Insecure and insular in urban India

When every politician, industrialist and bureaucrat resides in palatial isolation on select real estate, the message of civic insecurity and isolation comes out loud and clear. Divided by caste, class, rank, economics, social order and professional position, shared life has become a distant dream

In the design of a recent house in Delhi, I was intrigued by how the owner’s interest in the building was sustained merely by the gadgets that were part of the home. All rooms had air conditioners and humidifiers, each fitted with its own fridge, television and home entertainment, Internet, security and alarm system. A private lap pool and barbecue extended along the side of the house; four cars were parked in the driveway. Gadgetry proclaimed independence for all the residents of the house, while old ideas of comfort, familiarity, family togetherness were all but forgotten.

It is easy to see how in the past 20 years the idea of private ownership has had a huge debilitating impact on urban life. The city has changed from being a congenial space of shared amenities and relationships to a fearful nightmare of private strongholds and walled compounds — insecure, insular and isolated. As the boundaries of the city have expanded to take in more people, the real boundaries around residents have closed in. In Gurgaon outside Delhi, Vastrapur in Ahmedabad, or Whitefield in Bengaluru, the gated community coaxes the home owner into believing in the security of living among people like each other. The house comes now with greater realms of private facilities: private parking, private entertainment, private office, private pool, private barbecue … when the home acts as a virtual city, there is no need to go out.

Concept of sharing

Has the privatisation of what were once public assets and opportunities endorsed a better quality of civic life? How has the continual expense on private goods and services produced anything but a lazy and bland convenience? If anything, isn’t its larger impact, a more pervasive isolation and despair? What indeed is the effect of the bloated house on the consumption patterns of the neighbourhood, and life in the city?

“The city has changed from being a congenial space of shared amenities and relationships to a fearful nightmare of private strongholds and walled compounds”

In the 1970s, with little use for a car, my parents opted to share the expense of a car and driver with four other homes in the neighbourhood. Such efficient allocation ensured that the shared car was fully employed during the day within selected time slots. Five houses came together to share one car; today, each of those houses has four to five cars, mostly clogging the driveway. At the time, the local market had several lending libraries with the latest books. The system of short-term borrowing ensured that every book was happily thumbed by many interested readers, as were magazines and later, videos. The larger thrust of the shared life also extended to living spaces within and outside the home. The absence of multiple TVs and fridges allowed the family to share time together; as did the community park, where people met in the evening.

Global trends

Throughout the world, cities are attempting to create optimal conditions for shared interactive lifestyles. Suburbs in Washington and Boston encourage carpooling by creating special fast lanes into the city. In a new scheme in Orlando, tight-knit town houses open out into a common garden, allowing an easy mingling of all residents. Offices in Bogotá hire shared taxis to ferry their staff into the city. Other initiatives such as co-housing in Denmark support communities planned and managed by the residents who share responsibilities of child care, recreation and security along with social activities. Some new Chinese cities discourage any form of private ownership — whether house or car — so people live close to places of work in rental housing. Stockholm’s suburban ordinance even allows private gardens to be used publicly. Families without their own lawns are encouraged to use someone else’s as their own. The world’s most liveable cities are without doubt those that encourage such shared patterns in civic regulations.

Does the idea that every successful Indian must isolate himself behind encircling shields of privacy seem an absurd, lopsided form of civic entitlement? What is the real purpose of living among others if every action states you really don’t want to live among them? Wouldn’t it make more sense to evolve a more deliberate pattern of shared routines and consumption based on a common lifestyle?

Obviously, when domestic life is measured as an outcome of scarce resources put to efficient use, the new urban affluence begins to appear a terrible waste. The undying urge to excessive material possessiveness produces a selfishness that has a contemptible and miserly social dimension. With only one time or one person use, the possession itself loses its utility and usefulness, and becomes redundant. The multiple uses of cars, homes, gardens, city space, offices, books, films, etc. in the long run will reduce private possessions, increasing public dependence and interaction and result in a more hospitable city.

