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Monday, September 12, 2016
Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents
Vol. 51, Issue No. 37, 10 Sep, 2016
MIT scientists use terahertz waves to read closed books
Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed a new technology that can read the pages of a closed book, an advance that may help archaeologists look into antique books without touching them.
Researchers, including Ramesh Raskar from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S, tested a prototype of the system on a stack of papers, each with one letter printed on it. The system was able to correctly identify the letters on the top nine sheets.
“The Metropolitan Museum in New York showed a lot of interest in this, because they want to, for example, look into some antique books that they don’t even want to touch,” said Barmak Heshmat, a research scientist at MIT.
He said that the system could be used to analyse any materials organised in thin layers, such as coatings on machine parts or pharmaceuticals.
Researchers from MIT and Georgia Institute of Technology developed the algorithms that acquire images from individual sheets in stacks of paper, and interprets the often distorted or incomplete images as individual letters.
“A lot of websites have these letter certifications (captchas) to make sure you’re not a robot, and this algorithm can get through a lot of them,” said Mr. Heshmat.
The system uses terahertz radiation, the band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and infrared light, which has several advantages over other types of waves that can penetrate surfaces, such as X-rays or sound waves.
Terahertz frequency profiles can distinguish between ink and blank paper, in a way that X-rays can not, and has much better depth resolution than ultrasound.
The system exploits the fact that between the pages of a book tiny air pockets are trapped about 20 micrometres deep.
The difference in refractive index — the degree to which they bend light — between the air and the paper means that the boundary between the two will reflect terahertz radiation back to a detector.
In the new system, a standard terahertz camera emits ultrashort bursts of radiation, and the camera’s built-in sensor detects their reflections.
From the reflections’ time of arrival, the algorithm can gauge the distance to the individual pages of the book.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: The Hindu, 12-09-2016
Labour’s love’s lost
The proposed labour reforms seek to weaken worker protection at a time when the Indian economy is not creating enough jobs, and the right kind of jobs.
On September 2, 10 trade unions in India organised what was said to be one of the largest labour strikes in history. An estimated 120 million workers took part. The unions were protesting against the government’s unwillingness to grant a 12-point charter of demands they had put forward. A year ago, unions had signalled their discontent by having a similar nation-wide strike.
This year, one of the principal demands of the unions was an increase in the daily minimum wage for unskilled workers from Rs.246 to Rs.692. They rejected an increase in the wage to Rs.350 offered by the government. Some of their other major concerns were: proposed changes in labour laws; growing casualisation of labour; privatisation; and greater opening up to foreign direct investment (FDI).
Future tense, present imperfect
Labour is restive today. It is apprehensive about what the future bodes for itself. But it’s not as if labour militancy has gone up in recent years. On the contrary, man-days lost due to industrial disputes (lockouts and strikes) came down from 23.7 million in 2001 to 13 million in 2012 before rising to 19 million in 2013. These figures are considerably lower than those in the 1970s and 1980s.
Labour is restive today. It is apprehensive about what the future bodes for itself. But it’s not as if labour militancy has gone up in recent years. On the contrary, man-days lost due to industrial disputes (lockouts and strikes) came down from 23.7 million in 2001 to 13 million in 2012 before rising to 19 million in 2013. These figures are considerably lower than those in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, there is little doubt that organised labour in India, as in the rest of the world, sees itself as a loser in the changes unleashed by liberalisation and globalisation. It fears that if the government goes ahead with some of its proposed “reforms”, its losses will begin to mount.
Indian businesspeople as well as many economists have long clamoured for greater “flexibility” in labour laws, a euphemism for freedom to hire and fire. The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2016, which is said to favour such flexibility, is due to be tabled in Parliament in the near future. It is bound to evoke a strong reaction from unions as well as Opposition parties.
Several economists say that rigid labour laws are the reason India has not generated enough jobs in the formal sector — only about 10 per cent of jobs are in the organised sector and the remaining 90 per cent in the unorganised sector. As large firms do not have the confidence that they can shed workers in adverse conditions, they do not wish to enter labour-intensive, low-skilled sectors. This is the reason India has not been able to replicate the Chinese success in labour-intensive manufacturing.
This argument may have well been overtaken by events in the global economy. Many other low-cost economies have already positioned themselves in these sectors. Automation in the West means that the window of opportunity in these sectors is fast closing. The idea that reforming labour laws will trigger a huge expansion in low-skilled manufacturing is thus highly suspect in today’s changed situation.
