TAXING THE SUPER RICH AT HIGHER RATE - A RETROGRADE STEP

Strange are the ways of polity, particularly in India. About 15 years back the Indian finance minister, incidentally it was Mr. P Chidabaram came out with a philosophy that maximum personal income tax slab should be 30% and that will increase the tax compliance and decrease the temptation to hide incomes that would result in growth of black money. Today the same finance minister wants to tax the super rich at higher tax rates. Most of the spade work of reducing the highest slab tax rates to 30% from the unimaginable 97.5% of the early 70's was the result of successive endeavor of  finance ministers of those years and yielded handsome returns.

Now again the government seems to be in a fix whether to pursue what is logical and time tested or to make a shift to something trendy, vote catching and pleasant sounding to the masses and the insane elements of Indian polity. The measure if implemented may result in an extra collection of an absolutely insignificant figure of few hundred crores  in the short run but will open the floodgates of corruption and black money generation in the long run. The finance minister will be doing a big favour to the masses and the country if he declares a war on corrupt people  and corruption for that will be the end of the poverty and miseries in this country. Hopefully he realizes that poverty is a direct result of  corruption  by  those in authority and power.

Black Money - Nipping It In The Bud

In order to analyse the extent of black money in the economy, it is important to understand the concept of parallel economy. Parallel economy or underground economy is where black money floats.

The existence of parallel economy does not only encourage earning of black money but also impacts our economy adversely by way of loss of revenue to the state due to, to name a few, tax evasion and unreported income which could have been taxed if reported. Aside from corruption in the government and black money earned by big businessmen, the black money market penetrates even the smaller sections of the society which equally poses a threat to our economy.

How many of us have had the experience of purchasing something from a shop and being asked if we wanted a receipt for it, as if it is a choice and not their obligation to give one? Or going to a grocery or a provision store where the so-called “pakka” receipts are hardly used and if you ask for the calculation of your bill amount, they produce a small scrap of paper and list down the amounts to total them, in other words, provide you with a “kaccha” receipt?

These transactions without proper records are treated as hidden transactions and contribute in their own way to the parallel economy. Thus, it is not only the big scams, but small transactions like these as well, which we are always too busy to notice, which contribute to the black money market. But how do we define black money and keep a tab on it. It is important to understand the exact meaning of black money in order to curb it.

INDIAN BUDGETS NOTHING BUT A SHOWOFF OF VERBOSITY OF POLITICIANS

Indian masses have seen budgets being presented and passed every year and it is always the same old story of high sounding words with little of any substance being meant. The government and the treasury benches are always gaga over whatever is presented and the nation has witnessed it every year. The opposition concentrates on mud slinging. We have seen these slanging matches time and again, year after year and surprisingly the goons and buffoons of Indian polity have been successful in maintaining their status of rulers in spite of their failing to change the lot of the common man or the country.

The railway budget presented in the Indian Parliament today seemed to be a mere exercise of audit of accounts of the year that has gone by and projections of expenditure for the coming year. It is a well known fact, known to every individual citizen of the country including most of the politicians that infrastructure is the most important next gen growth engine of Indian economy but still somehow or the other no real push was given to the railway infrastructure which is perhaps the biggest player in infrastructure.Today the country has National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme which is seen by the government as a means of providing employment alone. Why can't it be integrated with development of rail, road and waterway infrastructure. Incidentally the linking of rivers of north and south can be the biggest game changer in the fortunes of India.One can only hope and wish that the general budget does not ignore harnessing of this great potential of road and waterways infrastructure as has been done by the railway minister.

The railway minister's talking of setting up skill improvement centres and utilizing solar energy for  mechanizing remote area railway crossings was quite refreshing. Let us hope that the finance minister takes the cue and takes up these two in a big way in budget, for the potential and advantage of these two can be an additional game changer in the economy of the country.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: INDIAN BUDGET 2013 : WHAT COUNTRY NEEDS: Annual budget is a yearly exercise of the government to take stock of the financial activity of the government for the year gone by and pr...

