Friday, 24 July 2020

Solving the puzzle: COVID-19 and School-College Fees!!

15 April 2020

AICTE and the University Grants Commission (UGC) will also issue a revised academic calendar soon and Prof. Kumar directed colleges to continue online classes for the current semester under the extended lockdown. UGC has constituted a committee to make recommendations on the conduct of semester examinations, award of marks and passing criteria, the letter said.

News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/coronavirus-students-need-not-pay-college-fees-till-lockdown-is-lifted-says-aicte/article31350558.ece

21 April 2020


News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-nadu-tells-private-schools-and-colleges-not-to-compel-students-to-pay-fees-during-lockdown/article31394451.ece

08 May 2020

The Supreme Court on Friday (May 8) disposed of petition of students from private colleges seeking fee rebate in the wake of coronavirus lockdown that led to loss of jobs and salary deduction of many parents.

The apex court asked the petitioners' advocate how the colleges will run if it failed to receive fees. From where will the colleges give salary to their employees, the court asked.

News: https://zeenews.india.com/india/supreme-court-disposes-of-plea-of-private-college-students-to-get-fee-relief-amid-covid-19-lockdown-2282031.html

14 May 2020


News: https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-covid-19-and-college-fee-conundrum-why-students-can-demand-refund/352770

25 June 2020

//The University of Mumbai (MU) on Monday issued a notice to all its affiliated colleges, asking them not hike fees for the academic session of 2020-21. The notice is in line with the directions of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The apex body had written to universities and colleges last month, asking them to not compel students to pay fees immediately.//

 News: https://m.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/relief-for-students-as-mu-asks-colleges-not-to-hike-fees/story-8A6CVGfdOhwxd0oXgGNzNI_amp.html

 02 July 2020

The court was hearing public interest litigation against private schools demanding fees during lockdown. The petitioner had sought action against schools demanding fees from parents during the lockdown.

The counsel representing the state government informed the court that the state government is considering the plea made by the private school and colleges and the decision will be informed by 
July 6.


Digital surveillance of call-centre workers or other such ‘cyber coolies’ is a well-known management strategy to control workers, labour processes and material practices. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has given fertile ground to create this ‘panopticon’ in the education sector, as well. Managements are using the digital video call technologies to ‘observe’ without being ‘observed’.

Anita, a primary school teacher, spoke of how her supervisor would join the virtual class at the behest of the management to oversee her teaching performance. “The supervisor’s intention was not merely to evaluate the online teaching, but to monitor and control the process. Later, the supervisor’s spying became a daily affair. This then went to the extent of demanding recording of the teaching sessions, and sending reports to the administrators post each session,” said Anita.

Sanjay, another school teacher, talked about how management mandated compulsory conduct of 4-5 teaching sessions per day, without providing technological infrastructure. The teachers were supposed to have or make their own arrangements.

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Thursday, 16 July 2020

Report Card: Problem of Street Vendors and ...


30, Jan, 2020

The Director-General office of the Urban Local Bodies sent out letters to the municipal corporations of Haryana instructing the commissioners, city magistrates and executive officers of all municipalities of the state to implement the Street Vendors Act in their regions with immediate effect. The letter specifically read that no street vendors are to be evicted, therefore causing loss of livelihood.

News: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/no-vendor-to-be-evicted-before-allotment-of-space-ulb-sends-letter-to-states-mcs-6242309/
 16, June 2020

A report — prepared by the Delhi-based policy think tank, Centre for Civil Society (CCS), with the assistance of the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), says: Haryana has identified over 1 lakh street vendors but has distributed identity cards to only 1,000. "It could only score 32.48 points out of 100, since it has hardly implemented four out of the 11 steps under the Street Vendors Act, 2014, analysed by the study. Haryana has seen a fall in its score on the compliance index recorded at 45 last year. No vendor has been issued a vending certificate till no. ULBs in Haryana are yet to submit vending plans, demarcate vending zones and constitute grievance redressal committes," report pointed out.

News: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/hry-fares-poorly-in-welfare-of-street-vendors-report/articleshow/76394781.cms


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Friday, 10 July 2020

Solving the Puzzle: India's Energy Sector and Price Regulation.

25 June 2020

//The development assumes significance as India's energy demand is poised to grow from the present per capita of around 1,149 kilowatt-hour (kWh).

This is among the lowest in the world as compared to per capita consumption of 3,600 kWh globally.

The strategies discussed at the meeting included ways to erect tariff barriers and other hurdles such as subsidising finance to encourage local power equipment manufacturers, and prior-permission conditions for imports from nations India is in conflict with.//

News: https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/energy/india-china-conflict-indian-govt-power-sector-companies-exit-chinese-contracts/story/407977.html
02 July 2020
//"Adani Electricity AEML has undertaken various measures such as virtual help desk, EMI facility as well a proactive awareness initiative to increase clarity on the billing process amongst the consumers. The consumers will be receiving bills on the basis of their actual consumption with applicable tariff slab benefits. All necessary actions have been undertaken which are in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down by the State Government and MERC," an AEML spokesperson said.//

News: https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/adani-electricity-issues-clarification-after-uproar-over-exorbitant-electricity-bills-in-mumbai/76740800

02 July 2020

//India has put in place stringent quality control measures and planned higher tariffs on goods from China to boost domestic manufacturing, the minister said.”We have reports that malware and Trojan horse can be installed which can be activated remotely to bring down the power sector and the economy,”

India’s power sector had faced cyberattacks, a majority of which reportedly originated from China, Singapore, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Singh had also said that a committee was set up under the Central Electricity Authority to examine the cyber threat and the panel had said “it is a real live threat.”

