNA, 09.02.19)

Congestion at Airport HallsThe situation of congestion at the

arrival and departure hall of theJaipur Airport will be reduced as theexpansion work going on at theairport will be over soon.

Number of passengers using theairport has been constantly rising atJaipur airport. In November 2017,419,613 passengers used Jaipurairport while during April-November2018, 3,547,882 passengers used theairport compared to last year in thesame duration when 2,971,975passengers used Jaipur airport. Thismeans that there has been anincrease of 19.4 percent change inpassengers using this airport.

After completion of this work, itwill bring relief to passengers. Withefforts to increase the potential ofthe state in the tourism sector, it isexpected that the number of touristsusing airport will grow in the futurewho are coming to Rajasthan.

(DNA, 16.01.19)

Metro to Lease Parking SpaceThe underground Metro station

at Chandpolewill rise verticallyto generate morec o m m e r c i a lspace for theJaipur metro. Theexpansion of the station is plannedas part of Jaipur Metro RailCorporation (JMRC) plans to developmore than 20,000 square metre ofspace available adjacent to its sevenoperational stations at Phase 1.

The rail corporation is in theprocess of feasibility study to developthe properties on public-privatepartnership model. The parking areasto be developed with a smoothinterface of the adjoining metrostations are envisaged to serve adouble purpose by drawing morefootfalls and improving commuternumbers. (DNA, 10.02.19)

Garbage Collection Firm to Close ServicesJaipurites will soon have to face

difficulty in disposing of the garbageas the firm handling door-to-doorgarbage collection will be closing

down the services. The firm’srepresentative said that around M98crore is due from Jaipur MunicipalCorporation (JMC) since May 2017and after constant notices the firmhas decided to stop giving the service.

JMC authorities, however, said thatthe firm is not fulfilling its dutiesproperly and many complaints havebeen received against them of notbeing regular in collection of garbage.

Vinod Purohit, Nodal Officer ofSwachhta Survey in the city, said “Thecompany should first of all fulfill itsduties before claiming the money. Wehave been repeatedly receivingcomplaints against the firm but theyhave not changed. We have receivedcomplaints that they were pickingup the garbage from the depotsinstead of collecting from the houses.So, we are looking into it.”

(TNN, 09.02.19)

Schools to be Named after MartyrsThe Rajasthan government has

issued an order to name 15 schoolsrun by the state government aftermartyrs. Govind Singh Dotasara,Education Minister of Rajasthan, saidthat honouring martyrs was one ofthe top priorities of the Congress-led government in Rajasthan.

He further said that the stategovernment salutes the martyrs wholaid down their lives for the country.Three schools in Churu, three inNagore and three in Jhunjhunudistricts would be named after themartyrs. While in Alwar and Sikar,two schools each would be re-named.In Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, one schoolin each of the districts would benamed after martyrs.

He said that the governmentnow has moved the file and schoolswould be re-named after martyrssoon. (ToI, 22.02.19)

5

City BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity Briefs

Plastic Ban Only on PaperLocal bodies in different cities of

Rajasthan have seized about 2,793kgof plastic bags till now in a driveagainst the usage of plastic which

commenced on February 01, 2019and concluded on February 15, 2019.

On July 26, 2010, Rajasthangovernment passed a notificationdeclaring the state as a ‘plastic carrybag free zone’ making it a part of 25states in India where plastic isbanned.

However, people are still carryingpolythene bags without any fear asstate government is facing a challengeof plastic being supplied from otherstates like Gujarat where the ban ispartial. (TNN, 09.02.19)

Helpline Numbers for StudentsEvery school has launched

helpline numbers for students toensure that they get timely support.In most cases, the class teacher isgiven the charge of handling his/herclass. The aim isto build a quickrapport withthe student inneed.

Underlining the importance ofhelpline numbers, Vice Principal ofSt. Xavier’s School, Nevta, C KPunnose, said this mechanism helpsin identifying the problem.