Germans love renewable energy – no subsidy backlash!

By Zachary Shahan on 12 February 2013

Imagine this: your national and local economies are benefiting from a shift to renewable energy, your air and water are getting cleaner, your electric grid is becoming more democratized, you and your neighbors are benefiting financially from becoming solar power producers, you get to cast of the shackles of guilt that come from burning fossil fuels, and the whole world is looking up to you as the leader you are in stimulating a solar power market and bringing down solar power prices.CleanTechnica

Surely, this all makes you want to change course 180° and badmouth the solar policy that got you there, right?

Of course not, but that’s what much of the US believes. That’s what fossil fuel and utility leaders in Germany and elsewhere are saying. That’s what conservative German politicians are saying. That’s what misinformed reporters are saying. But, quite frankly, that isn’t the case.

When you see talk of a “backlash to solar subsidies” in American media (all too common), you never actually see any polls or studies cited, do you? No, you simply receive quotes from conservative politicians, certain heads of the energy industry, sometimes anonymous sources in the energy industry, and professional disinformers.

Whenever I see a comment from an actual citizen, she or he is in full support of the policy that has made Germany a global leader in this arena. But, luckily, I don’t just have random comments to rely on for this article. I’ve got the results of a poll conducted by a major energy association representing 1,800 companies (companies in natural gas, electricity, heating, etc). The poll was focused on Germany’s “Energy Transition” or “Energy Revolution” (Energiewende). About 1,000 citizens were questioned in telephone surveys conducted in January 2011, January 2012, and June 2012. Let’s have a look.

90% of Respondents Said that Energiewende Is “Very Important” or “Important”

The Majority (51–61%) of Respondents Said that Renewable Energy Growth Was “Too Slow,” while Another 30-33% Said It Was “Just Right”

Only 6–10% said it was too fast:

Jaitapur: A very expensive proposition

BATTLEGROUND JAITAPUR 

M V Ramana and Suvrat Raju | Hindustan Times

In his visit this week, the French President, Francois Hollande, is likely to urge the Indian Government to conclude a giant, but questionable, deal to purchase six nuclear European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) from the French company Areva for Jaitapur (Maharashtra). Though marketed as “the most advanced” reactor, the EPR is commercially immature; not a single reactor has been commissioned anywhere in the world. Moreover, at the construction sites at Olkiluoto (Finland) and Flamanville (France), costs and construction times have escalated dramatically from the initial projected figures, suggesting that each reactor will cost about Rs. 60,000 crores.¹<So, all six could cost in excess of 3.5 lakh crores.

To put this figure in perspective, each of the two reactors that Areva is hoping to sell in the next five years are larger than Maharashtra’s annual plan for 2012 (45,000 crores).²Shockingly, the Manmohan Singh Government agreed to purchase the reactors from Areva without even a nominal competitive bidding process. This contrasts sharply with the procurement rules in any branch of Government, including the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which mandate public tenders for any purchase above Rs. 10 lakh.

Cables revealed by Wikileaks suggest that this peremptory decision had been made by 2007.³ The Government’s rationale was laid out by the previous secretary of the DAE, Anil Kakodkar. In a surprisingly forthright article penned for a Marathi daily in 2011, Kakodkar wrote “we also have to keep in mind the commercial interests of foreign countries and of the companies there … America, Russia and France were the countries we made mediators in these efforts to lift sanctions, and hence, for the nurturing of their business interests, we made deals with them for nuclear projects.”⁴

Indian officials are aware that this considerate attitude is costly. In another cable revealed by Wikileaks, the General Manager of the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) admitted that India“ paid a ‘high’ price for French reactors from Areva.”⁵

Not surprisingly, the Government has been reticent about discussing the modalities of the contract it is negotiating with Areva. It has failed to support its strident assertions that “ the cost per unit of electricity from the Jaitapur plant … will be competitive to the other power plants”⁶with any substantive data on costs. When asked, it demurred, even in parliament, with the excuse that “the detailed project proposals … are under finalization.”⁷

