Jottings: Clean Energy To Drive Jobs

The target for clean energy by 2022, will not only drive the smog away from the blue sky, but the setting up of myriad solar and wind energy projects for the goal, is expected to generate jobs for another three lakh new workers. Most of the employment will come from solar rooftop projects and the rest from ground utility and wind industries.

A study prepared by the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) show that both the industries now employ around 21,000 people. The number is likely to go up by at least 10 percent, to employ more than 25,000 people. The supply chain of employment varies from business development to design and construction.

The study estimates that India’s clean energy goals have the potential to put 34,600 people to work in wind power, 58,600 in utility solar and 2,38,000 in rooftop solar jobs over the next five years. “Eighty per cent of the new clean energy workforce will be employed during the construction phase. However, despite these being contractual jobs, the large pipeline of renewable energy projects creates enough opportunities for workers to stay employed. 

Also, since most of these jobs are in the rooftop solar PV segment, Central and state governments must provide greater policy support to the rooftop sector,” says Neeraj Kuldeep, programme associate, CEEW. The findings were based on a survey of 37 solar companies, eight solar manufacturers, and nine wind companies and supported by the think tank, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

— Naina Sood

Poison On Your Plate

Hapur, a west Uttar Pradesh town is known to be one of the biggest producers of horticultural products in northern India, but these fruits and vegetables come at a deadly price. Be it cabbages, carrots, brinjals or the humble bottle gourd  — they all come sprayed with DHC, DDT (that could push up your blood pressure), Hexa Chloro Hexine (to aggravate bronchial disorders) and Indo-Sulphane that could cause stomach disorders.

Vegetable farmers like Shraddha Nand Pradhan or Satish Kumar, who grow these crops in villages around the mega wholesale market (mandi) usually do not have the faintest notion of what these pesticides do to their nutritious crops. A vegetable wholesaler from the regional Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) points out that since the cabbages and bottle gourds were perfect in shape and colour and looked good, they also “sold good”. Some of the APMC’s do have Agmark centres, but they are often shut.  

— Prabodh Krishna

Pulses Vegetables And Tears

Fingerprints tell tales. The consumer price indices of mid-June told some too.  The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) showed that the Indian food platter was considerably more affordable in May 2017 than it had been a year ago. Food prices have decelerated by (-) 1.05 per cent in May this year, climbing down since May 2016 and a 7.47 per cent increase. Cereal prices have gone up by 4.8 percent, buoyed by the minimum support prices for farmers.

Prices of pulses, which had prompted massive imports last year, have dipped drastically by 19.45 per cent across a year. Was it surprising then, that the largest wholesale market for pulses at Mundsaur in Madhya Pradesh, should literally go up in flames? Vegetables have turned 13.44 per cent cheaper across a year — explaining why farmers flung their produce across highways not too long ago.

— Madhumita Chakraborty

Looking Back

June 26 was laden with nuances for droves of Indians, as the chemistry between the Indian Prime Minister and the President of one of the country’s largest trade partners — the United States — unfolded across television screens. Union minister for finance and corporate affairs, Arun Jaitley though,  was commemorating another June 25 of 42 years ago that had had even more piquant consequences for the nation. As the nation slept, on the midnight of June 25, the government headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency.

The decision followed an  Allahabad high court order upholding an election petition that unseated her. “The opposition members of both the Houses of Parliament stood detained,” writes Jaitley. “The numerical strength of Parliament was reduced. This gave to the Government an opportunity to amend the Constitution through a procured two-third majority in Parliament. A Parliament elected for a period of five years extended its own life...”

— Madhumita Chakraborty

Selling Dreams For A Cause

The Cannes Advertising Festival witnessed Indian agencies throwing up a plethora of ideas that impact entire communities.While Ogilvy & Mather displayed its Healthy Hands chalk sticks by Savlon, Taproot Dentsu had its Adidas Odds, a new-fangled range of pairs of shoes that contain two lefts or two rights in a box – aptly named ‘Odds’. McCann Healthcare showed off Immunity Charm. Each campaign addressed a cause. Savlon’s Healthy Hands chalk sticks provide a clever solution for hygiene among school children. Immunity Charm worked its magic in providing immunisation to children in war-torn Afghanistan. Such idea activation set a trend for awards among the agencies at the festival. The dream merchants it seems, do not just conjure up mirages for gullible consumers.

  — Monica Behura