ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Articles by Arun GhoshSubscribe to Arun Ghosh

Agricultural Research and Rural Development

Agricultural Research and Rural Development THE link between the growth of rural India and agricultural research and extension activity is widely recognised. The efforts of the ICAR and of some of the more important regional research units at Pantnagar, at Jalandhar, at Coimbatore (for sugarcane) have also paid high dividends through the introduction of high yielding as well as hybird varieties of wheat, rice, sugarcane which have increased the yield rates of these crops significantly over the years. Research and 'cloning' efforts connected with rubber, cotton and some other crops have also given excellent results, with self-sufficiency

Winners and Losers in 1987-88 Budget

Winners and Losers in 1987-88 Budget Arun Ghosh THE first question everyone asks you today is: what do you think of the budget? People's attention is riveted to this annual exercise to an extent no longer warranted by the adoption of the Long-Term Fiscal Policy (LTFP) since last year. In the background of the LTFP what did people expect? Both the optimism before the budget and the subsequent disappointment (expressed by even sophisticated commentators like the editor of a leading financial daily) indicate a degree of naivete which is difficult to understand.

Water Water Everywhere, and No Management At All

Water Water Everywhere, and No Management At All Arun Ghosh A CHANCE visit to Madras in late November/early December brings home strikingly the overwhelming shortage of water in this city. This is the season for winter rains in Tamil Nadu, and in Madras city one hears that the rains have failed in the catchment area for the second year running. In fact, there is already a shortage of water in Madras city and one shudders to think what would happen from the month of March onwards. But then, when one sees the beautifully laid out bungalows with a profusion of trees and flowers in the city, it becomes difficult to imagine that this otherwise beautiful city has an almost perennial shortage of even drinking water.

For Official Use Only

For Official Use Only Arun Ghosh THE other day, a renowned Indian economist narrated a story of his recent experience with a series of senior economic advisers and policy-makers in the Indian government. This economist was interested in seeing a paper written by one of the top brass in the echelons of economic advisers in the government. He met this worthy gentleman, was entertained to several cups of coffee and a couple of hours of interesting gossip, and then referred to another worthy in the government. Appointments duly made, my informant met the latter, and was in turn referred to a third gentleman. This game went on for nearly a week, at the end of which our professor of economics met an important policy-maker in sheer desperation. Buy why have you come to me, the last mentioned worthy asked. You should go and meet Mr X (the first gentleman, whom our informant had met in the first instance), because he has written the paper.

Conventions, Caprices and People Management in Government

Conventions, Caprices and People Management in Government TWO news items have been bewildering this week. The first, the sudden exit

A Free Ride to the 21st Century

A Free Ride to the 21st Century?
A CHANCE meeting with an electronics engineer from this sub-continent who has made it in the west was an interesting experience. The young man (of forty

Monetary Targeting and the Banking Sector

Monetary Targeting and the Banking Sector THE other day, the peace and calm of the ivory tower was drowned in a babble of voices. Some young friends who had come for an evening's socialisation got worked up by a chance remark of mine. On reflect ion, it is still not clear to me as to why we all got worked up; we were in general agreement on the issues except for certain operational details.

Black Money Clout and Indira Vikas Patra

Black Money Clout and Indira Vikas Patra Arun Ghosh IT is a sign of the steady decline of all moral and ethical values today that an event of major significance

Corporate Capers and the Company Law

Corporate Capers and the Company Law Arun Ghosh THE Companies Act of 1956

The Long Winter of Indian Discontent

The Long Winter of Indian Discontent Arun Ghosh IT is somewhat strange, this insensitivity of the ruling coterie, as to the causes of the widespread discontent in almost every section of the people one meets today. Even the businessman who should be very happy

Doordarshan Prime Time Perspectives

course, problems of religious and ideological divides, but, on the other hand, many amongst us have considered it for a long while infra dig even to contemplate any trade and exchange consortium arrangements with the West Asian nations. And as far as the Soviet Union and the rest of East Europe are concerned, well, it is for them to woo us, why should we woo them? Our mind, after all, was made up long ago: we believe in only one god, we worship only at the altar of the west.

The Greening of Rajasthan Sans Water

The Greening of Rajasthan: Sans Water Arun Ghosh IT is good occasionally to come out of the ivory tower, to get a breath of fresh air. And the air is nowhere so fresh as in the deserti- fied hills of Rajasthan. For there arc no factories here belching smoke, nor even any vehicles with exhaust gas fumes. In fact, there are no roads worth the name where vehicles could ply. And though there still are some people who live in this forbidding area, even human habitations are few and far between. For miles around one sees nothing but bare hills bereft of any vegetation, where there were, one is told, verdant forests not so long ago. A bare ten, fifteen, twenty kilometres outside of Udaipur, with its palaces and lakes, one is face to face with Nature at her harshest, stripped of her beauty and dignity, ravaged and despoiled. I have been brought to this desolate area by some social workers from a voluntary institution named Seva Mandir based in Udaipur, to see the afforestation programme and other welfare activities undertaken by them and other organisations, in a predominantly tribal area of Udaipur district. Some features of the countryside around would provide useful background information on the area we are talking about. The district of Udaipur has a land area of more than 19 lakh hectares, of which only 18 pet cent is cultivated. Most of the other area is supposed to be under forest cover; indeed, it was from .these forest areas that successive rulers of the erstwhile state of Mewar had fought the might of the Moghal armies, and had successfully resisted the extension of the Moghal empire to the whole of Rajasthan. However, of the total land area, only 18 per cent is under the Forest Department, and not all of even this limited area is under forest cover today. Sadly, much of the so-called "reserved forest" area is today denuded of trees. The rest of the uncultivated area consisting of private lands in undulating, hilly tracts, which were traditionally cither under a tree cover or provided pasture lands, are now barren, unculturable waste land.

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