To check the veracity of the Government’s claims, we recently used the best available public data on fuel prices and capital costs, assumed a substantial markdown to account for lower costs of labour in India, and estimated the expected tariff from the EPR reactors. This calculation involves some rather detailed accounting, but the basic procedure for setting the electricity tariff from nuclear plants was laid out the by the Executive Director of the NPCIL in 2008, during the debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal.<⁸

By adapting this procedure to the EPR—and using the most recent guidelines of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission—we estimated that if NPCIL were to follow Government regulations faithfully, the first-year tariff from the EPR would be about Rs. 14 per unit!⁹This assumes that reactor construction starts next year and is completed on the same pattern as the Koodankulam I and II reactors, which, given the untested nature of the EPRs, is generous. The calculated tariff is a far cry from current or expected future tariffs from other baseload power projects

Since it cannot pass on such a high tariff onto consumers, the Government may simply absorb a large loss and sell electricity at a lower price. However, every rupee of under-recovery will cost the exchequer about Rs. 1,000 crores each year. Just to halve the tariff from the first two reactors down to Rs. 7, the Government may need to spend Rs. 14,000 crores per year.

This is in addition to indirect subsidies in the existing revenue model. For example, NPCIL plans to put in its equity early, and then let it lie idle with no returns, for the entire period of construction that may easily extend beyond a decade. The Government may increase these handouts in various ways—for example, by pressurizing public-sector banks to provide cheap credit for the project.

Ten Urgent Reasons to Reject Nuclear Power Now

Sunday, 17 February 2013 07:54By Jim McCluskey, Truthout | Op-Ed

Bags of radiation-contaminated materials, to be stored in a mountain, in Kawauchi, Japan, Nov. 16, 2012. With the slow pace of cleanup efforts, residents of Okuma, a town evacuated in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, have become pessimistic about ever living there again. (Photo: Ko Sasaki / The New York Times)

Many citizens do not want nuclear power. They know it is both far too dangerous and far too expensive. UK governments have largely supported nuclear power as well as nuclear weapons. Many citizens do not want nuclear weapons because they know they are insanely dangerous, and they want to live without the constant threat of sudden and complete annihilation hanging over them and their children. The close relationship between the weapons and power in every sense of the word may explain differences in politicians' and citizens' agendas on these issues.

The remedy is for us to wise up, get organized and then instruct the politicians to either do what we want - or join the job market. Here are 10 reasons we should reject nuclear power now.

1. Nuclear Power Stations are Prohibitively Dangerous.

There have now been four grave nuclear reactor accidents: Windscale in Britain in 1957 (the one that is never mentioned), Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979, Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986 and now Fukushima. Each accident was unique, and each was supposed to have been impossible.

A recent book, Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, concludes that, based on records now available, some 985,000 people died between 1986 and 2004, mainly of cancer, as a result of the Chernobyl accident.

Alice Slater, New York representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, comments: "The tragic news uncovered by comprehensive new research that almost one million people died in the toxic aftermath of Chernobyl should be a wake-up call to people all over the world to petition their governments to put a halt to the current industry-driven 'nuclear renaissance.' Aided by a corrupt IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), the world has been subjected to a massive coverup and deception about the true damages caused by Chernobyl."

At Fukushima we have the worst industrial disaster ever. Three simultaneous ongoing complete meltdowns have proven impossible to stop or contain since they started almost two years ago. These meltdowns are still pouring radiation pollution across the Japanese landscape.

Many shades of black money - Hindustan Times
A lowdown on how India’s black economy deals thrive outside the financial system by creating a web of transactions that obscure the sources of slush funds.
What is black money?
Black money is income on which tax is evaded. It represents a large part of a bustling 

economy where transactions are carried out in cash circumventing banking channels.

What is the size of India’s black economy? 
Finance minister P Chidambaram is likely to reveal a new estimate of India’s unaccounted “black money”, most of it stashed abroad, in this year’s budget session and follow it up with a plan to hold it to account.

