#Smog in Brain ?

#Smog in Brain ? 

{ Source for the following info : Hindustan Times / 10  Nov }

“ For farmers in Punjab, it’s a 20 million tonne-a-year issue “

Extract :

·         About 3 million acres are cultivated for paddy in Punjab and 20 million tonnes of stubble are generated every year

·         Harvesters skim from the top and leave 80 % of the paddy plant – 6” to 8” long – on the field

·         Since farmers need to sow wheat within a fortnight of harvesting paddy, they burn the straw , or paraali , to save time, labour and money

·         As per Manjeet Singh Makkar ( Head , Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Department , Punjab Agricultural University ) , following are three solutions :

     #  Straw Chopper – cum- Spreader

         This machine chops the stubble and mixes it in the soil either with the help of

         water or a rotavator

    #   Straw Management System and a “ Happy Seeder “

        It cuts the straw into small pieces and scatters it evenly . Next , a Happy Seeder

       mounted on a tractor can be used to sow Wheat and put the cut straw over the area

       as mulch, which improves soil fertility . The two machines cost Rs 1.25 lakhs

   #   A Baler , which bales the straw .

       These can be used in power plants or card-board factories

       “ Given a choice between a box of match-sticks and machinery worth Rs 2 lakhs , what will you choose ? “ , asked Billa Singh , a farmer in Phagwara

Now consider this :

·         Between harvesting paddy and sowing wheat, there is a 15 day window

·         One pair of machines ( described above ) can work 6 / 7 acres/day

·         That is 100 acres in 15 days ( with one pair )

·         Paddy Stalk needs to be removed from 30 lakh acres, in 15 days

·         That means , Punjab needs 30,000 pairs of machines ( for 15 days )

·         One pair costs Rs 2 lakhs

·         So , 30,000 pairs will cost Rs 60,000 lakhs ( Rs 600 crores )

·         In Maharashtra , nearly 80 lakh farmers will get farm-loan waiver amounting to Rs 34,000 crores

·         In UP , 12 lakh farmers got farm-loan waiver of Rs 36,000 crore

·         Who can believe that Shri Amrinder Singhji ( CM – Punjab ) cannot find Rs 600 crore to create a FARM HELP SPV , which will own those 30,000 machines and let farmers rent out @ Rs 10 / day ?

   

And , through this method ( # 1 above ) , can we assure the farmers that their,

·         soil will become more FERTILE

·         YIELD will go up by 100 %

·         Income will rise dramatically ,

as the farmers of Maharashtra are discovering , using SRT farming method developed by Chandrashekar Bhadsavle ?

I urge Shri Amrinder Singhji to read the following :

“ A Maharashtra Farmer’s AgriTech Holds Promise for Delhi’s Pollution Woes “

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/this-farmers-agri-technology-can-help-solve-indias-pollution-woes/articleshow/61600114.cms

And can someone figure out how to combine this [ SRT ] with the following technology from China to provide a powerful incentive to the Punjab farmers to stop burning paddy stalk ?

Garbageis Green Gold { 3G }  [  10  Sept  2016  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/09/garbage-is-green-gold-3g.html

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11  Nov  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

#Smog #AirPollution #Delhi

#Smog  #AirPollution  #Delhi

 A  Smoke-Screen  around  Smog  ?

Once again , Delhi is enveloped in smog ( - as it happens , year after year )

As usual , politicians are blaming each other for “ failing to act “ , when they were in power

In the meantime , experts are saying : Smog is caused by ,

·         Vehicular emission

·         Construction dust

·         Burning of agri-residue in Punjab

·         Coal-based Power Plant

·         Kilns

·         Factories belching chemical fumes….etc

They are also telling us : Life of a Delhi-ite gets reduced by 6 years on average , due to air pollution !

They are also repeating their old suggestions :

·         Stop construction / close down factories

·         Ban petrol / diesel cars and switch over to Electric Vehicles

·         Introduce ODD / EVEN rules for vehicles

·         Sprinkle road with water

·         Introduce much more public transport ( Buses / Metro )…etc

Here is what other countries are doing :

·         Singapore has stopped purchase of private vehicles from 1^st Feb 2018 . 

For many years now , Singapore charges private car owners , $ 3700 per year as “ Certificate of Entitlement “ ( valid for 10 years only )  and does not allow private cars to ply inside the “ Core City “ during peak hours

In Singapore , a Toyota Corolla ( 5 door sedan ) costs S$ 111,000 , which is about 4 TIMES what it costs in USA !

·         Since 2003 , London has levied a “ Congestion Charge “ of Sterling 11.50 per day. 

Two weeks back , it has started charging an additional amount of Sterling 10 per day to drive in the city centre ( - a total of 21.50 pounds / day ). 

