4/2020

Corruption in India has grown to gargantuan proportions, althoughin high places it is not so visible. It saps the economy and causes

delays and discomfort in everything that we do, or try to do.Accountability is absent, with the result that corruption and non-performance expand exponentially. Our CM, Ashok Gehlot did saythat corruption and indiscipline will not be tolerated. Undoubtedly,Gehlot is sincere but the ecosystem has already got so corrupted thatlittle will happen to improve it unless he takes some drastic measures.

Let me give you an example where corruption is systematically built-in so thatwithout the illegal gratification nothing moves. Some of these stories are hearteningthat some vigilance exists in our system and it acts as a disincentive, but not always.

The other day, two Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officers in DausaDistrict were caught red-handed by the Anti Corruption Bureau. They were PushkarMittal of Dausa and Pinki Meena of Bandikui subdivisions. They were demanding heftybribes from a contractor of an approved highway to start the project. Pushkar washappy with M5 lakhs but dear Pinki demanded M10 lakhs. Their deal was that theywill ensure that no obstacles are placed in the way to carry out the approved project.Mind you, they were cashing on their nuisance value which meant that even duringconstruction they could stop it. What does this tell us?

Firstly, the Ease of Doing or Running Business is a farce when faced with suchsituations. Secondly, so many discretionary powers are given to officials that they canstop or hinder even legal acts by finding faults, which is so easy. Often our laws andregulations are ambiguous and corrupt officials take advantage of the same to makeillegal money. Then they know how to use the system and get away with murder also.

In such a case the state government should review this as a case study and finda good solution which should include disincentives for officials who hinder projects.

In late December, an Indian Administrative Officer, Inder Singh Rao, Collector ofBaran was arrested after his assistant was caught red-handed collecting a bribe of M1.40lakhs on his behalf. If one looks at the history of Rao, he had joined RAS in 1989 andgot promoted into IAS later. This meant that he must have been good to get such apush in his career and posting as a Collector, usually reserved for directly recruitedIAS officers. Nowadays even they are not reliable as told to me by a senior officer.

Newspapers report that Rao had a history of corruption for which he received‘awaiting posting orders’ eight times and was suspended twice for charges of corruptionand irregularities. It was also reported that he owned eight properties in Jaipur, Ajmer,Gurugram and Saharanpur. In 2004, his case of being caught and ready for termination,but Rao could manage to stay on.

In the instant case, the complainant was awaiting a NOC for his proposed petrolpump for nearly one and a half months, while the State government had already givena nod to the proposal. Once again, we see how difficult it is to do business whilethe government is desperately trying to promote so that our economy does betterand more jobs are created. Alas, it is the termites in the system like Rao, Mittal andMeena who will ensure that our economy is mortgaged to their selfish interest, letthe nation go to hell.

Termites and Un-Ease of Doing Business

Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General

I N S I D E

UK to honourSaragrahi heroes

The top surgeon ofEthiopia is illiterate

The doctor behindmid-air delivery

National Consumer Day 2020

Making Jaipur beggar-free

Adding an ‘E’ to your ‘Vehicles’

P.S. Our gratitude to esteemed subscribers.

www.google.com

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Col Gill turns 100In his 28 years as a defence man,

Colonel Prithipal Singh Gill (retired) sawit all – from World War II to the India-Pakistan War of 1965. The only survivingofficer to have served in all three wingsof the armed forces turned 100.

“I was fortunate. Today, I would havebeen thrown out had I switched so manytimes,” Gill stated amid celebrationswith his family and the regiment heraised.

From scanning the skies to manningthe high seas, his career was a uniqueone. It started in 1942, when he joinedthe Royal Indian Air Force as a pilot,without his family’s consent.

(ToI, 12.12.20)

Indian-American in moon missionRaja Jon Vurputoor Chari, an Indian-

American with roots in Telangana, isn’t

just over the moon. Four years fromnow, he could be walking on it as partof Nasa’s 18-member Artemis team,becoming the third Indian-American inspace after Kalpana Chawla in 1997and Sunita Williams in 2006. In 1984,Rakesh Sharma became the first Indianto enter space.