Black money not just from corruption & tax evasion - Kashmir Times

Counterfeit currency, goods and medicines hurt economies and finance terrorists

Undoing the growing black hole of corruption

Maria Waqar (TALKING POINT) / 15 February 2013

South Asia has recently witnessed a stark rise in anti-corruption superstars in politics.

Widespread anti-corruption protests led by iconic activist Anna Hazare in India in 2011 were momentous because for the first time in history, the Indian people pressurised their government to pass a piece of anti-corruption legislation: the Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill. Apart from the India against Corruption movement, Hazare’s movement also became the trigger for a new force in mainstream politics: the Aam Aadmi (Common man) party led by Hazare’ former colleague activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan. Kejriwal, who has strong aspirations for making a mark in politics in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, has been vociferously hurling allegations against mainstream politicians, mainly from the Congress party, for their supposed involvement in corrupt practices.

A similar demand for rooting out corruption has spawned across India’s border. The anti-corruption movement in Pakistan is heralded by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. His party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has amassed a huge following among the country’s youth, is famous for pledging that he would eliminate corruption in 90 days if he is elected as Pakistan’s prime minister.

In India and Pakistan, where official corruption penetrates the lowest rung of the bureaucracy to the highest echelons of power, promises of a corruption-free system by activists and politicians with clean personal records, have been welcomed by the public. But as well-intentioned as these promises might be, they have actually made people think unrealistically about the phenomenon. So, at this particular juncture, it’s really important to get some facts straight about corruption, which I will simply define as the use of public office for private gain.

While the Indian and Pakistani media is in the habit of lamenting the supposedly ever-rising levels of corruption, the fact is that the actual extent of corruption is very difficult to assess. Scientifically, it is actually very difficult to calculate how much money is lost due to corrupt practices in a country, because many illicit dealings — ranging from every day bribes given to the traffic police to millions squandered in infrastructure contracts — cannot be tracked and measured. Hence, the term “black hole” often used to describe financial losses due to corruption, is apt because it alludes to immeasurability of the money lost due to illicit dealings.

JUDICIAL CASES' PENDENCY IN INDIA : APATHY OR COMPULSION OF POLITICIANS

While inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of bar council of India, the prime minister showed concern to the huge pendency of cases in Indian courts and urged the legal fraternity to devise ways and means of solving the problem. While on one hand it was heartening to note that the chief executive of the country is aware of the problem but equally painful was the fact that instead of the government finding a solution to such a major problem, a problem which nullifies all efforts of the government in fighting corruption and criminality. In fact it is the biggest thorn in improving the citizenry satisfaction index of governance and government.

Corruption mitigation and a war on corruption may have many impediments from unwilling polity to formulate new, effective legislation measures which will be to the detriment of their ulterior motives. A solution to judicial cases' pendency does not require any legislative action but action is needed to fill up all vacant judicial positions quickly and increase the number of vacancies commensurate with the increase in population at all levels of judiciary. Understandably, a large number of legislators may not like this but they are in no position to block this action for it does not require their nod or approval. In the light of all this, the apathy and compulsion on the part of ruling polity to tackle judicial cases' pendency in India is not understood.

INDIAN RULERS - ALL SAINTS ??

Every day, the Indian scene is jolted by one scam or the other and surprisingly the polity and rulers of the country will appear on the media to convince the gullible Indian citizenry that there is nothing wrong in the country and the whole matter is nothing but an attempt of casting aspersions on Indian rulers who are all saints. These shameless guys pretend to be unaware of the reality of Indian nation when every hapless common citizen of the country is aware of the fact that nothing, I dare say nothing, including getting an audience with an officer to getting payments for the jobs done or material supplied to the government fructifies without resorting to a bribe in cash or kind.

There was a time when one could think that India being bestowed the epithet of A Land of Scams was perhaps a little too harsh but today with more and more scams emerging and the couldn't care less attitude of the rulers one is left with no option but to accept this harsh reality. India is perhaps the only country on this globe where being corrupt is an asset for success in life in any sphere and politics being no exception. If it weren't so, India will not have 40% Parliamentarians and legislators with not only dubious and shady records but criminal and economic offence cases pending against them. The others are guilty of camouflaging/ ignoring such malicious activities of their esteemed colleagues for the attaining and retaining power. The lust and the illegal perks associated with the power motivate them to ignore everything that is shady according to normal social and economic norms.

