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Futures and Prices
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As it is, futures markets in essence discover prices and do not determine them. The basic underlying forces of supply and demand actually determine prices, futures or spot. Futures markets have merely highlighted the current shortages in major agricultural commodities like wheat, pulses and sugar. In times of shortages, prices will rise, whether futures markets exist or not. Incidentally, your suggestion of “bringing back the ‘control orders’ in the Essential Commodities Act”, reminds us of the three decades since the mid-1960s, when futures trading was prohibited and such control orders, coupled with the selective credit controls, were the order of the day. As is known, these measures then proved counterproductive and commodity prices rose so sharply as to end in double-digit inflation for a long time, bringing in stagflation in the economy. It would therefore be naïve to revert to such policy at a time when we actually need efforts at broadening and deepening the derivative markets in commodities through appropriate amendments to the obsolete Forward Contract Regulation Act, 1952. You have rightly scorned at the “demat” buffer stock policy within the framework of futures trading, suggested by some. Such a policy is no remedy for the government failure to achieve the physical procurement target. The government entry into futures markets will only provoke a further rise in prices, especially since most markets are thinly traded. A futures market functions best not with government entry, but without its participation. Its role should be confined to efficient regulation, which task the Forward Markets Commission is performing quite admirably. Its hands require to be strengthened further. MADHOO PAVASKAR Mumbai If an examination format is such that qualifying in it becomes more of an exception rather than the rule, serious thought needs to be given to the examination structure and content in order to match the expectations of the examiners with the actual abilities of the candidates. Come to think of it, if very few students qualify in NET, does the fault not lie with the educational system, which trains and awards them degrees? The current academic structure is exam-oriented and even marks-oriented to a great extent. Superficial degrees and inflated mark sheets leave little room for developing in-depth knowledge and insight in the subject amongst the students. The need, therefore, is not to look for ways of circumventing the NET examination but introspection on the part of the students as well as teachers as to why the success rate in NET is so low. Reform Subscription (Rs) Six One Two Three months year years years Institutions – 1250 2300 3300 Individuals 500 935 1750 2500 Concessional Rates Teachers/Researchers – 685 – 1800 Students – 450 – – Concessional rates are available only in India. To avail of concessional rates, certificate from relevant institution is essential. Remittance by money order/bank draft preferred. Please add Rs 35 to outstation cheques towards bank collection charges. Institutions – 1500 – 4150 Individuals – 1250 – 3500 (US $) Air Mail Surface Mail Institutions 1yr 2yrs 3yrs 1yr 2yrs 3yrs Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh 80 150 200 65 120 175 Other countries 150 275 375 90 170 240 Individuals Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh 50 90 125 30 50 75 Other countries 100 175 240 65 120 170 All remittances to: Economic and Political Weekly Hitkari House, 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
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Director : S L Shetty Economic and Political Weekly September 9, 2006 (Continued from p 3826) in the format of NET is called for. Some suggestions for this purpose are: (i) Currently, the question paper for Lecturership and Junior Research Fellowship is common. However, there is a basic aptitudinal difference between a good researcher and a good teacher. While a good researcher needs to be good in analytical ability and conceptual clarity, a good teacher needs these qualities only in a limited measure. In fact, he or she needs to be an effective communicator who can deliver well in the class and ignite the spirit of inquiry amongst the students. Sadly, the NET format does not give any weightage to this aspect. Ideally, NET should also consist of a practical lecture demonstration from the candidate which should carry sizeable weightage (ii) The current framework of NET also does not test the candidate’s overall personality, including her extracurricular achievements, organisational ability and administrative acumen. In fact, a candidate strong in these areas could be a great asset to the institute that he or she joins. It could add to the pool of talented individuals who would eventually rise to the top of educational institutions. Sufficient weightage to overall personality and extracurricular achievements is, therefore, a must. (iii) The NET framework completely ignores the work experience of the candidate and puts a fresher at par with an experienced teacher who has worked on a low salary on ad hoc or part-time basis for years. Sufficient weightage should be given to teaching experience because a good teacher is not only the one who possesses a bagful of degrees but also the one who continues to learn each day. (iv) The syllabus for NET should be in line with those of regional universities, which in turn should revise their syllabi frequently. SONAL BHATT Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar Here are some guidelines fortake up to six to eight months from the address, day-time phone numbers andauthors who wish to make date of acceptance to appear in the email address. submissions to the journal. EPW. Every effort will, however, be made (The email address of writers in the Special to ensure early publication. Papers with Article, Commentary and Discussion immediate relevance for policy would be sections will be published at the end ofEPW welcomes original research papers considered for early publication. Please the article.) in any of the social sciences. note that this is a matter of editorial * Authors are requested to prepare their * Articles must be no more than 8,000 judgment. soft copy versions in text formats. PDF versions are not accepted by the EPW. Authors are encouraged to use UK Englishprocessed. EPW invites short contributions to the spellings (Writers using MS Word or this along with the submitted paper. poses challenges in processing. Readers of EPW are encouraged to send comments and suggestions (300-400 words) * Graphs and charts prepared in MS * All submissions will be acknowledged Office (Word/Excel) or equivalent software immediately on receipt with a reference on published articles to the Letters column. number. Quoting the reference numberare preferable to material prepared in All letters should have the writer’s full name in inquiries will help. jpeg or other formats. and postal address. * EPW posts all published articles on its processing of the papers we receive. * Every effort is taken to complete early web site and may reproduce them on CDs. Since we receive more than 35 articles Address for communication: EPW encourages researchers to comment every week and adequate time has to be Economic and Political Weekly, on Special Articles. Submissions should be provided for internal reading and external Hitkari House, 1,000 to 2,000 words. refereeing. It can take up to four 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
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* Articles accepted for publication can details for correspondence: postal epw.mumbai@gmail.com Economic and Political Weekly September 9, 2006 Futures and Prices
TNET, Researchers and Teachers
T(Continued on p 3904)
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