“The first and foremost thingwhich we try to read is the level of

stress and what kind of thoughts arerunning in the mind of a student.Accordingly, we decide the line ofaction,” said Punnose. (ToI, 05.03.19)

JDA to become Environment-friendlyThe JDA is all set to become

climate-friendly as it is planning torun headquarters and two big parks(Central Park and Jawahar Circle)on solar power, replacing theconventional system.

With this initiative, this willbecome state’s biggest public buildingenergy efficient system. The powergenerated by 730 kwp ‘Rooftop SolarPower Plant’ in Phase-I will be usedto meet maximum requirements atthe JDA headquarters and two parksand reduce its dependence on non-renewable sources.

Panel on World Heritage City StatusTo bag the prestigious World

Heritage City status, Gehlot has givennod to constitute a State-levelHeritage Committee on therecommendation of the UnitedNations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organisation.

The Committee will devise policyto conserve heritage in the WalledCity area and JMC will constitute aheritage technical committee. Beforelaunching any infrastructure project,a heritage impact assessment will becarried out. (ToI, 03.03.19)

Making Jaipur Child Labour-freeIn a unique initiative to curb

child labour in Jaipur, Rajasthangovernment, industry representativesand civil society have come together

to launch Child Labour Free Jaipur(CLFJ).

The initiative has been aimed atpositioning Jaipur as a city withunprecedented commitment tostopping child labour bystrengthening its industries andserving as a model for other citiesto follow.

As part of the initiative, CLFJ isstrengthening partnerships betweenRajasthan and Bihar governments toallow smooth repatriation oftrafficked children from Rajasthan totheir home state of Bihar. (IE, 18.01.19)

2nd Modern Hospital on CardsChief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok

Gehlot inaugurated RajasthanUniversity of Health Sciences (RUHS)and its affiliated medical college,which is said to cater a largepopulation.

Having an advanced structure,RUHS will be the most modernhospital and medical college in thestate. While its construction cost isM500 crore, it is expected to have aSpinal Injury Centre and SuperSpecialty Cancer Hospital as add on.

RUHS is the second medicalcollege and hospital in Jaipur, afterSMS Medical College and Hospital,making the city first in Rajasthan tohave two such hospitals. (IT, 05.03.19)

A road safety survey conducted on 10 roads in Jaipur found the city roads are lacking in road

safety parameters. The lowest score of 1.4 out of 10was given to the road from Jaipur Railway Station toSindhi Camp, followed by Jhotwara-Khatipura road with2.5 points. The survey was based on parameters likefootpath, pedestrian crossing and street lighting.

The Street Audit was conducted by CUTS as perthe guidelines of the Indian Road Congress (IRC). JanPath and Tonk Road were scored 9 and 6.3, respectively,for pedestrian-friendliness.

Many obstructions, such as public encroachments,electricity boxes, open drainage, garbage, and parkedvehicles were seen on the roads. The cement tiles were

Jaipur Roads Lack Safety Parameters

damaged at many places. There are no proper footpathsand street lights are missing. There is zebra crossingbut no pedestrian signals.

Therefore, the guidelines of the IRC should befollowed strictly to make footpaths safer for pedestrians,especially senior citizens, children and disabled people.

CityMattersCityMattersCityMattersCityMattersCityMatters is a quarterly newsletter published by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302016, India,Phone: 91.141.2282821, Fax: 91.141.2282485, Email: cuts@cuts.org, Web site: www.cuts-international.org, and printed by SGM Printers, Jaipur, India.

CUTS offices also at Kolkata, Chittorgarh and New Delhi (India); Lusaka (Zambia); Nairobi (Kenya); Accra (Ghana); Hanoi (Vietnam); Geneva (Switzerland) and Washington DC (USA).