In fact a small beginning has been made by social activists and civil society to awaken the country on the pros and cons, implications and the remedies of the phenomenon on being corrupt in India and unless and until all saints of Indian rulers and polity change their thinking or are coerced to do right things towards corruption mitigation through a political revolution, India will not only fail in its poverty alleviation goals but miss its rightful place as a global economic superpower of the 21st century also.

Corruption In India - The Fight Against | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY
After the government order on formulation of the Lok Pal Bill draft, there have been all kind of reactions from politicians, intelligentsia and journalists. Some think that the drafting is the job of legislatures, some think that Lok Pal institution cannot put an end to corruption while a few think that there is not much of corruption in the country. The vast majority of Indian citizens however are aware of the huge corruption in the Indian economic system with its tentacles rooted deep in all walks of life as also the fact that Lok Pal Bill if at all it comes into force will be like touching the tip of the iceberg in our fight against this demon called corruption. A lot more legislation and governance methodologies will have to be adopted to put an end to corruption practices. The noise being made about the individual members and the kind of aspersions being cast on them does not give much hope to poverty ridden millions of this country. In fact the concerted effort being made by the polity of the country in maligning these members is aimed at nipping this evil of an effective Lok Pal Bill in the bud. After all we should not forget that these very politicians have seen to it that nothing happened on this front for the past forty years. It is well known that India does not have men at the top who could be called incorruptible. For some money is their waterloo, for some wine and woman and for some it could be the lust of power. In India the mighty and the powerful are all guilty on one count or the other otherwise they will not be either silent spectators or partners to the rot of corruption engulfing this country.

ENERGY SECURITY VIEWPOINT | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY

Energy security is the most pressing need of all the nations on this globe and the debate on various options available has been going on for the last few decades. Any energy source that qualifies as the ideal viable energy security option must fulfill the following conditions.

• The first and foremost requirement of a viable energy security solution is that it should be a clean source  capable of producing energy in a clean manner without any contribution to the biggest worry of  global warming.
•  The source must be eternal and have the capacity to last for thousands of years so that the researches and technology development efforts can lead to an eternally valid solution like the invention of wheel. 
• All processes involved in utilising an energy source for producing energy right from mineral stage to fuel extraction, power plant wastes and spent fuel disposal should be absolutely safe for humanity. In addition there should bezero chance of catastrophic accidents.

India: Toxic Hotspot of Uranium & Nuclear Wastes

Zaheerul Hassan | Asian Tribune

Last year Asian giant has made significant increase of 17.6 percent over the previous amount of defence budget for 2011-12. Her defence budget for 2012-13, was US $40.3 billion for the Defence Services that include the three armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Ordnance Factories.

The major portion of the Civil Estimate is however accounted for by defence pensions, which amounts to $8.1 billion in 2012-13. If we include it in the allocated budget then total defence budget would be $49.6 billion.

Increase in defence spending has posed direct threat to China and Pakistan. India is maintaining one of the of the top militaries of the world, She has 3.8 million troops being the 2nd largest army on earth, 4th largest air force in the world, and 5th Largest Navy in the world, The Indian Armed Forces also have a large Coast Guard but the rank is not known. Ultimately, India’s Militaries strength is 3rd ranking in the world.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India has developed nuclear warheads which can be launched on strategically and tactically vital targets from land, sea and air. She is also holding over 100 nuclear bombs and conducted 17 missile tests this year to prove her supremacy in Asia.

Notably, India is running 22 nuclear, chemical and Biological plants for hegemonic design in addition of spending huge amount on arms and aircraft purchases’ deals with U.S. and Russia.