Governments abroad have also made conscious and consistent efforts to eradicate the visible hierarchy of their cities, ensuring that everyone lives together, works and shares a common pool of services and facilities. Senators in Washington live in standard suburban homes and commute every morning like ordinary citizens. In the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix could be seen choosing vegetables in the local market. Warren Buffett, one of America’s richest men, still maintains his old family home in Omaha, and is often seen playing with his grandkids on the sidewalk.

What would it take to get President Pranab Mukherjee to walk across to Connaught Place to pick up a pair of wool socks for his winter wardrobe, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi to select his vegetables at Subzi Mandi? How would it look if Mukesh Ambani lived in a two bedroom flat in Lower Parel and commuted by hanging on to the suburban train, instead of residing in ‘Antilia’, his 27-storied home on Altamount Road? When every politician, industrialist, tyre manufacturer and bureaucrat resides in palatial isolation on select real estate and is followed by a posse of machine- gun toting guards, the message of civic insecurity and isolation comes out loud and clear. The city is a dreadful place, so protect yourself. Divided by caste, class, rank, economics, social order and professional position, the shared life becomes a distant and impossible dream.

Evaluating the civic model

Naturally, a government that still follows antiquated regulations and by-laws is hardly capable of offering thoughtful solutions in this direction. Equally, it is a shameful sign of our times that builders profiting from construction, continue to lavish all their efforts where none is needed. As money and good times roll in, developers begin a steady and relentless marketing of luxury villas and townships, privatising the city further with high electrified boundaries and yet more isolation.

Why is it then that these fortress walls in suburban Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune foster such seclusion and despair, but the narrow lanes of Mehrauli and Dharavi — despite the stigma of slum living — are welcoming and unrestrained? In a society that has traditionally lived on the ideal of dependence, a return to a more egalitarian shared existence is a certain possibility. Now, more than ever, with the threat of smart cities looming large, the creation of a civic model needs careful stating, design and evaluation. Beginning with the redesign of the middle-class home, its relation to its neighbours, the value of community over privacy, shared transport over the private car, the compaction of distance between home, workplace and recreation, the abolishing of gated complexes, the inclusion of common greens, the reduction of private commerce, the conversion of roads to parks and walking tracks, can all be directed in the thrust for a different type of city. If private builders wish to apply any such ideas in their projects, the government should allow them a slate clean of all local restrictions to make it possible.

There are of course colossal economic and environmental benefits of a shared life — fewer cars on the street, more people accommodated more comfortably in less space, larger common open areas, consequently increased personal security, healthier cities and a happier more connected citizenry. If such an ideal is to be tested in India’s new towns, planners would have to create conditions where people don’t need to buy cars or houses. Obviously the present structure of city living is unlikely to accommodate such concerns. But given that cities are expanding and new ones being proposed, it may be useful to explore and state a new set of regulations before any construction begins, so that the larger benefits of sharing could be enjoyed by all sections of society. Without these, we may only end up creating yet more Gurgaons and Whitefields.

High-level panel counsels caution on GM food crops Suggests setting up of special environment courts

Suggests setting up of special environment courts

The government-appointed High Level Committee (HLC) to review environmental laws, while proposing a near complete overhaul of the regulatory system, has sounded a note of caution on genetically modified (GM) food crops.

In a report submitted recently on its review of six laws, the HLC headed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, said the potential consequences of mindless use of science and technology could possibly be illustrated by referring to the potential for medium/ long-term adverse affects through unprepared introduction of GM food crops. While other Ministries naturally would aggressively push for early field trials and induction, the HLC said the role of the Environment Ministry may have to be one of being a Devil’s Advocate to advise due caution. It said that Europe does not permit field trials, and that the average Indian farm is of very small size (which could lead to severe adverse impact on biodiversity through gene-flow) and also noted that there are no independent expert agencies in the country, and perhaps the Ministry of Environment may ask for greater assurance in respect of potential adverse effects in the medium and long run. The HLC takes this aspect of assurance and good faith further in its new proposed law, the Environment Laws (Management) Act (ELMA). The new law prescribes new offences, as also for establishing special environment courts presided over by a session’s judge and higher penalties.