The experience so far
Moreover, the academic literature on the subject is not unambiguously in favour of easing labour laws as a means for hiring more labour. Dismissal laws in France are more stringent than in India, but that did not come in the way of France’s prospering for over a century. China itself has made its labour laws more stringent so that they are comparable to those in India (except in special economic zones).
Moreover, the academic literature on the subject is not unambiguously in favour of easing labour laws as a means for hiring more labour. Dismissal laws in France are more stringent than in India, but that did not come in the way of France’s prospering for over a century. China itself has made its labour laws more stringent so that they are comparable to those in India (except in special economic zones).
Indeed, some of the literature suggests that giving workers greater protection helps increase productivity by giving workers more incentives to invest in firm-specific skills. Along with collective bargaining, worker protection leads to more egalitarian outcomes in society. There is also evidence that the bias against workers in Indian industry may have more to do with tax incentives for capital than with restrictive labour laws.
A second issue that agitates unions is the growing trend towards casualisation of labour. This was one of the reasons for labour unrest at Maruti’s plant at Manesar in Haryana last year.
Companies find it expedient to employ labour on contract. They can then leave the job of managing regulations and inspectors to the contract labour firms. They can also stay small and escape various labour regulations. Most importantly, contract labour tends to be cheaper in general; at Maruti’s Manesar plant, contract workers earned less than half the wages of permanent workers.
Contract labour is a serious assault on workers’ rights. The Supreme Court has made strong observations on companies’ resort to contract labour in order to avoid statutory obligations. The Economic Survey (2015-16) believes that contract labour is merely a corporate response to “regulatory cholesterol”. However, reducing worker protection in the organised sector may not be the answer — many firms would still prefer the contract option simply because it’s cheaper. Rather, we must extend worker protection and benefits to contract labour as well.
Privatisation and FDI are other areas of concern for organised labour. It is not that we have seen major initiatives to sell off PSUs. But there are clear attempts to further shrink the role of the public sector. Public sector banks (PSB), for instance, have been starved of capital and many banks are today without chairmen and managing directors. Moves have also been initiated to merge PSBs. Unions see these moves as impacting jobs in the formal sector adversely.
In principle, FDI should mean more investment and more job creation. However, in a situation where domestic firms have weakened by inadequate growth, FDI is seen as displacing jobs in domestic firms.
It’s the jobs
The proposed labour reforms seek to weaken worker protection at a time when the Indian economy is not creating enough jobs and the right kind of jobs. The rate of growth of employment slumped from 2.8 per cent in 2000-05 to 0. 5 per cent in 2011-12. In the same period, the labour force grew at 2.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively. In the organised sector, the share of informal employment rose from 48 per cent in 2004-05 to 54.6 per cent in 2011-12.
The proposed labour reforms seek to weaken worker protection at a time when the Indian economy is not creating enough jobs and the right kind of jobs. The rate of growth of employment slumped from 2.8 per cent in 2000-05 to 0. 5 per cent in 2011-12. In the same period, the labour force grew at 2.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively. In the organised sector, the share of informal employment rose from 48 per cent in 2004-05 to 54.6 per cent in 2011-12.
Job creation in the private sector is depressed by the low rate of investment. Investment itself is constrained by numerous factors: high levels of debt, high interest rates, a deceleration in corporate loans growth in PSBs, etc. In these conditions, a focus on weakening dismissal laws in the organised sector as the key to job creation is misplaced.
The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook (April 2016) lends support to this view. It cites studies that have shown that weakening dismissal conditions under adverse economic conditions tends to reduce employment. The IMF argues that if such changes to labour laws are to be carried out, there must be offsetting fiscal expansion that helps raise demand for labour. India is in no position to meet this condition as we are still in the process of fiscal consolidation.
There is a time for undertaking certain structural reforms and there is a time for not doing so. Focussing on changes to labour laws at the present time, far from fostering job creation, is likely to be counterproductive and can only result in greater labour unrest.