But unfortunately, Indian top brass failed to take measures of stopping gas leakage, uranium theft cases and disposal of nuclear wastes. In fact, self-styled ‘Shining India’ is portraying a false image of exemplary patriotism, largest democracy and prosperity, whereas the UN reports reveal

Jadugoda: unsafe handling of uranium ore

that nearly 69% of the Indians are living under $2 PPP a day. Moreover, most of the people living surrounding areas nuclear plants are facing horrible nuclear pollution and demanding shifting and closing of these plants. In this regard, Indian doctors and scientists from various parts of the country have attended three-day Punjab Science Congress Bathinda, in the second week of February of this year. According to the Indian media, some scientists were of the opinion that all the three major types of toxicity —chemical, radiation and biological — were rampant in Punjab. They said that the adverse effects of toxicity on animals and humans are visible and some studies have proved this. Dr SS Gill, Vice Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has also confirmed the spresence of uncontrolled chemical, radiation & biological toxicity in thickly populated “Punjab”.

In this connection a top German laboratory revealed that hair samples of 80% of 149 neurologically-disabled children, mainly from Malwa region, had high levels of uranium, a study by Greenpeace suggested that all the three major types of toxicity — chemical, radiation and biological.? Among villages with high levels of nitrate pollution in drinking water is Doda, a village of Gidderbaha, the constituency of Punjab’s finance minister Manpreet Badal. ‘Anti-pollution laws only on paper in Punjab’

Bathinda: The fertile state of Punjab now battles grave chemical toxicity. Gidderbaha, the constituency of finance minister Manpreet Badal, is known for high prevalence of cancer cases. Two water samples in Doda found the nitrate levels at 94.3 mg/l and 72.8 mg/l, much above the WHO safety limit of 50 mg/l.

In Muktsar, the home district of Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, a state health department survey revealed that 1,074 people died of cancer between 2001 and November 2009 and 668 others are on their deathbed. In Lambi, the home constituency of Badal, 211 residents lost their lives and 164 got afflicted with cancer in the last eight years, revealed health department survey repor

Obama: ‘If Congress won’t act to protect future generations, I will’ by Joe Romm

Climate Progress

Below are Obama’s extensive remarks on energy and climate in his State of the Union address. The President has expanded on his strong remarks in his Second Inaugural, asserting “if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.”

Below the jump is the energy portion of his just-released “Plan for A Strong Middle Class & A Strong America.”  There’s a call for doubling renewable electricity (yet again!) by 2020 — and for doubling energy productivity by 2030 (“a new Energy Efficiency Race to the Top for states”). But who knew he’d call for Congress to pass cap-and-trade?

Here is the key part of the speech (as delivered):

Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race. And today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy.

After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas, and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar – with tens of thousands of good, American jobs to show for it. We produce more natural gas than ever before – and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it. And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen.

But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. Yes, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods – all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science – and act before it’s too late.

Now the good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.

Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it. We’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America. So let’s generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the year – let’s drive costs down even further. As long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.

Re-energising Europe. Putting the EU on Track for 100% Renewable Energy (2013)

Submitted by Raquel Ponte Costa on February 14, 2013

This report, published by the NGO WWF Europe, looks at Europe’s energy consumption by 2030. If the right policy measures are put in place, by 2030 the European Union could:

• use at least 38% less energy
• generate more than 40% of its energy from renewable sources
• reduce its energy related greenhouse emissions by 50% compared to 1990 levels

The approach put forward suggests on the one hand increased energy saving efforts and on the other hand greater investment in renewable energies. It details the energy savings needs in transport, buildings and industry and the possible use of renewable energy sources in these same sectors. As far as solar thermal is concerned, the report indicates that in retrofitting activities, 25% of the heating and hot water needs could be met by installing solar thermal systems.

The report concludes that the goal of 100% renewable energy use by 2050 is possible. WWF pushes for authorities to put in place the appropriate policy and financial measures to accomplish this target.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: ON GROUND REALITIES OF INDIAN ECONOMIC HEALTH: The polity and the rulers of India, both at the union government or the states are only bothered for their respective thrones and constant...