The proposed new law will have an overriding effect on all other relevant laws. However, the proposed legislation prescribes that the application for environmental clearances expects the applicant to be honest and truthful — the concept of ‘utmost good faith’ is statutorily introduced, and the consequences of breach are also set out.

The Committee which was criticized for inadequate consultation and its brief time frame of three months, however, felt that most pending issues were addressed constructively, and equally a roadmap has been suggested for continuous monitoring of the legal, legislative and management framework in this field. It noted that among the most important gaps in the present regime, the issue of enforcement of conditions of approval remains nearly totally unattended and needs to be addressed effectively. It called for the setting up of a new All India Service called the Indian Environment Service. The present monitoring regime is heavily dependent on field verification through ‘inspectors’. It also noted that the cause of environment preservation is not adequately met by the present monitoring methods.

The HLC has said forest areas with 70 per cent or more canopy cover and protected areas should be notified as ‘no go’ areas and suggested a slew of other measures for forest protection. However, it said that where there are considerations of national interest and issues relating to safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country, activities may be permitted in such areas subject to the prior and specific approval of the Union Cabinet.

In keeping with the Centre’s desire to dilute the Forest Rights act (FRA), the HLC has said that for linear projects, it is recommended that FRA needs amendment to consider removal of the condition of Gram Sabha approval. However, there is already an order from the Eenvironment Ministry to this effect. It said that forest and environmental clearances should time bound and streamlined.

While environmentalists have fought for increased regulation in wildlife areas during festivals, the HLC says India has a varied and glorious cultural tradition. While there are many national festivals, there are also localised festivals which are of great local importance in different States. Nature and animal worship has been part of the national culture. Thus, for example Nag Panchami in many States is celebrated and snakes worshipped during five days in Shravan month, as a “thousands years-old’ tradition. It is to be noted that the snakes are never harmed — indeed are worshipped during this period. A dispensation in the various Schedules should be permitted to take into account such local practices, and reflect them in their approved schedules, through gazette notification, the HLC said.

It called for Wildlife Management plans to be made mandatory, the demarcation of eco sensitive zones to be enforced around all protected areas and proposed the banning of polythene bags and plastic bottles into Protected areas. It has proposed to create new agencies, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) at the national level and the State Environment Management Authority (SEMA) for each State as the pivotal authorities to process applications for a one-window composite environmental clearance. The NEMA and SEMA will replace the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards.

On the question of public hearing, the HLC recommends that the method of public consultation prescribed in the existing notification should continue with the modification that only environmental, rehabilitation and resettlement issues are captured in the public hearing. A mechanism should be put in place to ensure that “only genuine local participation” is permitted. The extant provision of dispensing with public hearing should be continued only in respect of situations when it is reported that local conditions are not conducive to the conduct of hearing, or in the matters of projects of strategic importance and national importance. There is no necessity for public hearing in locations where settlements are located away from the project sites.

It also takes away the role of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which under the proposed ELMA, will only be able to judicially review the decision of Appellate Boards. The Special Environment Courts shall dispose of cases expeditiously and normally within six months. Aggrieved parties may approach an appellate board presided over by a retired high court judge. The HLC also called for streamlining of the assessment process, preparation a perspective coal plan from a sustainable point of view, creating an Environment Reconstruction Fund for facilitating research, standard setting, education and related matters, and putting in place systems for managing solid waste.

GSLV Mark III faces its first experimental flight

Later this month, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III is expected to lift off for the first time from India’s spaceport at Sriharikota on an experimental flight that will assess the rocket’s performance as it hurtles through the atmosphere to reach speeds many times that of sound.

