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Inflation dips further

Friday, 14 August 2009 04:35 administrator
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The Hindu 14.08.2009

Inflation dips further

 

Special Correspondent


NEW DELHI: The rate of inflation dipped further to minus 1.74 per cent for the week ended August 1 from (-)1.58 per cent in the previous week despite soaring prices of essential commodities such as cereals, pulses, sugar, fruits and vegetables.

According to the official wholesale price index (WPI) data released here on Thursday, the annual point-to-point inflation has strayed deeper into negative territory mainly because during the like week a year ago, the price spiral was pegged at a 16-year high at 12.91 per cent.

Even as the government is drawing up contingency plans to tackle the adverse impact of the deficient monsoon rainfall on kharif production and foodgrain prices, the WPI inflation is expected to remain in the negative zone for another two months on account of the high base effect.

And this is despite the fact that on an annual basis, the prices of cereals have soared by 12 per cent, pulses by 18 per cent and fruits and vegetables by 18.4 per cent.

During the week, prices of coarse cereals such as barley and jowar went up by two per cent each, while arhar, spices, and fruit and vegetables turned dearer by one per cent each. Imported edible oils were five per cent costlier while unrefined oils and sugar were up three per cent and one per cent, respectively over the previous week.

Manmohan’s call

Taking stock of the impact on kharif production owing to the deficient rainfall last week and its fall-out on prices of essential food items, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said: “Agricultural operations have been adversely affected in several parts of the country, causing distress to farmers. A deficit of more than six million hectares has been reported in paddy, which is the worst-affected crop…In order to contain increase in prices of essential commodities, the Central government and the State governments will have to work together and activate the public distribution system which is an important safety net especially for the poor.”

Last Updated on Friday, 14 August 2009 04:36
 

Rs 14.12 cr sanctioned for urban local bodies

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 04:51 administrator
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The Times of India - Patna 12.08.2009

Rs 14.12 cr sanctioned for urban local bodies

TNN 12 August 2009, 04:16am IST

PATNA: The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 14.12 crore for urban local bodies facing problems of waterlogging and floods. The amount will be given from the funds the state is still to get from the Union government in accordance with the recommendations of the 12th Finance Commission.

The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 6.18 crore as grant to 21 urban local bodies after they submitted utility certificates, principal cabinet secretary Girish Shanker said.

The cabinet also took an important decision to give pension to physically challenged persons who do not fit the bill for Central government pension as to avail which their names must figure in the BPL list as well as they should be 80 per cent handicapped.

Under the state government scheme, there would be no income limit binding now. Earlier, those having less than Rs 30,000 annual income used to get the pension under the state scheme. Cabinet also decided that handicapped percentage would be 40 per cent for getting the pension under the state scheme.

The cabinet also increased the annual income limit from present Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 for the widows for getting monthly pension scheme under Lakshmi Bai Samajik Suraksha Pension Yojana, 2007.

There is good news for teaching and non-teaching employees of Sanskrit schools as well as madarsas. The cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 33.92 crore for teachers of 531 Sanskrit schools for the current fiscal (2009-10) for payment of salary, etc.

In case of madarsa employees working in 1,119 madarsas and nine girl madarsas, the sanctioned amount for the current fiscal for the same purpose is Rs 74.66 crore.

Over dozen other decisions too, including transfer of land for setting up a dairy farm in Gaya, were also taken by the state cabinet.
 

Garbage mess sparks traffic jam

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 04:48 administrator
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The Times of India - Kolkata

Garbage mess sparks traffic jam

Subhro Niyogi & Saikat Ray, TNN 12 August 2009, 06:13am IST

KOLKATA: For Gariahat resident Rajendra Bose, Ballygunge Circular Road is the most convenient route to his Dalhousie office. But so frequently does he face a traffic snarl near the Automobile Association of Eastern India (AAEI) office around the time he is heading for office that he takes a detour through Gurusaday Road.

CIT Road resident Jayanta Pal faces the same problem negotiating Beliaghata Road on way to Esplanade. Frustrated, he now does a long detour through Narkeldanga Road. Others who have to pass Paikpara in north and Maharshi Debendra Road in central Kolkata face a similar trauma.

What makes these bottlenecks particularly irritating is that they are entirely avoidable. The snarls at most of these points are caused not by traffic density or inadequate policing but because of sheer lack of planning in garbage clearance by the conservancy department at Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Operations by KMC payloaders and trucks at open vats on BC Road, Beliagahata Road, Paikpara and Maharshi Debendra Road during peak office hours make commuting a hell.

"I don't understand why KMC has to clear garbage when everyone's headed for office. BC Road is one of the key arteries linking south Kolkata to the central business district. It is smooth travel till one reaches the Ballygunge Military Camp. Then, the traffic grinds to a halt as the road is intermittently blocked by pay-loaders reversing and moving forward to pick mounds of rubbish and loading them into trucks. In no other city will you find garbage collection at such odd hours," fumed Bose.

Pal has a similar experience when he reaches the Sales Tax Office. "It's actually a shame that we have open vats where rubbish is littered. And to clear them during office hours is criminal. Why can't the KMC have closed garbage containers that can be lifted on to trucks in the early morning hours?" he wonders.

The constables posted at the points, too, are at their wit's end. "The traffic management is smooth till the KMC vehicles land up. Then traffic has to be stopped for the payloaders to operate. It takes half an hour to clean this vat. By the time the vehicles are gone, the entire traffic situation is in a mess that takes another half an hour to clear up," said the constable near the vat opposite the AAEI.

Kolkata Police special additional commissioner (traffic) Ranveer Kumar said he had taken the matter up with KMC but the latter had expressed its inability to remedy the situation. "We wish the garbage clearance was over before heavy traffic begins around 9.15 am. But we cannot restrict the conservancy department operations as it is an essential service. Efforts are on to at least regulate garbage clearance vehicles that flout one-way norms," he said.

Conservancy staff say the problem is due to the inadequate number of payloaders at KMC. Each payloader has to do the rounds of seven-eight vats every morning. Around 30 minutes are spent at each, with another 20-30 minutes of travel time to the next. They finish only around 1 pm after starting around 7.30 am.

Why shouldn't they be carried out in two shifts one from 5 am to 9 am and the other from 12 pm to 4 pm? No one really has an answer. In fact, the primitive practice that one still witnesses in Kolkata is not carried out in most modern cities. Civic authorities here, too, were asked to modernize garbage disposal. Under Kolkata Environment Improvement Project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, containers were to be placed where open vats exit.

"We had plans to use containers to prevent spilling of garbage. This would also have ensured quick retrieval and minimal inconvenience to traffic. But the plan lies buried somewhere," a senior KMC conservancy department official said. There are 650 vats in the city and only 150 containers at present. Currently, around 250 trucks collect 3250 tonne garbage from 141 wards in the city every morning.

 
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