INDIAN WOES : HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Infrastructure and human resource development is certainly the next gen growth engine of Indian economy and surprisingly precious little is has been done on both fronts by the self acclaimed messiahs of the welfare of common man and Indian prosperity. The politicians, the ruling class and the intelligentsia of the country all have been guilty of slogan raising and playing vote bank politics to further their ulterior motives of getting power and remaining in power. In a scenario of deceit of nation by the mighty and powerful of the country for the last six decades, it was very refreshing and hope giving to read the views of Kancha Ilaiah under the heading ' Even if 10% dalit children got English education, India would change'. He is absolutely right in saying that it is the quality education that will transform their fate as also the fate of the nation and reservations are just a means of fooling the vote bank for the mean ulterior motives of the polity. What a bargain for the polity, a promise of couple of thousand jobs a year for ensuring more than 200 million votes. What kind of sincerity and concern for these hapless millions is this?

The have nots and less fortunate of the Indian masses, particularly belonging to dalits, scheduled tribes and the other backward castes constitute more than 50% of the Indian human asset and it is shameful for the nation that we are still striving for providing 100% literacy only even after 65 years of getting independence. It is still not too late that the nation strives to change our rudderless education system , on a war footing and provide value addition in terms of quality of education to improve upon the employability and earnability of the individual along with turning them into a real asset to the nation.

The mindset and philosophy of the rulers of India must change. Let them see two working hands available with a human being rather then seeing the stomach to be filled in. Let them strive for value addition by changing the unskilled labour to semi skilled labour. Let them strive to move this vast resource from the unorganised to organised sector of employment. That has to be the only way forward if Indian masses have to  feel the results of GDP growth impacting their lives, for otherwise India will develop into a semi industrialised country without much impact on the condition of general poor masses with small pockets of affluence in an otherwise sub human level existence matrix.

Using Solar Energy to Create Wind Power

Derek Markham
Technology / Wind Technology
February 4, 2013

© Clean Wind Energy Tower
A new type of wind power plant is in the works, and it is claimed to be able to produce clean energy from the sun and the wind with virtually no carbon footprint, fuel consumption, or waste production. And not only that, it purportedly uses heat from the sun to produce its own wind, which would make this new type of plant desirable in areas with low or inconsistent winds.

The Clean Wind Energy Downdraft Tower is a skyscraper-sized hollow cylinder that uses the natural downdraft tendencies of air by spraying water (as a fine mist) across the top opening of the tower to cool the hot dry incoming air. As the water evaporates and cools the air, it becomes denser and heavier than the outside air, and then falls through the tower at speeds up to (and above) 50 mph. Once the faster moving air reaches the bottom of the tower, it is channeled through wind turbines in the base of the tower, generating electricity.

READ MORE: The Future of Wind Power: 9 Cool Innovations

In addition, if the Tower is located in areas conducive to direct wind harvesting, the exterior of the Tower could be covered with "vertical wind vanes" to help capture prevailing winds to produce supplemental power.

According to an article about the towers on KMPH,

"One tower is equivalent is to at least one nuclear power plant. But here's the big difference of course. You don't have nuclear issues, you don't have the safety issues, you don't have spent nuclear rods, you don't have the storage issue. These towers apparently they last forever. All you're using is water, evaporation, wind gradients and presto! You do have the energy that's produced through turbines and generators. So what we're talking about is water and wind at free will." - George Elliott, scientist and consultant for the Wind Energy Tower

The company is in the running as a semi-finalist for the Future Energy Pitching Event at the upcoming ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington D.C., which could potentially jumpstart the implementation of their new clean energy technology.

Bobby Kennedy: We should have solar on every rooftop by Giles Parkinson

In inviting Robert F. Kennedy Jr to become a director of its board, Australian renewable energy minnow CBD Energy has not only acquired a famous family name, it has also brought in one of the most committed environmental campaigners in the world, with a no-holds-barred approach to combating the immensely powerful fossil fuel industry, fighting pollution and promoting wind and solar.