When operational, the GSLV Mark III will be the Indian Space Research Organisation's most powerful rocket, capable of putting four-tonne communication satellites into orbit, almost double the capacity of the current GSLV. The Mark III will weigh about 640 tonnes at launch, about 50 per cent heavier than the GSLV.

Should India decide to send astronauts into space, this will be the rocket that carries them. So it is perhaps appropriate that the forthcoming launch will also provide an early test of a crew module that is being developed.

During the 1990s, it became clear that a new launcher was needed to meet the country's requirements for communication satellites heavier than what the existing GSLV could carry, according to K. Kasturirangan, who was the ISRO chairman when the Rs. 2,498-crore project for developing the GSLV Mark III was approved by the Government in May 2002. Over four years of studies, simulations, debates on technical issues and several reviews went into finalising the Mark III’s configuration, he said.

Reducing the total number of propulsion modules that make up the GSLV Mark III was seen as crucial to increasing the rocket’s reliability and reducing launch costs, according to ISRO experts this correspondent spoke to. The GSLV Mark III has just four propulsion modules while its predecessor, the GSLV, has seven.

The GSLV Mark III has two huge solid propellants boosters, which are among the largest in the world, flanking a big liquid propellant core stage. Atop the core stage, sits a cryogenic upper stage that will provide half the velocity needed to put communication satellites into the proper orbit.

While the solid booster and the liquid propellant core stage completed ground tests and were qualified for flight about three years back, development of the cryogenic engine, running on liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, for the Mark III's upper stage is still in progress.

For the experimental launch, the Mark III will be equipped with a dummy cryogenic engine and stage that will simulate the weight and other characteristics of the flight version. Consequently, the rocket will not be able to put the crew module it carries into orbit.

The rocket will, however, give the crew module a velocity of 5.3. km/second when the latter separates at a height of about 125 km. The capsule will then descend and splashdown in the Bay of Bengal, about 600 km from Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.

The GSLV Mark III is “a totally new configuration,” observed K. Radhakrishnan, the current ISRO chairman, explaining the rationale for the experimental mission. “So if there are issues with respect to the configuration and we need to take care of that, it is better to take care of [them] early.” It was not necessary to wait till the cryogenic stage was qualified.

The GSLV Mark III is more sensitive than the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the current GSLV to disturbances that might occur as it accelerates through the dense atmosphere, noted S. Ramakrishnan, who was the first project director for its development and retired earlier this year as director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. The ability of the rocket’s control systems to effectively handle such perturbations without violating the vehicle's structural capabilities will be tested during the experimental flight.

Building on experience with the big solid propellant first stage of the PSLV and GSLV, which carries 139 tonnes of propellant, the Mark III’s two giant ‘S200’ boosters each holds 207 tonnes of solid propellant. Only the solid boosters for America’s Space Shuttle and Titan IV-B as well as Europe's Ariane 5 have more propellant than the S200. Of these, only the Ariane 5 is still operational.

A separate facility has been established at Sriharikota to make the S200 boosters. The closely matched thrust levels required from the two boosters was achieved by carefully controlling both the quality of the raw materials used and their subsequent processing, said M.C. Dathan, who oversaw the development of the S200 and is currently director of VSSC.

Another major achievement is that the S200’s large nozzle has been equipped with a ‘flex seal.’ The nozzle can therefore be swivelled when the rocket’s orientation needs correction.

The GSLV Mark III’s two S200 boosters fire at lift off, together generating a thrust of over 800 tonnes. The sheer volume of sound produced at lift off could potentially damage the rocket and the spacecraft. A sound suppression system has therefore been installed on the launch pad that will be spray about 20 tonnes of water per second to reduce noise levels during lift off.

In flight, as the thrust from the S200 boosters begins to tail off, the decline in acceleration is sensed by the rocket’s onboard sensors and the twin Vikas engines on the ‘L110’ liquid propellant core stage are then ignited.