T.T. Ram Mohan is a professor at IIM Ahmedabad. E-mail: ttr@iima.ac.in
Source: The Hindu, 12-09-2016
TISS Seeks HRD Ministry Help on Funding Tussle
Anubhuti Vishnoi
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New Delhi:
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OUT OF SYNC The institute, which is facing 46% cut in its non-salary grants, tells ministry there is a mismatch in the opening balance of accounts maintained by TISS and UGC
An escalating row with the higher education regulator has led the Tata Institute of Social Sciences to seek human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar's intervention in a 46% cut in its non-salary grants.The development comes barely a year after the Mumbai-based institute was forced to take bank loans to pay staff salaries while the government withheld grants.
The row over funding escalated so much that director of TISS wrote to the University Grants Commission in July , “There is no need to humiliate us. TISS is not asking any favours, we are only asking for rightful grants. And we have no one at the UGC to turn to demand to be treated in a dignified manner.“
At the heart of the row, officials said, is an “accounting problem“.While TISS claims that its opening balance on April 1 stood at about `14.36 crore, the UGC maintains it is not more than `2.48 lakh. In a communication sent to UGC on August 20, TISS termed UGC's assessment “incorrect“. It has put out statistics to claim that UGC failed to release the sanctioned amount to the institute, causing a shortfall of about `15.57 crore.
Professor S Parsuraman, director of TISS, told ET that the institute has written “several times“ to the UGC on the issue. While the HRD ministry has been supportive, “the UGC is not listening“, he said. The ministry, on its part, said the issue is being addressed.
“TISS has communicated to the ministry that opening balance of accounts of TISS does not match with that of accounts maintained in UGC regarding TISS. As a result TISS is receiving less grants from UGC,“ the ministry said in response to ET's queries. “There has been a meeting with TISS and UGC officials. UGC has called for more records from TISS to sort out the issue difference in OB. TISS is yet to provide the required records. It is purely an accountancy matter which is being reconciled between UGC and TISS,“ the ministry said.
The UGC did not respond to ET's queries despite repeated reminders.
In its August letter to the UGC, TISS said the non-plan grant approved by the UGC for 2015-16 was `4,515.02 lakh for meeting expenditure on salary of regular teaching and non-teaching staff. However, the UGC released only `3,212.75 lakh ultimately, a shortfall of `1, 188.76 lakh. For the new pension scheme, the UGC released `343 lakh against a sanctioned amount of `597.29 lakh, causing another shortfall of `229.81 lakh.
TISS described as a “double blow“ the “wholly incorrect and unwarranted deduction“ of `1556.56 lakh from the amount due to institute.
The row over funding escalated so much that director of TISS wrote to the University Grants Commission in July , “There is no need to humiliate us. TISS is not asking any favours, we are only asking for rightful grants. And we have no one at the UGC to turn to demand to be treated in a dignified manner.“
At the heart of the row, officials said, is an “accounting problem“.While TISS claims that its opening balance on April 1 stood at about `14.36 crore, the UGC maintains it is not more than `2.48 lakh. In a communication sent to UGC on August 20, TISS termed UGC's assessment “incorrect“. It has put out statistics to claim that UGC failed to release the sanctioned amount to the institute, causing a shortfall of about `15.57 crore.
Professor S Parsuraman, director of TISS, told ET that the institute has written “several times“ to the UGC on the issue. While the HRD ministry has been supportive, “the UGC is not listening“, he said. The ministry, on its part, said the issue is being addressed.
“TISS has communicated to the ministry that opening balance of accounts of TISS does not match with that of accounts maintained in UGC regarding TISS. As a result TISS is receiving less grants from UGC,“ the ministry said in response to ET's queries. “There has been a meeting with TISS and UGC officials. UGC has called for more records from TISS to sort out the issue difference in OB. TISS is yet to provide the required records. It is purely an accountancy matter which is being reconciled between UGC and TISS,“ the ministry said.
The UGC did not respond to ET's queries despite repeated reminders.
In its August letter to the UGC, TISS said the non-plan grant approved by the UGC for 2015-16 was `4,515.02 lakh for meeting expenditure on salary of regular teaching and non-teaching staff. However, the UGC released only `3,212.75 lakh ultimately, a shortfall of `1, 188.76 lakh. For the new pension scheme, the UGC released `343 lakh against a sanctioned amount of `597.29 lakh, causing another shortfall of `229.81 lakh.
TISS described as a “double blow“ the “wholly incorrect and unwarranted deduction“ of `1556.56 lakh from the amount due to institute.