It drew flak from some corners with claims that it would infringe upon the rights of states, encourage privatisation and would not be in interest of consumers. However dismissing these claims, Singh had said last week that these are canards and reforms in power sector is the last challenge left. The meeting would also discuss about the Renwable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for clean energy. The performance of Rs 90,000 crore liquidity infusion package would also be taken up in the meeting.//

News: https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/chinese-imports-uday-2-top-on-agenda-of-state-power-ministers-meet-on-friday/2011591/

03 July 2020

//“Countries should have as much renewable energy as possible, but it cannot be your base power supply. We should dispel the myth that we can accelerate the world’s move into renewables, that we can go from dependence from coal, hydroelectric and nuclear into only renewables," said Vandana Hari, founder and CEO of Vanda Insights Pte Ltd, a commodity market analysis firm..

  “We need a complementary source of power for renewables and gas is a flexible source of generation, in that gas-based power is more competitive than storage at current prices and can provide a neat solution for round-the-clock power. Right now, many (developers) are choosing to go with hydel and coal rather than gas. As penetration of renewables increases from the current 10% to 12-14% in the energy mix, there will be grid-balancing issues, like we are already seeing in some southern states. India has 24GW of stranded natural gas-based power capacity. Given the current LNG prices, there is need for a solar-natural gas hybrid policy," //

 News: https://www.livemint.com/industry/energy/thermal-power-will-continue-to-meet-india-s-energy-needs-11593736851547.html

08 July 2020

//The Ministry has proposed to issue a National Renewable Energy Policy periodically to promote renewable power generation in the country and to prescribe renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets.
L&T Financial Services (LTFS), an Indian non-banking financial services company (NBFC), has recommended that the central government should notify the new policy within six months from the implementation of the Act and push out a revised version with any changes, if necessary, once every five years after that.

Adding to this, Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, Chief Executive at the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), said: “We also want the national renewable energy policy to cover the entire gambit of storage as well because today you’re talking about renewable energy purely from the generation standpoint, but later, there will be a point where storage will also be an integral part of it.”

The provisions of this centralized tariff policy propose to reduce cross-subsidy surcharges based on a centralized mechanism. Currently, state electricity regulatory commissions are responsible for determining these charges.

The Ministry of Power also proposed to establish the Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority (ECEA) to decide on matters regarding the enforcement of contractual obligations on purchase or transmission of electricity.//
 News: https://mercomindia.com/electricity-act-invigorate-renewable-energy/

10 July 2020

//Prime Minister Narendra Modi has today dedicated Asia’s largest solar power project, the Rewa solar power project in Madhya Pradesh, to the nation. The new 750 MW Solar Power plant Project has been set up at Rewa, in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

It is India’s first such solar project to break the grid parity barrier. In comparison to the tariffs of prevailing solar project in early 2017 of around Rs 4.50 per unit, the Solar project in Rewa achieved the first year tariff of Rs 2.97 per unit. Moreover, it showed a tariff escalation of Rs 0.05 per unit over the period 15 years and a levelized rate of Rs 3.30 per unit over a period of 25 years.

It exemplifies the commitment of the nation to achieve the 175 GW target of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022. This includes 100 GW of solar installed capacity.//

News: https://www.financialexpress.com/infrastructure/rewa-solar-power-project-asia-largest-solar-power-plant-pm-modi-inauguration-madhya-pradesh/2019361/#:~:text=social%20distancing%20device-,Rewa%20solar%20power%20project%20inauguration%20by%20PM%20Modi%3A%20Prime%20Minister,the%20state%20of%20Madhya%20Pradesh.

//

//
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Thursday, 9 July 2020

Introspect: Competing the Chinese Supply

05 Feb 2019

//Sixty-five per cent of country's mobile phones are manufactured now in Noida alone, said Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma Monday, claiming that UP has a strong potential to surpass the growth of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. UP emergence as a hub of mobile phone production has also stopped its youths' exodus to other states for jobs.

"The UP government is soon going to establish an Electronics City. In state capital Lucknow, land has been acquired in Nadarganj area for IT City. Apart from this, IT parks will be set up in Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow and Bareilly," he said.//


31 Jan 2020
// India is making rapid strides in electronics production and has emerged as the second largest mobile phone manufacturing hub globally, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday. Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, Kovind said the value of electronic equipment manufactured in the country has increased to Rs 4.58 lakh crore in 2018-19 from Rs 1.90 lakh crore in 2014-15.