Before the S200s separate and fall away from the rocket, the solid boosters as well as the Vikas engines operate together for a short period of time. The thermal environment at the base of the L110 stage will be monitored during the experimental mission. The transition of control over the vehicle’s orientation from the S200s to the L110 will also be closely watched.

The L110 stage, with a diameter of four metres, carries 115 tonnes of liquid propellant. Although the Vikas engine has already flown on the PSLV and the GSLV, those on the Mark III have to operate for a longer duration.

The first developmental flight of the GSLV Mark-III, with a functional cryogenic engine and stage, could take place in two years’ time, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan.

Earth’s most abundant mineral gets name

Bridgmanite was officially coined after an examinable sample was extracted from a meteorite

American geologists have named the earth’s most abundant mineral Bridgmanite.

It had hitherto remained nameless as a large enough sample of the mineral, found in the earth’s lower mantle, had not been recovered. Under the rules of set down by the International Mineralogical Association, a mineral cannot be given a formal name until a specimen has been found and examined first hand.

A group of American geologists were recently able to extract a sample large enough to analyse from a meteorite.

The new name is in honour of Percy Bridgman, a pioneer in the use of high pressure experiments to better understand how many geological formations come about.

Bridgmanite makes up about 70 percent of the earth’s lower mantle and 38 percent of the total volume of the earth. It is made up of high-density magnesium iron silicate.

The lower mantle, which starts at 670 km under the crust, is difficult to access for samples.

The researchers looked at a meteorite that had fallen inside Australia in 1879 as a likely candidate for samples, and found what they were looking for.

Destructive technique

Scientists had looked at likely candidate meteorites in the past, but electron diffraction — the technique they used to look for perovskite — had always wound up causing it to be destroyed.

This time the team used a different, less destructive test — one that involved the use of a micro-focussed X-ray beam in conjunction with electron microscopy.

The researchers noted that the sample had more sodium and ferric acid than expected.

Their discovery is expected to aid future geological research, offer clues about what goes on when celestial bodies collide and potentially give hints about the formation of the universe.

The research paper was published in the journal Science.

A road map for Digital India

With all the talk about Digital India, one would think it's taking off. But in reality, it isn't quite here yet - because of our confused approach to independent networks, and regulations that restrict efficient use of spectrum and radio networks. Oddly enough, we don't suffer this confusion about sharing other infrastructure, such as roads, rail, electricity networks or airports. We readily share these on payment, as is logical, but we simply haven't done this forbroadband and communications. It's unlikely we'll achieve ubiquitous digital access with our current approach. There are too many problems and too few synergies, requiring radical changes in direction.

Our legacy practices have resulted in several independent, countrywide networks like arterial systems, each run by its owner/operator. These systems connect at the customer ends on their own, except when customers are outside their franchise areas. This requires massive capital investment in a multiplicity of redundant backbone and urban networks with insufficient rural coverage, for a start.

Even worse, our administrative rules are far more constraining than the technological limitations. So operators must win their own spectrum at auction as in countries with (a) not many operators and (b) more commercially available spectrum, even as technology has evolved to facilitate shared network solutions.

This creates two further obstacles for Digital India: operators must invest large sums in spectrum auctions for their exclusive-use bands, and limited bandwidth - for instance, in the 900 MHz band - must be subdivided between numerous operators at a location, resulting in suboptimal performance.

The one proposed exception to the multiplicity of uncoordinated networks is the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) from state-owned Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. The plan is that this will reach clusters of villages at the gram panchayat level, and be available to all service providers; but it is very far from ready.1 Even when it is complete, the last-mile access to end-users will need to be built. Much of the countryside requires wireless access using the radio spectrum, because laying fibre costs too much. And our approach to spectrum allocation is such that spectrum is simply unavailable.