Sources: BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation; BL: The Hindu Business Line;DNA: Daily News and Analysis; IE: Indian Express; PTI: Press Trust of India; ToI: Times of India

OpinionOpinionOpinionOpinionOpinion

The Ashok Gehlot government presented the vote-on-account of M86,906 crore, for the first four months of

the current fiscal, which was passed by a voice vote. Gehlotpresented budget estimates for 2019-20 taking the totalexpenditure of the state to M2,31,654 crore.

The government has made a historic decision to givepension to old farmers. It will be first time in Rajasthan thatsmall and marginal farmers will get monthly pension. Femalefarmers above 55 years and male farmers above 58 yearswill be eligible for the pension. The government hasprovisioned M750 per month to farmers below 75 years andM1000 for farmers whose age is 75-plus.

Gehlot announced that 600 new drug centres underFree Medicine Scheme will be set up. New medicines will beincluded in Mukyamantri Free Medicine Scheme for Cancer,Heart, Respiratory and Liver related ailments. Also state-rundrug testing laboratories at Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur andBikaner will be strengthened and made functional. InfectiousDisease Institute attached to Jodhpur Medical College will bedeveloped as high-level research institute.

Under Mukyanmatri Dugdha Utpadak Sambal Yojna, thegovernment will give M2 per litre bonus to all milk producerswho supply milk to the cooperative dairy federations. Morethan 5 lakh milk producers will be benefitted under thisscheme.

The government has, in addition, budgeted M115 croreadditionally for National Food Security Scheme. Thegovernment will give one kg wheat at M1 to BPL, state BPLand Antodaya families in place of M2 per kg. It came intoeffect from March 01, 2019 and will benefit a population of1.74 crore. Annual additional expenditure of M115 crore isestimated in lieu of the decision.

Who Gets What in the BudgetFarmers: Gehlot announces waiver of all outstanding

cooperative short-term crop loans in any category. Morethan 24 lakh farmers will benefit from the decision to make4-lakh bigha land as mortgage-free. The government hasprovisioned M9000 crore relief for the loan waiver it has

Ashok Gehlot Funds his Poll Promises

announced and an additional M6000 crores for the pendingwaiver announced by the previous BJP government.

Elderly: The government has introduced pension for oldfarmers. Women above 55 and men above 58 shall be eligiblefor a monthly pension of M750. This has been provisioned inthe M1377 crore allocation for old age pension scheme.Pensioners below 75 years will get M750 in place of M500and those above 75 years will get M1000 in place of M750from January 2019. The scheme covers 46 lakhs pensioners.

Youth: Around 1.6 lakh youths will benefit from theMukyamantri Yuva Sambal Yojna. Under the scheme thegovernment has increased the allowances for the unemployedyouth by up to 5 times. It comes into effect from February,2019 and beneficiaries will start getting allowances fromMarch. Eligible unemployed female will get M3500 and maleto get M3000.

Divyang: Reservation in government services for thespecially-abled persons has been increased from three-fourpercent.

Girls: Nearly 2.3 lakh female students enrolled in Arts,Commerce and Science streams in graduate and post-graduatecourses will get free education from 2019-20. The governmenthas provisioned of M16 crore to re-open Haridev JoshiJournalism University and Dr BR Ambedkar Law University.

Industries: New policy to come in place. RajasthanExport Promotion Council to be set up in the state toenhance exports.

Provisional Estimates for Fiscal 2019-20M2.31 lakh crore is the total estimated expenditure, this

fiscalM1.67 lakh crore worth revenue receiptsM1.90 lakh crore is revenue expenditureM23304 crore is revenue deficitM29983 crore is fiscal deficit3 percent fiscal deficit as percentage of GSDP33.96 percent debt to GSDP ratio

The article appeared in the Daily News and Analysison February 14, 2019

The news/articles in this Newsletter are compressed from several newspapers. The sources given are to be used as a reference for further information, and do not indicatethe literal transcript of a particular news/story. CUTS International is a not-for-profit organisation and the listing of paid news/articles is for informative and educative purposes only.

www.openthemagazine.com