Over the last few years, the government has been bullish on making India a manufacturing base for the world and has set a target to promote domestic manufacturing in the entire value-chain of ESDM (electronic system design and manufacturing) to achieve a turnover of USD 400 billion (Rs 26 lakh crore) by 2025.//


16 June 2020

//On June 12, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd (STEC) emerged as the lowest bidder for the construction of 5.6km-underground section between New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad -- part of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor.

 The project is being managed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation or NCRTC. The corporation had opened online financial bids submitted by five bidders last week.

 Even before the opposition could train its guns on the government over the success of the Chinese bid, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, has demanded the Narendra Modi government to cancel the bid.//

 News: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/chinese-firm-delhi-meerut-project-rss-modi-govt-stec-sjm-1689438-2020-06-16

18 Jun 2020

//SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan tweeted that the need of the hour was to “boycott Chinese products, stop endorsing Chinese brands, govt stops Chinese imports, Chinese investment and tenders to Chinese companies for infrastructure including proposed tender to Tunnel Eng Co”. An MoHUA official said the construction of the 5.6 km tunnel was an ADB-funded project – the bids were invited in November 2019 and opened on March 16, 2020 – and STEC emerged as the lowest bidder on June 12; he said that while the tender was “under process” and “yet to be finalised”, “ADB/World Bank/Multi-lateral procurement guidelines do not allow discrimination among firms/ countries”.//


20 Jun 2020

//Sources said that under the 'Make in India' clause equipment and manpower can be sourced locally providing opportunities to Indian companies. This would also fill in shortage of key personel in metro industry.

It is learnt that the June 23 meeting will discuss Action Taken Report pertaining too "Atmanirbhar Bharat". Since Finance Minister has also announced that global bids shall not be invited in government tenders up to Rs.200 crore, the meeting would focus on various requirements of Central Government entities which should be sourced from local or domestic suppliers only. These include metro companies and smart cities.//


22 Jun 2020

//Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is expected to finance $800 million for the 4th corridor of phase-II of Chennai Metro, the govt should add the ‘Make in India’ clause in the tender report, officials urged.

As Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. (STEC) appeared as the lowest bidder for the New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad of Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor construction having a distance of 5.6 km underground section. According to the sources, it is just to understand the ‘Make in India’ if included in the tender report will require limitations on Chinese bidders.//

News: https://www.metrorailnews.in/aiib-is-likely-to-fund-800-million-for-the-4th-corridor-of-chennai-metro-phase-ii/

03 Jul 2020

//Following the instructions, the western state of Maharashtra has put on hold three deals worth over Rs5,000 crore ($670 million) that were signed with Chinese companies at a recently held investor meet.

Similarly, the future of the semi-high speed rail corridor, Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), is in limbo because China’s Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC) had emerged as the lowest bidder for an underground stretch of the project.

Between 2014 and 2018, India ranked 31st in the list of countries where China invested. Infrastructure has been a sweet spot for China in India, as per policy think tank Brookings India.
Report: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/China-Inc%E2%80%99s-growing-stake-in-India-China-relations_F.pdf

The only dependence on Chinese players would be to the extent of construction equipment supply or the rolling stock for which there are other alternatives available across the globe, though, at a higher cost, Burla said. ”India awarded some rolling stock supply contracts to Beijing-based China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation. It should explore options from South Korea and Europe,” he added.//


07 Jul 2020

// The National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) has today opened financial bids of contract package 4 of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor. A total of five national and multinational bidders participated in the tender process. As per the results of financial bids disclosed by NCRTC, the position of all bidders are as under:
L-1: Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. Ltd (STEC) - Rs.1126 crore.
L-2: Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) - Rs.1170 crore.
L-3: Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat ve Taahhut A.S(Gulermak) - Rs. 1,326 crore.
L-4: Tata Projects Ltd. -SKEC JV: Rs.1,346 crore.
L-5: Afcons Infrastrcture Ltd: Rs.1,400 crore

NCRTC has invited global bids for the first underground civil construciton package in Novermber last year (2019) and the Technical bids for this contract package were opened on 16 March 2020.//

News: https://www.urbantransportnews.com/stec-bags-rs-1126-crore-civil-contract-package-4-of-delhi-meerut-rrts-line/


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Tuesday, 7 July 2020

Indian Economic Development: Assignment -5

As we have seen, the financial programming process consists of seven steps and rests on a number of characteristics. Recognizing that we have participants in this course from all over the world with a range of experience, let’s take this first discussion opportunity to explore the following:

  1. List one or two key economic problems that your country is experiencing and the main causes;
  2. Identify the main economic policy objectives of your country; 
  3. List some policy measures that your country has used in recent years to address these problems; and 
  4. Explain whether these policies belong under the heading demand management, expenditure switching, or structural policies. 

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In consideration of the content in this section, the questions, and the provided reading from the European Central Bank, please consider the following questions:

  1. Describe the monetary and exchange rate regime in your country.
  2. What are the objectives of monetary policy?
  3. How is monetary policy implemented?
  4. How would you assess the success of your monetary authority in achieving its targets?
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Solving the puzzle: COVID-19 and School-College Fees!!

15 April 2020 AICTE and the University Grants Commission (UGC) will also issue a revised academic calendar soon and Prof. Kumar directed...