The required changes must, therefore, address even basic assumptions, for example, whether operators must be restricted to circles; how to organise the infrastructure ownership, build-out and operation to facilitate countrywide access; how to compensate governments for usage rights, and network and spectrum owners for common-carrier access to their assets; how to structure incentives for content development and delivery for education, healthcare, civic services, commerce and entertainment and so on, as well as for domestic high-technology manufacturing. If this isn't done, the already high level of technology imports will rise to unsustainable levels, constraining not only this sector but the potential of most sectors of the economy.

We need policies and regulations framed in our collective best interests, defined thus:

1. Effective and efficient communications services at reasonable costs, paying reasonable taxes and government charges
    
2. Usage for government services, public safety and security, including the armed forces, paramilitary, governance, disaster management, and commercial and private purposes

As explained above, our present approach is unlikely to get us there. So what can be done?

• As a first step, one sweeping change can solve part of this seemingly intractable problem: permitting spectrum sharing between primary users, such as defence and defence-related services, who will continue to have priority rights and authorised secondary users, as under way in the United States and the European Union (EU).2 In this manner, current holders retain their rights, while allowing the utilisation of otherwise idle spectrum. Defence and government users continue without any changes to their equipment and practices, except where feasible for purposes of international harmonisation, such as defence users swapping 15 MHz in the 2,100 MHz band for the 1,900 MHz band.

With this approach, critical defence and security applications are not compromised for government or commercial revenues. Instead, the spectrum would be more fully used, more traffic would generate higher earnings yielding greater revenue share and tax collections, while security retains the priority it deserves.

A prerequisite for this is a collaborative, end-to-end strategy and a problem-solving approach to formulating and executing policies, regulations and processes. The participants must include the central ministries and agencies (department of telecommunications, department of electronics and information technology, information and broadcasting, defence, finance, the armed forces, security agencies); the regulator (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India); state governments; public sector units and their associated ministries/departments; operators. The judiciary and the public must also be involved, because disruptive actions, such as those leading to the arbitrary cancellation of some 2G licences, can be as damaging as dysfunctional policies or regulations.

• The second major change required is to transition to open-access shared networks, available on payment to all licensed operators/service providers (excluding the ambit of defence and security). It may be appropriate to have two, three or even four networks that are interconnected. This has to be worked out by the participants based on technology, economics, business interests and pragmatism in terms of what is achievable in given timeframes. The transition needs to be through consultation and negotiation, as it would not work well if imposed through government or judiciary diktat.
   
• Simultaneously, trials must be conducted with new technologies, starting with wireless broadband utilising unused spectrum reserved for TV broadcasts ("TV white space"). Other countries have done much of the pioneering work. The EU scientists are recommending using TV white space for "super-Wifi" at the International Telecommunication Union's next World Radiocommunication Conference, instead of auctioning it.3

Our trials must validate solutions such as for rural broadband being workable in our situation and circumstances. These trials will need to be extended in phases, both in terms of scope and of scale - for example, for the active sharing of TV and other spectrum, and of radio access networks, through rural and urban field trials. These will test usage by multiple operators in a given area. Once proven, policies and procedures can be developed and implemented across the country.

A man who holds his own: Meet Anil Kumar Sinha, the new CBI director

For civil servants in Bihar, 2006-07 were golden years. Nitish Kumar had been newly installed as Chief Minister and he was determined to get the bureaucracy to become a political force multiplier and get it to – well, just do its job.

Anil Kumar Sinha,  then Additional Director General of Police, Headquarters (ADGP Hq) was one such officer, picked by Nitish Kumar to help him clean out the Augean stables. Eight months after he became Chief Minister, Kumar ordered an FIR against an MLA from his own party, the Janata Dal United.

Anant Singh, MLA from Mokama, along with a band of men all bearing guns, had been trying to get owners of shops on Patna’s posh Fraser Road to vacate their premises: the original owner of the plot and his wife had both died without heirs and Singh thought this was a good time to write the land down as his. He let owners of shops on the plot know that he had already bought small lots and advised them in their own interest to sell to him. The gunmen just stood by while he spoke, guns hanging loosely from their arms.