When US vice-president Mike Penceannounced the 43-year-old astronaut’sname for the Artemis programme atNasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida,it marked the fulfillment of more thanjust a childhood flight of fancy.

(ToI, 12.12.20)

One of the youngest councillorsAsman Khan, a 21-year-old woman

Congress candidate from Ward No. 81inJaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC),Heritage, is oneof the youngestto become acouncillor.

Yet to takeher final yearundergraduateexam fromMuslim GirlsDegree College, Jaipur, Asman has wonthe seat in her first attempt.

Asman is the first politician fromher family although her father SalimKhan has been a Congress party workerfor a long time. She received immensesupport from her family. (ToI, 04.11.20)

Beggars given a second chance at lifeThe 39-year-old K Venkataraman was

an alcoholic and his family had givenup on him. His life changed at the startof the lockdown when a young collegeprofessor found him near a templegrabbing at a food packet and askedhim about his life.

For six years now, Naveen Kumar, aprofessor has been rehabilitating thehomeless, and those begging on thestreets.

Sometimes beggars would come tohim for money, so he would buy themdinner and go to bed hungry. The ideais to give them a chance at life.

(ToI, 08.11.20)

UAE relaxes Islamic lawsThe United Arab Emirates

announced a major overhaul of thecountry’s Islamic personal laws, allowingunmarried couples to cohabitate,

loosening alcohol restrictions andcriminalising so-called honor killings.

The broadening of personalfreedoms reflects the changing profileof a country that has sought to billitself as a skyscraper-studdeddestination for Western tourists, fortune-seekers and businesses despite its legalsystem based on a hard-lineinterpretation of Islamic law.

(www.thekashmirmonitor.ne, 08.11.20)

Ancient artifacts have carbon nanotubesScientists have discovered the oldest

known human-made nanomaterials inthe ‘unique black coatings’ of ancientpottery shards – dated to 600 BC –unearthed from an archeological site inKeeladi, Tamil Nadu.

The research, published recently inthe journal Scientific Reports, revealedthat these coatings are made of carbonnanotubes which have enabled the layerto last more than 2,600 years, raisingquestions on the tools used duringthose periods to achieve hightemperatures for making earthenwares.

According to the scientists, includingthose from the Vellore Institute ofTechnology in Tamil Nadu, the coatingsare “the oldest nanostructures observedtill now”. (TH, 21.11.20)

Maybe the first, but not the lastA lotus has bloomed in the mud

pond that is American politics, longdominated by mostly white men.Kamala Harris’ election as the firstfemale vice-president of the US wascelebrated wildly across a country thatnow has more women voters than men,with the winner herself recognising theturning point in redressing the genderimbalance in history.

Harris said that “while I may be thefirst woman in this office, I won’t be thelast-…because every little girl watchingtonight sees that this is a country ofpossibilities.” (ToI, 09.11.20)

UK to honour Saragrahi heroes

The UK is set to install the 9-foot tall bronze statueof Havildar Ishar Singh as a mark of gratitude to

the courageous hearts of ‘Battle of Saragarhi’ who led20 Sikh soldiers in the battle against more than 10,000Afghan in September 1897.

The 9-ft bronze statue has become the UK’s first-ever monument honouring the fallen heroes of ‘Battleof Saragarhi’, one of history’s greatest battles ever fought.

The Battle of Saragarhi was fought between theSikh Regiment of the British Indian Army and Afghantribesmen on September 12, 1897, in Saragarhi.

(TS, 10.11.20)

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Lockdown named word of the yearLockdown, the noun that has come

to define so many lives across the worldin 2020, has been named ‘Word of theYear’ by Collins Dictionary.

The 4.5bn-word Collins Corpus,which contains written material fromwebsites, books and newspapers, as wellas spoken material from radio, televisionand conversations, registered a 6,000percent increase in its usage.

In 2019, there were 4,000 recordedinstances of the lockdown being used.In 2020, this had soared to more thana quarter of a million. (TG, 10.11.20)

Odisha girl lodges complaintA class 6 girl in Odisha stood for

her rights and walked down 10 km tofile a complaint against her father forstealing her midday meal benefits.

Earlier, the girl filed a writtencomplaint against her father that cameto the notice of Kendrapada collectorSamarth Verma, who thus directed thatthe midday meal benefits transfer shouldbe done to her bank account.

He also ensured her that the moneyand rice that her father had in the pastwill be claimed and handed back to her.

(www.thelogicalindian.com, 17.11.20)

Priceless treasure comes from the skyAn Indonesian man became a

millionaire overnight after a meteorcrashed through his roof. JosuaHutagalung is a coffin maker fromSumatra who became astronomicallyricher after he recently sold themeteorite for over 1million pounds - orroughly 9.8 crores.

He was workingoutside his home inAugust when the 2.1kg space rocksmashed throughthe tin roof in his veranda. Themeteorite is carbonaceous chondrite -an extremely rare variety estimated tobe 4.5 billion years old.

(NDTV, 19.11.20)

Bond forever: The name is ConnerySean Connery was a multi-layered

person full of life. And not surprisingly,his life was a full one. And there is a lotthat many folks do not know about him.

He passed away in his sleep. But torepeat a cliche, Connery is fated to liveforever. The man who first essayed therole of secret agent James Bond on thesilver screen, remained for many people,the best to ever get a Licence to Killonscreen.

But while he was best known for hisJames Bond portrayal, there was a wholelot more to Connery than just portrayinga cynical, single eyebrow-raising,charismatic secret agent with a penchantfor getting into trouble. (IE, 31.10.20)

Meet first vegan’s butcher shopOn World Vegan Day, the UK’s first

permanent vegan butcher, Rudy’sopened to sell meat-free versions oftraditional products such as bacon,soysage and turkey.

Demand for vegan products hassurged in recent years in the UK, withincreasing numbers of people cutting outanimal-derived ingredients completely,while others reduce the amount of meatand dairy they consume each week.

In addition to being cruelty-free foranimals, a vegan diet has also beentouted as one of the most effective waysindividuals can reduce their carbonfootprint. (HT, 02.11.20)

Breast Cancer Awareness InitiativeJaipurites witnessed a jaw-dropping

scene as a man stood in the publicwearing a red bra. RJ Mohit initiatedthis awareness campaign as thecommemoration of international breastcancer awareness month.

In his message, he wrote ‘nazarandaznahi, parwah karo’, encouraging a changein the perception of breast cancer.Breast cancer can be treated wellthrough early detection, education andsupport devices, only if we developacceptance and a sense of awareness.

(DB, 31.10.20)

The top surgeon of Ethiopia is illiterate

Mamitu Gashe’s (who lived in Ethiopia) child died during pregnancy and leftwounds in her body, i.e. a disease known as Obstetric fistula, in which

small holes are formed between the vagina andrectum.

She was treated by the Australian doctorCatherine Hamlin who became his mentor,surrogate mother and lifelong friend. Mamitucould not recover completely despite 10operations.

Dr. Catherine opened the Fistula Hospital inEthiopia after witnessing the disease that becamea curse for women. She started taking Mamitu tothe operation theatre. Seeing her passion andardor, Catherine taught her the process of treatment.

By this practice, Mamitu became the top surgeon of fistula in Ethiopia. Theresolve to save sick women like herself made the illiterate Mamitu Gashe the‘Future of African Medicine’.

She is part of a unique group, fondly called ‘Barefoot Surgeons’. In 1989, theRoyal College of Surgeons of London gave Mamitu a gold medal for surgery. TheBBC ranked her 32nd in the 2018 prestigious 100 women’s list. (DB, 02.11.20)

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Where couples pray to Maa for a betiBalram Rajwar was among the first

to reach the temple of SiddhidatriDurga. As Durga Puja began across thecountry, Rajwar was there early with aspecial prayer – a girl child for his sister-in-law.

He was soon joined by dozens ofcouples at the 170-year-old temple inChakulia village of Jharkhand’s Bokarodistrict. Village elders said couples flockhere, especially during Durga Puja, withthe belief that praying at this templewould get them a daughter. Rajwar livesnearby Ramdih and his sister-in-law’sfamily has three boys and they wanteda girl. (ToI, 24.10.20)

‘Lost’ river ran through Thar desertResearchers have found evidence of

a ‘lost’ river that ran through the centralThar Desert, near Bikaner, as early as172 thousand years ago, and may havebeen a life-line to human populationsenabling them to inhabit the region.

The findings, published in the journalQuaternary Science Reviews, representthe oldest directly dated phase of riveractivity at Nal Quarry in the centralThar Desert. (PTI, 21.10.20)

Legal recognition of gay marriageKavita Arora, a psychiatrist, and

Ankita Khanna, a psychologist, who hasbeen in arelationship andlived together foreight years,approached amarriage officer inKalkaji toformalise their

bond under the Special Marriage Act,1954.

Their request was turned down.They filed a petition in the Delhi HighCourt because this rejection wasdiscriminatory and that the right tochoose a marriage partner wasenshrined under Article 21.

(ToI, 23.10.20)

A soldier is a soldier firstIndian Army is considered one of

the world’s most professional and ethicalforces, and this was yet again evidentafter it showcased its commitment toits motto ‘a soldier is a soldier first andanything else later’ by restoring thedamaged grave of a decorated Pakistani

officer in Jammu and Kashmir’s Naugamsector.

The grave is of late Major MohdShabir Khan, who was killed by theIndian Army soldiers in 1972 at aforward location along the Line ofControl (LoC). Khan was a recipient ofSitara-e-Jurat, the third-highest militaryaward of Pakistan.

(www.timesnownews.com, 16.10.20)

Penalty for taking mask-less selfieChilean President Sebastian Pinera

was slapped with a US$3,500 fine after

posing for a selfie on the beach with abystander without wearing a mask asrequired during the coronaviruspandemic.

Chile has strict rules on mask-wearing in all public places andviolations are punishable with sanctionsthat include fines and even jail terms.

Pinera apologised then turnedhimself in shortly after the selfie surfacedon social media in early December.

(Reuters, 19.12.20)

Breaking the Taboo“Women are flying fighter jets now.

I wanted to break the taboo that onlymen can drive buses” said Pooja Devi,J&K’s first woman bus driver. The mother

of two undertook her first trip on theJammu-Kathua route. (ToI, 25.12.20)

Hawker culture gains UN recognitionThe United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) approved Singapore’s bid tohave its street food included on a listof intangible cultural heritage, which alsoincludes yoga, Chinese calligraphy andflamenco.

In the past being a hawker was ajob that was looked down on, it wasseen as a beggar’s business, which sellstraditional deep-fried delicacies from hissmall stall. And now it is not, now thehawker culture in the country is globallyrecognised. (BP, 18.12.20)

Heart of Surat child to beat in RussiaA two-and-a-half-year-old boy from

Gujarat (India) became the youngestcadaver donor, giving a new lease oflife to seven children, including two fromRussia and Ukraine after his parentsdonated his organs.

Jash’s heart, liver, lungs, both kidneysand eyes were donated after his parentsSanjeev Oza and Archana agreed forthe noble cause.

The heart was transplanted to a four-year-old Russian boy and the lungs toanother four-year-old boy from Ukraineat MGM hospital in Chennai.

(DB, 18.12.20)

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The doctor behindmid-air delivery

Not every child ends up beingborn in hospitals, some of them

take birth in mid-air too. The motherflying from Delhi to Bengaluru (India)will always remember the flight shetook and the doctor who gave birthto her baby in flight.

Shortly after the Indigo flight tookoff a pregnant woman hadprematurely gone into labour, and shewas experiencing pain and discomfort.That was when Dr Sailaja Vallabhaneni,Consultant Foetal Medicine,Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, OldAirport Road, Bengaluru stepped in.

Since she was already wearinggloves, a mask and a face shield, DrVallabhaneni jumped into action andhelped the woman deliver the childin the bathroom! (IE, 10.10.20)

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COVID UpdatesCOVID UpdatesCOVID UpdatesCOVID UpdatesCOVID Updates

First person gets Pfizer jab in UKA UK grandmother has become the

first person in the world to be giventhe Pfizer COVID-19 jab as part of amass vaccination programme.

Margaret Keenan, who turns 91, saidthe injection she received at 06:31 GMTwas the ‘best early birthday present’.

It was the first of 800,000 doses ofthe Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Up to fourmillion more are expected to get it bythe end of December 2020. Hubs inthe UK are starting the rollout byvaccinating the over-80s and somehealth and care staff. (BBC, 08.12.20)

Oxford vaccine receives a nodIn a big boost for the war against

COVID-19, the UK authorised theemergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, making it the firstcountry to approve the vaccine that isexpected to be the mainstay of India’sinoculation programme early in 2021.

The committee will analyse theupdated data submitted by the SerumInstitute of India and also the indigenousvaccine candidate of Bharat Biotech.

SII has said it has already stockpiled40-50 million shots of Covishield andis augmenting this number every week.

Reports said Covishield couldbecome the most widely used shotgiven its moderate pricing of US$3 toUS$4 a dose and that it can betransported and stored in normalrefrigerators. (TH, 30.12.20)

Moderna’s vaccine is 94.5% effectiveUS-based biotech giant Moderna’s

vaccine, created with the NationalInstitutes of Health, is being studied in30,000 volunteers who received eitherthe real vaccination or a dummy shot.

Moderna said its shots providestrong protection, a dash of hope againstthe grim backdrop of coronavirus surgesin the US and around the world.

Its vaccine appears to be 94.5percent effective, according topreliminary data from the company’sstill ongoing study.

Sometime back competitor Pfizer Inc.announced its COVID-19 vaccineappeared similarly effective – news thatputs both companies on track to seekpermission for emergency use in theUS. (TH, 16.11.20)

Hetero to make 100mn Sputnik shotsSputnik V is also expected to be

tested in mid-to late-stage clinical trialsin India by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories,another Hyderabad-headquartereddrugmaker, said the Russian DirectInvestment Fund.

Hetero Drugs, through its biologicsarm, will be producing “over” 100million doses of Russian COVID-19vaccine Sputnik V starting 2021.

The firm, through subsidiary HeteroBiopharma, is expected to producethese doses over the year. The vaccinesproduced here may also be used tofulfill the demand from other countries.

(IE, 27.11.20)

Journalist jailed for COVID coverageZhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former

lawyer and citizen journalist who wasarrested while reporting from Wuhan,has been sentenced to four years injail.

Zhang was arrested for ‘pickingquarrels and provoking trouble’ – anaccusation commonly used againstdissidents, activists and journalists –with her video and blog reports fromthe Wuhan lockdown. She was chargedwith disseminating false information.Zhang’s lawyer said she had beensentenced to four years in jail.

(TG, 28.12.20)

WORLD

Raj leads in COVID battlePrime Minister Narendra Modi asked states to bring the COVID death

rate down to one percent. He said that the cause of death of patientsshould be analysed and all efforts should be made to keep the positivityrate below 5 percent. He said the number of testing be increased andadequate oxygen supply for patients be ensured.

Modi was holding a video conferencewith the chief ministers of eight statesincluding Rajasthan regarding Covidmanagement. Chief minister AshokGehlot apprised the PM that the statewas ahead on all the parametersin thebattle against COVID. He informed thatdue to the efforts of the stategovernment, the death rate in the state

has remained consistently below one percent.He said like Rajasthan, all other states should adopt 100 percent test

by RTPCR method instead of rapid antigen test. Rajasthan and Tamil Naduare the only two states in the country where 100 percent testing is beingdone RT-PCR method. (ToI, 25.11.20)

A three-tier system for vaccinationAmid the spurt in COVID cases, the state

government has given a ray of hope by kickingoff preparations for thevaccine campaign.

While it is planning toadminister the COVIDvaccine first to healthcareworkers, the stategovernment has formed athree-tier system for the vaccination campaign.It includes a state steering committee, statetask force and district task force for effectivepolicymaking, implementation, monitoring ofvaccination.

The three-tier system will ensure propertransportation, availability, ensuring theavailability of resources and implementation ofvaccination programme at ground level.

(ToI, 25.11.20)

RAJASTHAN, INDIA

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City BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity Briefs

RU profs in list of top scientistsTwo Indian scientists and professors

of the University of Rajasthan (RU) –(Late) R C Mehrotra and I P Jain –have been made it to the list of toptwo percent scientists in the world bythe renowned Stanford University of USafter conducting a high-levelindependent study.

Mehrotra, Department of Chemistry,RU, has been ranked 450th in the worldranking in organic and nuclearchemistry, while Jain, PhysicsDepartment, currently working at theCentre for Non-Conventional EnergyResources, has been ranked 1,574th inthe world ranking. (ToI, 25.11.20)

Waste management project to take offAdditional Chief Secretary (Rural

Development and Panchayati RajDepartment) Rohit Kumar Singh hasinformed that solid and liquid wastemanagement will be taken up in 8,653villages of the state for M2,256 crore.

Under the project, bio-degradablewaste will be converted into organicmanure which will not only ensurecleanliness but also help organic farming.

The participation of villageorganisations and self-help groupsshould be ensured in the clean villagecampaign in the state. (ToI, 25.11.20)

‘Ring Road’ transport corridor opensNearly one-and-a-half years after

inauguration, the transport corridor ofthe 47-km southern Ring Road, whichconnects Ajmer Road, Tonk Road andAgra Road, has been made operationalafter making temporary arrangements.

To avoid traffic conflicts at entry andexit points, the National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI) will also makealterations till the time structures arenot constructed.

On Ajmer Road, which is the busiesthighway comparatively to Agra Roadand Tonk Road, the NHAI has decidedto close a road cut on divider atMahapura junction to avoid merging ofurban traffic with highway traffic (RingRoad traffic). (ToI, 19.11.20)

Prefix ‘0’ for landline-to-mobile callsFrom now

onwards, callerswill have to dialnumbers withthe prefix ‘’0'’ formaking callsfrom landline to mobile phone.

The move would free up sufficientnumbering resources for future use, andnearly 2,539 million numbering seriesare expected to be generated as a result.

There will be no change with respectto dialing numbers for fixed-to fixed,mobile-to-fixed, and mobile-to-mobilecalls. (ET, 26.11.20)

Panel to resolve sewerage complaintsThe JMC-Heritage administration has

decided to form a committee to resolvesewerage choking complaints in thecity.

The sewerage lines laid in the WalledCity more than 50 years ago are posingsevere problems for the people. Everyday, people are filing complaints aboutchoked lines, dirty water being suppliedat home due to pipeline leakage.

JMC-Heritage will soon purchase 20sewer jetting machines, which will bedistributed in different wards.

(ToI, 30.12.20)

Quality of rickshaws not up to the markNewly appointed councillors in JMC

Heritage have been given cycle rickshawsfor door-to-door garbage collection.However, councillors are complainingabout the poor quality of vehicles.

At present eight cycle rickshaws arefunctioning in the city. There is also ademand to increase the number of suchrickshaws to increase the efficiency ofgarbage collection. (TGI, 29.12.20)

Pedestrians to walk on busy roadsJaipur will soon become a city with

no footpaths as encroachments aretaking place at a rapid pace due to thecallousness of civic officials.

The JDA revealed in 2019 that over72 percent of the roads in the city donot have footpaths while 77 percent ofexisting ones were pedestrian-unfriendly.

Despite the survey, in the absenceof any action, encroachments continueto increase majorly on 80 to 100-feet-wide roads. Hence, pedestrians areforced to walk along the roads amidfast-moving traffic. (ToI, 09.11.20)

NATIONAL

CONSUMER DAY2020

The theme of the NationalConsumer Day, 2020 is “New

Features of the New ConsumerProtection Act, 2019 and Emerging

Challenges”. Tocommemorate theoccasion, CUTS isorganising a seriesof talks on CUTSAdda (a YouTubechannel) fromDecember 24,2020, to March 15,

2021, i.e. from National ConsumerDay to World Consumer Rights Day.

In this series, the first interestingconversation was between Pradeep SMehta, Secretary General, CUTSInternational and Urvashi Dev (asenior journalist). The link to accessthe interview is https://youtu.be/hLpTB2YrCaY .

‘CUTS Adda’ is an outreachYouTube channel of CUTSInternational that intends to caterinformation and a fair perspectivefrom experts on topical and importantissues.

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City BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity BriefsCity Briefs

Award for promoting green buildingsThe Urban Development and

Housing (UDH) department has baggedan award from the Indian GreenBuilding Council (IGBC) for takinginnovative initiatives to promote greenbuildings in the state.

The Department has recentlyamended township policy and bylawsto promote green buildings andtownships in the state. Moreover, it isalso considering the exemption of urbandevelopment tax.

In recent amendments, green coverprovision has been made instead ofgreen space to promote denseplantation against the increasing buildingfootprints in the cities. (ToI, 09.11.20)

Jaipur’s vision towards 2050The JDA will initiate an exercise to

prepare a land use and developmentmaster plan, a document that will guidehow land in the state capital will beused for the next 25 years, up to 2050.

The document will boost the optimaluse of land to spur economictransformation in the Pink City. As perthe 2025 master plan, M65 lakh is theprojected population by 2025 of theJaipur region. However, at present, morepeople are staying in Jaipur district.

(ToI, 08.12.20)

Jaipur-Delhi electrified rail routeUnion Minister for Railways Piyush

Goyal inaugurated the newly electrifiedDhigawara-Bandikui section of NorthWestern Railway and flagged off the firsttrain on this newly electrified route.

After running these trains, the dieseltrains will be stopped, which willeliminate pollution as well as the

dependence on the fuel imported fromoutside. These trains will be operatedfrom the electricity produced in self-reliant India, and will also save significantrevenue, the ministry said. (ToI, 29.11.20)

Cash-free toll plazasAll cash lanes at the toll plazas will

be converted into FASTag lanes from

January 01, 2021. Hence, there will beno cash payment at the toll plazas.

The NHAI will introduce pre-paidtouch-and-go cards at the toll plazas.These pre-paid cards will serve as analternative to cash transactions. If theyuse these cards instead of FASTags,they will not be charged double theamount.

Even the FASTag holders can usethese cards if they fail or forget torecharge their tag or if their tag hasbeen blacklisted. (IE, 29.11.20)

Sanitisation must at wedding venuesWith the winter marriage season

kicking off, both the civic bodies,Greater and Heritage, have askedwedding garden operators to carry outsanitisation before and after theceremony. Sanitisation machines havebeen made must at all wedding venues.

If more than 100 guests are foundat a wedding venue, the organiser hasto shell out M25,000 fine. Thegovernment has also made it clear that

if marriages are held without permissionor if guests are found without masksand social distancing, M5,000 fine willbe imposed. (ToI, 27.11.20)

First organ donors’ memorialRajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok

Gehlot inaugurated the country’s firstorgan donors memorial through a virtualplatform. On the eve of the NationalOrgan Donation Day, all the prominenthistorical buildings were illuminated withgreen, a symbol of organ donation.

The memorial has been built nearCentral Park on SMS Hospital Road.The sculpture, which has been inspiredby Jaipur’s iconic Jantar Mantar, portrayslife looking towards the cosmic heavensin gratitude, compassion and love.

The donors’ memorial will highlightthe precious gift of life given by donorsto patients suffering from organ failuressuch as kidney, heart and liver.

(ToI, 27.11.20)

Heritage project a model for South AsiaThe United Nations Educational,

Scientific and CulturalOrganisation’s (UNESCO) expressedthat the Jaipur world heritage projectwill be seen as a model for other Indianand South Asian historic towns.

The Jaipur project is the first-everinitiative in the South Asian region toprotect an urban landscape coveringan expansive property of 710 hectares.

The document uploaded on thesubject at the UNESCO website saysthat this novel project in India is one ofthe largest in magnitude. (ToI, 05.12.20)

Making Jaipurbeggar-free

As a part of the beggar-free Jaipur scheme, around 700-800 beggars

will be given skill development training

by the Rajasthan Skill and LivelihoodsDevelopment Corporation, and laterthey will be provided jobs.

Meanwhile, the corporation is in theprocess of identifying transgenders sothat could also be trained and providedjobs.

