Opinion
Why we need a water regulator
08 May 2002 |
Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
,Dr Kaushik Deb
| The Economic Times
An outcome of the low level equilibrium in India's urban water sector is that most service providers are not financially viable. The current institutional and regulatory framework, in fact, does not encourage efficiency. Little emphasis exists on performance improvement; rather, the current focus is only on physical expansion of water supply systems. There are no incentives to bring about changes in the existing unsustainable management of the water system. Incomes generated by local bodies as well as many state institutions fall acutely short of requirement for capital investment, operation, maintenance and upgradation of water services.
Information technology: the last mile
02 May 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(9)
Information technology has indeed broken the barriers of time and distance-what is often overlooked is that it has also added a few of its own. To read ink on paper, all it takes is literacy and light: to read text off a PC's monitor, it takes a great deal more. If ICT (information and communication technology) is to serve the rural poor in India, we need to take a close look at three crucial ingredients: needs, delivery mechanisms, and content.
'I'm not there to change the world. I can only change its level of knowledge'
29 Apr 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Financial Express
Rajendra K Pachauri's election to the chairmanship of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on April 19 has made news for both the right and wrong reasons. There has been excitement over the fact that the panel - which assesses the impact of global warming - will be headed, for the first time ever, by a representative from a developing country. But his election has also generated controversy. With the US supporting his candidature and the Europeans voting for the then incumbent, has Dr Pachauri further weakened the IPCC, an organisation already divided on North-South lines? Questions are asked about his personal credibility and some also doubt the economist-engineer's qualification for the top job. In a talk with Parul Malhotra of The Financial Express, the Indian government's official nominee sets the record straight, outlines his agenda for the IPCC and his vision for tackling climate change.
A charged climate
13 Apr 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Times of India
He is the high priest of environmentalism in India. As head of TERI, he is arguably one of India's foremost policy-makers in the environmental field. Today, in the running for chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), R K Pachauri finds himself facing allegations that he is being backed by a powerful oil lobby in the US. Speaking to Lalita Panicker, he counters these charges and speaks of the lack of environmental awareness in India.
Privatizing electricity distribution
10 Apr 2002 |
Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
| The Economic Times
Restructuring the electricity business through corporatisation and subsequent privatisation has been the model followed in Orissa in 1995. This has now been adopted by some states as part of power sector reform in India.
Strategic interests, not terrorism, propelled US to launch attack on Iraq
03 Apr 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Financial Express
The war on Iraq has raised many questions about fairness, the human cost, international norms and the impact on the global economy as well as our own economy. Director-General of TERI and chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, R K Pachauri says war portends ill not only for Iraq but also for oil dependent countries like India. In an interview with Ramesh Menon, he says that strategic interests propelled the United States to launch an attack on Iraq. If the war continues for long, oil prices would shoot up and the war's environmental impact would go beyond Iraq's borders.
Climate change: beyond the atmospheric phenomenon
02 Apr 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire 8(7)
The plenary session of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is to be held in Geneva during 17-20 April 2002. The IPCC is a body set up in 1988 through the initiative of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme essentially to provide scientific assessments of all aspects of climate change which is threatening the globe. One of the items in the agenda of the forthcoming session in Geneva is the election of the new Bureau of this body, which has a total of 30 members, including the Chairman of the Panel.
Climate change: a serious threat
27 Mar 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Economic Times
Climate change represents a serious threat to every part of the globe, and it would be ridiculous to believe that this is just another issue being pushed by the West down the throats of the developing world. If this was not the case then we would have had a very different Framework Convention on Climate Change which was agreed to at the Rio Summit of 1992. In fact, the very first draft of this Convention was tabled by the Indian delegation.
Post-APM: the role of the government
16 Mar 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire 8(6)
The government has taken a major step in going ahead with the dismantling of the APM (Administered Pricing Mechanism). The part roll back of liquefied petroleum gas prices is a retrogressive step, but perhaps political pressure influencing the pricing of petroleum products will only fade into irrelevance over time. Also, the government should really have appointed a regulator for the oil industry well in time, but it is hoped that this step will be taken now sooner rather than later, because the government should be distanced from decision-making in this sector. This would happen only if a substantially independent regulatory body is established.
Poverty alleviation and Financing for Development
02 Mar 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire 8(5)
Later this month, an important meeting is scheduled to take place in Monterrey, Mexico, focusing on Financing for Development. This international conference has raised high expectations and considerable preparatory work has been done to highlight the problems of financing for developing countries. In particular, the work of the Zedillo Panel on Financing for Development has provided very useful insights into the nature of the problem. It has also discussed and put forward several approaches by which solutions can be created.