Nitish Kumar had pledged to bring down exactly these kind of men. It fell to Sinha to motivate, threaten and persuade policemen in the Kotwali police station to file a complaint against Singh.

 

 

Those who know Bihar politics and society alone can appreciate that this is easier said than done. Sinha got an FIR registered but policemen would go to Anant Singh’s house in Patna, not find him, paste a notice and return. He couldn’t be found anywhere, although reporters could find him without any difficulty and he addressed press conferences freely! Speaking to Business Standard in 2007, Sinha pledged he would get the job done.

ALSO READ: Anil Kumar Sinha takes over as new CBI Chief

A lot has happened since then. Anant Singh was found and last heard, another couple of charges of extortion had been registered against him. Sinha meanwhile moved to Delhi in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He has now been appointed Director of an organization that is currently everybody’s favourite whipping boy.

In 2006, he, along with then Advocate General of Bihar PK Shahi, hit upon the simple stratagem of ridding Bihar of gun-raaj by invoking the Arms Act. All that is needed to put a gunslinger behind bars under the provisions of this act is the testimony of a sub-inspector. Sinha would get the local police to give testimony and Shahi would prosecute in fast track courts. Between them they put thousands of men with illegal arms in jail.

Later, Sinha got investigations into the 1989 Bhagalpur riots in which more than 2000 people died, reopened. 27 cases were reopened after it found that despite solid evidence against the accused in the police complaints, they were let off. It was a shocking travesty of justice. Sinha built up the case.

He was moved to Bihar’s vigilance department. Around this time, Nitish Kumar was anxious to put an end to rent seeking in contracts and jobs. He found that every time the government moved against officers whose assets were disproportionate to their income, they would move court and the case would drag on and on.

It was Anil Sinha’s idea to set up special courts for corrupt officials. The most significant aspect of the special courts was that the immovable assets of persons being tried in these courts could be seized during the pendency of the trial.

The Special Court Bill was passed by the state Assembly in March 2009. The President gave her assent to the bill in January 2010. In 2010, the home of one of the officials found to have assets disproportionate to his income was seized by the state government and turned into a school. Nitish Kumar won the 2010 election on the back of this legislation.

“We badly needed this legislation to weed out corruption from government offices. Over the years, the vigilance bureau had laid nearly 300 traps, which led to unearthing of investments and property worth hundreds of crores. But we could not confiscate this. The new law will help set up designated courts for speedy and effective trail of corrupt babus. We can pray to the court for confiscation of property, which was not the case earlier. Of course, if the judgment goes in favour of the accused, the government will have to return the property and money with interest,” Sinha had told Business Standard in 2010.

But as is inevitable in Bihar, caste politics intervened. Sinha moved out of Patna to join the Central Vigilance Commission and Abhayanand became Bihar’s top cop. He later moved to the CBI as Ranjit Sinha’s second in command.

Sinha’s greatest quality is that he is afraid of no one but the Constitution of India and the law.

There may be officers more brilliant than him and probably many who are more dashing. But Sinha brings with him a solid earthy dedication to the job - which hopefully, will let the sunlight pour in to India’s premier investigation organization.

Why SEZs in India have failed Of the 564 SEZs formally approved, only 192 were operational as of June this year

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are likely to be central to realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ agenda. But the withdrawal of tax incentives has made SEZs an unattractive proposition, say industry experts.

Under the original scheme, businesses in SEZs were exempted from the minimum alternate tax (MAT) on book profits and developers were exempted from payment of the dividend distribution tax (DDT). But with indications that companies were misusing the policy for real estate arbitrage and that information technology companies were using the policy to recoup tax benefits that they lost when the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme ended, these exemptions were withdrawn.