This charge will apply primarily to cars manufactured before 2005

According to London Mayor , Sadiq Khan , more than 9000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to poor quality air

He goes on to add :

#  Drivers make 6 million trips to London each day with a THIRD of them driving

    LESS THAN 2 Km

#  40 % of air pollution in the city comes from diesel vehicles

·         Madrid , Paris and Athens have announced plans focussed on cutting diesel emissions including bans , fines and restrictions

·         Beijing ( China ) regularly closes down polluting factories / construction

·         In Switzerland , you cannot buy a private car unless you prove that you have a place to park it , both at your home and at your office ( not on the road )

There is no dearth of examples from around the world that we can study – and emulate , if found suitable

So, what is holding us back ? Feel free to draw your own conclusion from following blog :

 WhenLawmakers Abdicate  [  10 May  2016  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/when-lawmakers-abdicate.html

=======================================================

Extract :

 

Is air pollution only affecting the people of Delhi ?

Is it not as bad in cities like Mumbai / Kolkata / Chennai / Bangalore etc ?

Why are MLAs of these States not enacting laws to control pollution ?

Why is Supreme Court passing orders ( diesel vehicles / taxies ) only for Delhi ?

Does Supreme Court think that citizens of these other cities are immune to the ill effects of pollution caused by diesel vehicles ?

Why are State Legislatures happy to " pass the buck " to Supreme Court ?

That is " Abdication of Responsibility " !

{  PS :  Why blame the Courts for “ Judicial Activism “ ?  }

10  Nov  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

#GST # BHIM #Aadhar

Saving  Two  Birds  with  One  Grain  ?

Being a Jain , I could not get myself to say : Killing two birds with one stone

But , in its meeting tomorrow, GST Council is reported to consider acceptance of my suggestion to incentivize Digital Payments

Here is what today’s Economic Times reports :

GST Council may discuss proposal tomorrow, has option of incentivising merchants & customers

A year after demonetisation, India is getting ready to give digital payments yet another push.

It could consider providing incentives in the goods and services tax (GST) regime for payments that are settled electronically .

“There is a thinking that digital transactions need to be incentivised... The council will look at what could be done,“  

As far as digital payments are concerned, the council has the option of incentivising merchants and customers.

Under the proposal, benefits in terms of credit or exemption could be provided within central and state GST to encourage such transactions.

A merchant could, for instance, get credit for digital payments that can be adjusted against GST liabilities.

Consumers, on the other hand, could be incentivised through lower tax when payments are made digitally .

==============================

MY REQUEST TO THE GST COUNCIL :

While considering “ Incentivizing of Digital Payments “ , seize this opportunity of providing “ Universal Social Security “ to millions of Indians , who are , today , NOT covered by any PROVIDENT FUND scheme , as outlined in my following earlier emails :

·         Jan Dhan SarjanYojana………………..  [  31  Aug  2015  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/08/jan-dhan-sarjan-yojana.html

======================================================

·         GST  Conundrum : A compromise Formula  [  28  July  2016  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/07/gst-conundrum-compromise-formula.html

=======================================================

·         How to universalizeSocial Security  [  01 July  2017   ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/07/how-to-universalize-social-security.html

=======================================================

·         Three Sides of aTriangle ………………  [  28  Aug  2017  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/08/three-sides-of-triangle.html

Where , I suggested as follows :

 *  If GST is going to be ( say ) 20 % , Government will transfer from this ,

     2 % ( ie 10 % of that 20 % ) , to the PPF account of the Consumer /

     Buyer , who pays for the Goods / Services purchased , using a RuPay

     Card or a " Mobile Wallet " app

     This will motivate millions of self - employed to open  PPF  accounts !

{  In cases of Buyers who , do not have a PPF account on the date of her first Digital Payment , the Mobile App will AUTOMATICALLY register / open such an account and the Buyer will get an SMS intimation !  No hassle to open a PPF account  !  }

*   Since interest from a PPF account is tax-free , every citizen would , now

     want to make all payments thru RuPay card or a Mobile Wallet App

*   RuPay cards are already tied up with accounts opened under Jan Dhan

     Yojana

*   Mobile Wallets Apps will also get tied-up with thousands of branches of

     Payment Banks , which will open in next 18 months

     Just imagine the number of new accounts that will get opened in the

     1,55,000 + post offices of India Post  !

*   In this way , Social Security will become " Self Financing " !

*   Currently , in India , some 97 % of all payments are " Cash Payments ".

     With introduction of this proposal , these will drastically decline

*   Any payment made , using RuPay card or a Mobile Wallet App , will make

     available to the Income Tax Department , full digitized record of each

     such transaction , including :

     #    Who  made the payment

     #    To whom was that payment made

     #    When was that payment made

     #    For what purchase , was that payment made

     #    What was the amount paid

*   One , very desirable consequence of  Jan Dhan Sarjan Yojana

     will be that our " Domestic Savings Rate " will climb back to 30 % !

=================================================== 

09  Nov  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs