Thursday 29 August 2013

[www.keralites.net] Food Security Bill - Boon or Bane?

 

Food Security Bill - Boon or Bane?

· The Food Security Bill has been tabled and passed by the Lok Sabha or the lower house of the Parliament of India. From here the bill will move to the Rajya Sabha or the upper house and then go to the President for the final signature. Once the signature is secured then this becomes the law of the land. There has been quite a furor in the media about this bill, is it good, or is it bad? Let's see what this means for us:
· What is the bill all about anyway?
· The Food Security Bill has been tabled with the noble intention of providing food grains to the poor of India at very subsidized rates, so that even someone who is below the International poverty line (earning less than $1.25 a day –according to the World Bank, 2008)
· The bill aims to provide subsidized food grain to around 67 percent of India's 1.2 billion people*. As per the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries would get rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse grains at Rs 1/kg. These rates would be valid for three years. Every pregnant woman and lactating mother would get free meal during pregnancy till six months after child birth. They will also get a maternity benefit of Rs 6,000 in installments. Children up to 14 years would get free meals. In case of non-supply of food grains, states will have to pay food security allowance to beneficiaries.*
· The Good
· Is,of course, the intention. India is home to approximately one-third of the world's poor with approximately 70% of the population living at less than $2 a day*. Given the exchange rate and the beating that the rupee has taken to the dollar, this number would have swelled. The plunging value of the Rupee is another evil plaguing the system which we will not discuss now. Coming back to the topic, with such a large percentage of the population living in such conditions it would only be humane to provide food grains to them at subsidized rates, given the fact that food grain production is at a high and most of it is going waste due to poor infrastructure. The wastage of precious food grain and the plight of the farmer is another evil plaguing the system which we will not discuss now. It is definitely a better idea to distribute this to the poor than to let it rot and spoil.
· The idea also is that if the poor are well fed then schemes like the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) will benefit, a fit worker will work more and harder leading to an overall rise in rural productivity. Sound logic.
· The Bad
· Is, of course, the intention. If the intention was to feed the poor then why wasn't this bill passed a year or two ago. Why pass it on the cusp of the elections to the Lok Sabha? A vote gathering tactic? Or genuine concern, the interpretation is yours, dear reader.
· There can be another argument that giving away free food is fine but what does one do when people realize that they don't need to work hard for food and the government is providing them with what they need. They may stop being productive and become lazy. And will they stop at food? They may demand free clothing and free places to stay. What prevents the Government, four years hence, to come up with a clothing security bill? Or a "Right to own a Television" bill? Where do we draw the line? Food for thought, isn't it (please pardon the pun, dear reader!).
· Then there is the question of the track record of this Government, which has been absolutely wonderful given the spotless record of its members and the wonderful ability to execute all plans to perfection, the future seems bright! Please pardon the sarcasm, dear reader, with scams abound can we genuinely believe that the right amount of grain will reach the right people? Again something which we will not discuss now.
· Do we have the infrastructure to ensure that the food grain is properly distributed? What will we use? Trucks, Trains? With burgeoning diesel prices and poor power infrastructure, can we assure all those poor people that the food grain will reach them? Can the Government bear subsidies on food and diesel? Unanswered questions these.
· And The Ugly, oops meaning the Numbers
· Coming to the crux of this issue. With no balance in the balance of payments, will adding this huge cost help the Government in any way? A closer look at the numbers below:
· Number of people living below the poverty line in India - 68.7% of the population of 1.2 billion (according to Wikipedia). That works out to 824 million people who, according to the bill will get 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse cereals per month per individual at a fixed price of Rs 3, 2, 1, respectively. To put things in perspective the population of the US stands at 300 million, Brazil at 193 million and Indonesia at 237 million (these are the world's most populous countries after China and India).
· Source: Wikipedia
· The government estimates suggest that food security will cost Rs 1,24,723 crore per year. But that is just one estimate. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) of the Ministry of Agriculture in a research paper titled National Food Security Bill – Challenges and Options puts the cost of the food security scheme over a three year period at Rs 6,82,163 crore. During the first year the cost to the government has been estimated at Rs. 2,41,263 crore. Another economist writing for The Indian Express put the cost of the bill at Rs 3,14,000 crore or around 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP)#.
· In order to properly understand the situation we need to express the cost of food security as a percentage of the total receipts (less borrowings) of the government.
· The receipts of the government for the year 2013-2014 are projected at Rs 11,22,799 crore. Food security will also mean a higher expenditure for the government in the days to come. The government's estimated cost of food security comes at 11.10% (Rs 1,24,723 expressed as a % of Rs 11,22,799 crore) of the total receipts. The CACP's estimated cost of food security comes at 21.5% (Rs 2,41,623 crore expressed as a % of Rs 11,22,799 crore) of the total receipts. According to the Indian Express on July 6th, 2013, the cost of food security comes at around 28% of the total receipts (Rs 3,14,000 crore expressed as a % of Rs 11,22,799 crore)#.
· Once we express the cost of food security as a percentage of the total estimated receipts of the government, during the current financial year, we see how huge the cost of food security really is. This is something that doesn't come out when the cost of food security is expressed as a percentage of GDP. In this case the estimated cost is in the range of 1-3% of GDP. But the government does not have the entire GDP to spend. It can only spend what it earns.
· Conclusion
· While the intentions behind the Food Security Bill are good, it has clearly not been thought through by the people pushing the bill and will become another major drain on the exchequer of the nation. Instead of dolling out freebies to the people, the Government should come up with long term measures that will genuinely bring people out of poverty and make them more prosperous, rather than engaging in measures that are costly, short-term and can have a backlash which we cannot even envisage. Source QMF
· *- Source - Wikipedia
#- Source – Firstpost.

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[www.keralites.net] VERUM ARISI{only rice" DOSA RECIPE | SOUTH INDIAN BREAKFAST RECIPES

 

VERUM ARISI DOSA RECIPE | SOUTH INDIAN BREAKFAST RECIPES

Fun & Info @ Keralites.net

Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
This dosa is my favouriteFun & Info @ Keralites.net. My mom makes this often. My MIL makes the same but along with Sorakkai. Vj and aj also likes this. Still I make rarely as I forget. Also I cant just stop eating this and restrict with 2-3. So I purposely make it rare Fun & Info @ Keralites.net. This is so simple to prepare too. Its similar to the tomato dosa I have posted earlier, minus the tomatoes. Using this same batter, my mom makes koozh, that too tastes really good. My brother +Sendhil is great fan of it. But I have not tried it so far on my own, as I want the dosa till the batter gets over…hehe This is similar to the famous neer dosa, but this version is our traditional way of making this dosa. I call it as vellai dosa, means white dosa. This batter also you can keep in fridge and make dosa for 2 days like our idli dosa batter. This is very easy in the morning, if you grind the batter the before night. Dont under estimate this dosa imagining something else, its really delicious! Try it and you will agree with me...

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Verum arisi dosa recipe

Indian Breakfast
Prep Time: 12 hrs (overnight fermentation) | Cook time: 5 mins per dosa | Makes: 25 dosas

Ingredients


Idli rice 3 cups
Onion 1
Salt As needed
Green chilli 2

To temper

Coconut Oil/ oil 2 tsp
Mustard 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig

Method

  1. Soak rice for 3 hours atleast and grind to a fine batter adding required water. If you want to make it for breakfast, the before evening soak and grind, mix salt and keep it overnight for fermentation. Next day morning, add more water and make a thin batter as shown in the picture. In a kadai, temper with the items given under 'To temper' table, fry onion and green chillies until onion turns just transparent.Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
  2. Add it to the batter and mix well.Fun & Info @ Keralites.net
  3. Heat dosa pan and grease with few drops oil and pour the batter from outside to inside as we do for karacha maavu dosais and cook both sides.Fun & Info @ Keralites.net

Notes

    • You can add a fist full off cooked rice while grinding. The dosa by itself comes out great soft, but adding rice makes more softer.
    • May not come out good in raw rice or eating rice. You can try at your own risk, but make sure to add cooked rice for it as it may give you dry dosais.
    • Depending upon the quality of rice, some times the dosa may dry one side and look white and uncooked. For that, try cooking the dosa covered with a lid before flipping.
    • Non stick pans mostly gives dry dosas. So cover and cook.
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[www.keralites.net] How Polygamist Keep Peace in Family ???

 

How Polygamist Keep Peace in Family

Posted by M Zafar Iqbal

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[www.keralites.net] Alfredo Moser: Bottle light inventor proud to be poor - Deserves Noble prize - A must read and share

 

Alfredo Moser: Bottle light inventor proud to be poor - Deserves Noble prize

Alfredo Moser's invention is lighting up the world. In 2002, the Brazilian mechanic had a light-bulb moment and came up with a way of illuminating his house during the day without electricity - using nothing more than plastic bottles filled with water and a tiny bit of bleach.

In the last two years his innovation has spread throughout the world. It is expected to be in one million homes by early next year.

So how does it work? Simple refraction of sunlight, explains Moser, as he fills an empty two-litre plastic bottle.

"Add two capfuls of bleach to protect the water so it doesn't turn green [with algae]. The cleaner the bottle, the better," he adds.

Wrapping his face in a cloth he makes a hole in a roof tile with a drill. Then, from the bottom upwards, he pushes the bottle into the newly-made hole.

"You fix the bottle in with polyester resin. Even when it rains, the roof never leaks - not one drop."

Alfredo in his workshop

"An engineer came and measured the light," he says. "It depends on how strong the sun is but it's more or less 40 to 60 watts," he says.

The inspiration for the "Moser lamp" came to him during one of the country's frequent electricity blackouts in 2002. "The only places that had energy were the factories - not people's houses," he says, talking about the city where he lives, Uberaba, in southern Brazil.

Moser's lamps - as seen from above
The lamps work best with a black cap - a film case can also be used

"It's a divine light. God gave the sun to everyone, and light is for everyone. Whoever wants it saves money. You can't get an electric shock from it, and it doesn't cost a penny."

Moser has installed the bottle lamps in neighbours' houses and the local supermarket.

"There was one man who installed the lights and within a month he had saved enough to pay for the essential things for his child, who was about to be born. Can you imagine?" he says.

In the Philippines, where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and electricity is unusually expensive, the idea has really taken off, with Moser lamps now fitted in 140,000 homes.

The idea has also caught on in about 15 other countries, from India and Bangladesh, to Tanzania, Argentina and Fiji.

Full article in the link below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914

 

Please share this with all your friends and relatives.

Ravi


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