It is a special project which has beendesigned for the beggars. Livecounselling, food, hygiene and stay willbe ensured for them. As a part of theproject, they will be trained and givenstipends by opening bank accounts.

(ToI, 20.12.20)

CityMattersCityMattersCityMattersCityMattersCityMatters is a quarterly newsletter published by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302016, India,Phone: 91.141.2282821, Fax: 91.141.2282485, Email: cuts@cuts.org, Web site: www.cuts-international.org, and printed by MS Printers, Jaipur, India.

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The news/articles in this Newsletter are compressed from several newspapers. The sources given are to be used as a reference for further information, and do not indicatethe literal transcript of a particular news/story. CUTS International is a not-for-profit organisation and the listing of paid news/articles is for informative and educative purposes only.

On a lighter note, if one asks you about your favouritemoments from the COVID-induced lockdown, what

would your answer be?For many residents of bustling cities like Jaipur, the

response will most likely be clean air, blue skies and desertedroads apart from the comfort of staying at home.

This simple statement highlights a core problem that hasbeen normalised over the years now. This is the problem ofan increasing number of vehicles of all types and sizescongesting the city roads and releasing emissions that addto the already lethal levels of air pollution.

An initiative to solve this problem sustainably is theelectrification of the transport sector by introducing ElectricVehicles (EVs). In the Indian context, as well as across theglobe, policymakers are actively considering this idea andundertaking relevant steps to facilitate the adoption of EVs.More than half of the Indian states have already prepared adraft or finalised a State EV policy, with others proactivelyplanning to roll out one. Rajasthan, falling under the lattergroup, is to take up this task on priority.

At this juncture, it is crucial to understand certain basicarguments related to this disruptive transformation in theway we commute.

Firstly, the need of having an electrified transport sectoris of prime importance in designing the means to achieve it.For example, if traffic congestion is the problem, thenelectrified public transport that caters to the need of dailycommuters should be a priority and undue focus on privatevehicles might dilute this endeavour.

Given that local bus transit used to cater to around 2lakh Jaipurites daily before lockdown, an EV policy shouldfactor in such ground-based needs and demands to identify‘fit for purpose’ vehicle segments. Such demand-side insightscan provide the fodder for the market signals or intelligencereports that usually dictate the strategy of vehiclemanufacturers and corporates in the mobility sector.

Adding an ‘E’ to your ‘Vehicles’Prospects of Electric Mobility in Rajasthan

In the Indian context, as well asacross the globe, policymakers areactively considering this idea andundertaking relevant steps to facilitatethe adoption of Electric Vehicles

Sarthak Shukla*

The next fundamental issue that acts as a barrier to EVadoption is the economics around these vehicles. For mostEVs, barring a few low-cost 2-wheelers, the upfront cost ofpurchasing them is higher than their conventionalcounterpart, while the cost of operating them is significantlylow. Thus, an initial viability gap when bridged leads to long-term financial savings for consumers using battery-operatedvehicles.

The prerogative of the policymakers should be to notjust bridge the viability gap of priority vehicles through aslew of incentives and subsidies, but also to scale the financialincentives optimally to balance state revenues and purchasingpower of targeted consumers.

Finally, given that demand-side dynamics inherentlyrequires a fragmented and decentralised approach by takingperceptions from end-consumers, a supply-side scenarioessentially requires economies of conglomeration and thedevelopment of clusters that compete with each other toproduce quality products at competitive prices.

Rajasthan does enjoy the strategic advantage of beingsituated close to the mega automobile manufacturing clusterin Manesar and nearby major markets like Delhi. These canbe facilitated to also enhance the domestic manufacturingcapacity of electronic goods, cells and batteries and otherEV components and sell these outputs in the emergingmarkets domestically.

Although the idea of EVs seems a no-brainer given thepertinent environmental and health emergency we are in,however, it is the political will, investor confidence, businessviability and most importantly, the consumer’s behavior thatwill determine the future of EVs.

Thus, it is a collective opportunity which calls for coherentactions from all stakeholders, if we wish to sustain the cleanair and blue skies.

*Assistant Policy Analyst, CUTS International.