From 2011-12 onwards, MAT exemptions for SEZ units and developers were withdrawn and DDT exemptions for developers were terminated. MAT was levied on book profits at the rate of 20 per cent, while DDT was levied at 20 per cent on dividends distributed to shareholders.

ALSO READ: Fin Min rejects tax breaks for SEZs

According to Neeru Ahuja, partner at Deloitte Haskins & Sells, a key attraction for corporate houses was the income tax holiday. “With taxes being levied, the savings for companies on account of tax concessions was reduced, impacting interest in SEZs,” Ahuja said.

 

 

 

Vivek Mehra, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, argues DDT and MAT should be scrapped, while Kavita Rao, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), a Delhi-based think tank, disagrees. She argues “as companies have been given incentives, toning those down through MAT is not a bad idea, per say. What can be debated is the level at which the tax is levied”.

Arpita Mukherjee, a professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier), another Delhi-based think tank heading a study on analysing the cost benefit analysis of the SEZ policy, says the imposition of MAT has made SEZs unattractive and adversely impacted investor sentiment. This is because MAT exemptions are punishable under WTO (World Trade Organization) rules; there is need to provide better business facilitation packages and incentives that comply with WTO rules.

Though the issue of taxation is contentious, it is the unpredictability of the tax regime that has had an impact on investments. In their study on trade and investment barriers, Anwarul Hooda and Durgesh Rai, economists at Icrier, argue “predictability in taxation policies is a sine qua non for making the environment conducive for investment, whether foreign or domestic, so the withdrawal of direct tax benefits has been a setback for the SEZ programme and has affected its future prospects”.

Of the 564 SEZs that have been formally approved so far, only 192 were operational in June this year. Total employment in these enclaves was 1,277,645 in 2014, as against an expectation of 1,743,530 by 2009. While the share of SEZs in total exports rose from six per cent in 2006-07 to 28 per cent in 2010-11, it is believed to have declined in subsequent years. The total area under SEZs currently stands at 61,624 hectares, while Shenzhen in China alone covers 49,300 hectares.

However, Mehra saus “the SEZ policy continues to be relevant from a ‘Make in India’ perspective, but several policy initiatives are necessary to get those going”. Mehra argues that for improving their viability “manufacturers should be allowed to sell goods in the domestic market but duty should be imposed on individual parts imported and not on the entire product, which would make it unviable. No Customs duty should be imposed on domestic value added”, he said.

\India has signed a number of free trade agreements (FTAs), with countries like Sri lanka, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), under which import duties have been slashed to zero for several product lines. This impacts local sales of SEZ units, which are taxed at higher rates. Mehra proposes that “manufacturers in India should have the ‘most favoured nation’ status that implies lowest tariff under the FTAs”. Rao concurs, saying “such reductions should be extended to all manufacturers, not simply the ones in SEZs”.

But experts contend that taxation issues are not the only ones impeding SEZs. According to Mukherjee, “despite offering over 300 incentives and schemes for promotion of manufacturing at the Centre and state levels, manufacturing growth has not risen substantially. Therefore, incentives need to be carefully evaluated and studied. Incentives should not be the only reason for units to be located in SEZs. Success depends on the business facilitation measures adopted. Location, infrastructure, logistics and professional zone management are four key factors determining success of SEZs”.

A major reason for the success of SEZs in China was the creation of complementary infrastructure, power, roads and ports; these are lacking in India. According to Rao, “to get SEZs and manufacturing going in India, the focus should be on creating the necessary infrastructure which will require a more holistic approach”. Anwarul Hooda and Durgesh Rai, in their study, also point out: “Another major reason for the SEZs languishing is the absence of external infrastructure support. The SEZs have to be connected with ports and airports with world-class roads and rail; ports and airports, too, have to be world-class, with Customs authorities adopting international best practices in trade facilitation. This is not the case at present. Deficiencies in the availability and quality of power are an equally important constraint.