In an exclusive interview with RenewEconomy in January – click here for the full transcript – Bobby Kennedy says the global energy system has been corrupted by the absolute power of immensely wealthy oil and coal companies, and the main hope to combat this is by “democratising” the energy industry through individual production, such as rooftop solar.

“The rules by which energy is regulated were written to favour the most poisonous, destructive and addictive fuels from hell, rather than cheap, clean, green, safe, abundant and patriotic fuels from heaven,” he told RenewEconomy. “We need to reverse that dynamic, it’s in our national interest to do so – of Australia and the US. It’s in the global interest of humanity to do so. We’re on a trajectory to a place where we are creating a planet that is a science fiction nightmare.”

Bobby Kennedy says the wealth and dominance built up by the fossil fuel industry over the past few decades, supported by huge and continuing subsidies, has not only corrupted the energy system, but the political one too.

“Wherever you see large-scale pollution, you will also see the subversion of democracy, you will see the compromise of public officials, the capture of the agencies they are supposed to protect; they become sock puppets of the industries they are supposed to regulate. You see that in the political system, the kowtowing  of the politicians who become indentured servants in the US and in Canada."

Now, he says, technology and costs of renewables – solar PV, in particular – has moved to the point where this stranglehold can be relaxed, or even released. This is part of the reason why Kennedy recently joined with David Crane, the CEO of US generation giant NRG, to push for the installation of rooftop solar in every household in the country.

In a joint opinion piece published in December in the New York Times, Kennedy and Crane said solar PV would "significantly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and our dependence on the grid.”

Make Japan Nuclear Free: Letter to the Japanese PM from Protest Groups in London

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His Excellency Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan

His Excellency Mr. Keiichi Hayashi, Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom

We have come here today as Japanese expatriates and UK citizens to support people in Japan and make four requests to the Japanese government. We would like the government to abolish nuclear power generation, to prevent the further release and spread of radioactive materials, to implement policies to protect people’s health and lives and to uphold citizens’ rights to engage in social activities and free speech. We are deeply concerned that radioactive contamination from the nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that started on March 11 2011, has been spreading across Japan.

The nuclear tragedies in Chernobyl and Fukushima have taught us that despite the guise of ‘peaceful use’, the destruction caused by a nuclear power disaster would be similar to nuclear war. Japan is the most earthquake prone country in the world and, currently, is in a very active seismic phase. Nuclear catastrophe in Japan would lead to long-term worldwide radioactive contamination. There is no safe method to dispose of nuclear waste. Using nuclear power means passing a burden to our children and their descendents. In addition, throughout the nuclear fuel cycle from uranium mining to decommission and waste storage, nuclear energy relies heavily on the sacrifice of workers who are exposed to radiation as they carry out these tasks. Given the deadly long-term toxicity of radiation released to the environment through use of nuclear energy, it must be said that nuclear power is both extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

Factbox: Weapons, nuclear power, roads and welfare: India's budget cuts

(Reuters) - India's finance minister P. Chidambaram is putting welfare, defence, atomic energy and road projects under the knife in a final attempt to hit a tough fiscal deficit target by March, risking short-term economic growth and angering cabinet colleagues.

The cuts will reduce spending by about 1.1 trillion Indian rupees ($20.6 billion) in the current financial year, some 8 percent of budgeted outlay, or roughly 1 percent of estimated gross domestic product, two senior finance ministry officials and a senior government adviser told Reuters.

Here are some of the details of the cuts so far and where the axe is falling:

* The defence ministry -- the world's biggest arms importer in recent years -- faces a cut of $1.9 billion for weapons purchases, which a senior official said could delay deals to buy howitzer guns and Javelin anti-tank missiles from the United States by at least few months.

* The rural development ministry, which runs a flagship rural employment scheme that is seen as a major vote winner, could have up to $4 billion slashed from its budget, a senior official at the ministry said.

* Government data for the April-November period, for which spending numbers are available, show a fall in disbursements to ministries -- and purse strings are tightening further in the traditionally high-spending last quarter of the fiscal year. A senior finance ministry official said ministries will not get more than a third of their allocated funds in the quarter to March.