Source: Economic Times, 12-09-2016
Achieving Mental Balance And Happiness
Vijay Maharaj
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Life mirrors our deeds and thoughts. Some people live and die without even displaying an urge for a higher spiritual life. All scriptural works tell us that life and religion are interconnected and that the latter guides us to live in happiness, without fear or tension, to improve our abilities and build self-confidence. Positive thoughts and the willingness to do any kind of work entrusted to us, will fetch success.The rules governing pure life have been laid down in holy books. They say that life is really meant to release the individual soul from the clutches of tempting influences in order to achieve bliss.
The soul's purity can be maintained by making the body take up divine work, to speak truth and entertain only pious thoughts. Thoughts, words and deeds should be identical. To attain spiritual perfection, one needs to practise meditation and chanting. The mind, senses and the intellect will all perish with the body; spirit alone is immortal.Ultimate liberation can be secured by extinction of all desires.
Therefore sages advise to avoid too much talk and to do more work. Sentiments of other people should be appreciated and respected.Practise what you preach. Stay unruffled in the face of praise or abuse. Maintaining equanimity will arise out of adoption of the procedures prescribed in the scriptures as one will then easily forgive and forget what others say . Never be a slave of circumstances, say elders. The most important advice tendered by saints is: avoid hating others whatever may be the provocation. Be friendly through maitri bhava, remain happy and smiling as pramod and with karuna (compassion), be forgiving. A worldly man is invariably a slave of two mighty currents of the mind attraction and repulsion. He is happy when he experiences pleasure but sad when he is faced with sorrow. He sticks to pleasant objects while he runs away from those which cause him pain.
Most people are not able to resist passion and desires. But the one who overcomes them will be calm and composed.
Even men of strong moral strength have showed signs of weakness and have fallen victim to worldly temptations.
Sacred literature tells us that by developing an attitude of detachment, it may be possible to maintain mental balance.
A story from Jain scriptures points out that a dispassionate man is unaffected by both pleasure and pain.Four disciples once approached their spiritual master. The first said he would undergo penance by sitting on the wooden lid of a dry well. The second said he would meditate at the mouth of a dark den where a lion lived. The third declared that he would conduct penance in a mountain chasm where pythons are plentiful. The youngest said he would carry out his discipline in the dancing-hall of a courtesan, a statement which naturally evoked laughter and derision from others.
The young man who had once been a visitor to the courtesan's house, was now absolutely unconcerned about her charm and continued his austere life even while living in her house. Her music and dance did not disturb his concentration. When he returned to the hermitage after some time, his acharya found him pure, radiating spiritual aura. One can develop dispassion by looking into the defects of sensual life. Detachment from all objects, at all times will result in obtaining knowledge of the Self.
The soul's purity can be maintained by making the body take up divine work, to speak truth and entertain only pious thoughts. Thoughts, words and deeds should be identical. To attain spiritual perfection, one needs to practise meditation and chanting. The mind, senses and the intellect will all perish with the body; spirit alone is immortal.Ultimate liberation can be secured by extinction of all desires.
Therefore sages advise to avoid too much talk and to do more work. Sentiments of other people should be appreciated and respected.Practise what you preach. Stay unruffled in the face of praise or abuse. Maintaining equanimity will arise out of adoption of the procedures prescribed in the scriptures as one will then easily forgive and forget what others say . Never be a slave of circumstances, say elders. The most important advice tendered by saints is: avoid hating others whatever may be the provocation. Be friendly through maitri bhava, remain happy and smiling as pramod and with karuna (compassion), be forgiving. A worldly man is invariably a slave of two mighty currents of the mind attraction and repulsion. He is happy when he experiences pleasure but sad when he is faced with sorrow. He sticks to pleasant objects while he runs away from those which cause him pain.
Most people are not able to resist passion and desires. But the one who overcomes them will be calm and composed.
Even men of strong moral strength have showed signs of weakness and have fallen victim to worldly temptations.
Sacred literature tells us that by developing an attitude of detachment, it may be possible to maintain mental balance.
A story from Jain scriptures points out that a dispassionate man is unaffected by both pleasure and pain.Four disciples once approached their spiritual master. The first said he would undergo penance by sitting on the wooden lid of a dry well. The second said he would meditate at the mouth of a dark den where a lion lived. The third declared that he would conduct penance in a mountain chasm where pythons are plentiful. The youngest said he would carry out his discipline in the dancing-hall of a courtesan, a statement which naturally evoked laughter and derision from others.
The young man who had once been a visitor to the courtesan's house, was now absolutely unconcerned about her charm and continued his austere life even while living in her house. Her music and dance did not disturb his concentration. When he returned to the hermitage after some time, his acharya found him pure, radiating spiritual aura. One can develop dispassion by looking into the defects of sensual life. Detachment from all objects, at all times will result in obtaining knowledge of the Self.
Cheap data can usher in green revolution 2.0
Vishwa Mohan
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New Delhi:
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Govt Programmes Aiding Farm Output Will Help Only If Farmers Can Access Such Info On Mobiles
Prospects of cheap internet data might have taken political overtones with politicians getting into the `atta' (wheat flour) verses `data' debate, but availability of cheap and fast data has the potential to increase farm productivity and farmers' incomes.India's space agency Isro's ongoing programme of predicting site suitability for a particular crop, cropping intensity , early-season crop forecasting, soil texture, moisture as well as agricultural water management will show desired results only when farmers can access these information on their smart phones.
“The country's space ag ency can even assess if a particular crop can be planted in a particular site. But dissemination of such information to each and every farmer in the country remains a big challenge. The government's initiatives through Digital India programme will help, provided farmers can afford internet data on their mobile phones and access those vital inputs,“ said an official involved in the programme.
Though a lot of such information is being shared through various `krishi vigyan kendras' (agriculture science centres) across the country, farmers still don't get fast and accurate farm and cropspecific solutions to their problems on the ground.
Availability of affordable data will help them get such information at a time when the world is fast moving towards `digital farming' whe re data-driven insights are helping farmers improve their on-farm decision-making.The days are not far when they can send farm pictures, including of weeds and infected portion of crop fields, to scientists and get quick solutions on their phones.
Crop science division of global crop protection and seed giant Bayer AG has started testing its digital tool in India.The idea behind `digital farming' is to help farmers identify pests, diseases and weeds down to the square metre of their farms and provide them with solutions to enhance yield and farm profitability .
The company last week demonstrated its `digital farming' tool during the `Future of Farming Dialogue 2016' in Leverkusen, Germany . Responding to TOI's question on how such tools would work in India where a majority of farmers have small landholdings, head of Bayer's crop science division Liam Condon said a lot of testing was going on to find out the rights solution for them. Condon said the testing was being done in India to find out how mobile-phone technology could combine with the outreach programme and how it could be used in smart and simple ways to help the company solve problems of farmers.
During the Farming Dialogue, experts explained that digitalisation could give farmers timely field-level information for selecting right inputs, including fertiliser or crop protection dose, determining the ideal time for crop protection steps and recognising plant stress factors at an early stage.
“The country's space ag ency can even assess if a particular crop can be planted in a particular site. But dissemination of such information to each and every farmer in the country remains a big challenge. The government's initiatives through Digital India programme will help, provided farmers can afford internet data on their mobile phones and access those vital inputs,“ said an official involved in the programme.
Though a lot of such information is being shared through various `krishi vigyan kendras' (agriculture science centres) across the country, farmers still don't get fast and accurate farm and cropspecific solutions to their problems on the ground.
Availability of affordable data will help them get such information at a time when the world is fast moving towards `digital farming' whe re data-driven insights are helping farmers improve their on-farm decision-making.The days are not far when they can send farm pictures, including of weeds and infected portion of crop fields, to scientists and get quick solutions on their phones.
Crop science division of global crop protection and seed giant Bayer AG has started testing its digital tool in India.The idea behind `digital farming' is to help farmers identify pests, diseases and weeds down to the square metre of their farms and provide them with solutions to enhance yield and farm profitability .
The company last week demonstrated its `digital farming' tool during the `Future of Farming Dialogue 2016' in Leverkusen, Germany . Responding to TOI's question on how such tools would work in India where a majority of farmers have small landholdings, head of Bayer's crop science division Liam Condon said a lot of testing was going on to find out the rights solution for them. Condon said the testing was being done in India to find out how mobile-phone technology could combine with the outreach programme and how it could be used in smart and simple ways to help the company solve problems of farmers.
During the Farming Dialogue, experts explained that digitalisation could give farmers timely field-level information for selecting right inputs, including fertiliser or crop protection dose, determining the ideal time for crop protection steps and recognising plant stress factors at an early stage.
Source: Times of India, 12-09-2016
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