| Road
Safety Management: A
Holistic Perspective
-- Pheba Chacko
Road
accidents have turned out to be a major epidemic across the globe. However, the
developing countries have been affected the most. The issue of road accidents
has been sidelined by governments and road users in developing countries. In order
to tackle this issue, sustainable coordinated effort from governments, NGOs, driving
schools, automobile manufacturers, research institutes, private stakeholders,
media and road users is required. The paper emphasizes on the need for taking
up multiple measures—technical and non-technical—simultaneously, to
address the problem effectively.
©2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Road
Safety Management: The
Indian Scenario
-- Prabha Shastri Ranade
The
road transport sector has assumed a pivotal role in the Indian economy. Roads
in India carry an estimated 60% of freight and 80% of passengers. India has the
second largest road network in the world with over 3.31 million km. The 56.5 million
registered vehicles using the Indian roads have taken a heavy toll on human life.
Road crashes are a growing worldwide problem. Road systems all over the world
are getting increasingly congested and unsafe with every passing day. Between
1970-71 and 2001-02, the total number of registered vehicles in India has increased
31 times. However, the road length in the same period has increased by only 2.71
times. India has only about 1% of the world's vehicles but accounts for as much
as 6% of the world's accidents. These crashes have a major impact on the country's
economy, costing an estimated Rs. 300 bn or more than 3% of India's GDP every
year. This paper highlights the issue of road safety management in the Indian
context. The author discusses the gravity of the road safety problem in India,
with recent trends and statistics of road accidents on the background of growth
of transport infrastructure and number of vehicles. The knowledge of how accidents
are caused is essential to suggest expeditious remedial action. The paper also
deals with the factors causing accident and measures to secure road safety and
mitigation; and focuses on areas where improvement may be needed. The road safety
scenario in Gujarat and the Gujarat Government's initiatives for road safety management
find a place of prominence in the paper. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Energy
Conservation Policies in India: An
Assessment
-- E Naveen Kumar and P Sivarajadhanavel
India
ranks sixth in the world in terms of energy demand, accounting for 3.5% of the
total world commercial energy demand in 2003. With a GDP growth of 8% for the
Tenth Five Year Plan, energy demand is anticipated to grow at 5.2%. As the per
capita consumption of electricity is considered to be the index of development
for any country, energy conservation assumes special significance owing to the
limited sources of energy in our country and our heavy dependence on imports.
Hence, it is necessary to create public awareness regarding energy conservation
and make optimum use of the available resources. This paper discuses the current
energy scenario, various thrust areas in energy conservation, and initiatives
taken by the Central and State Governments to promote energy conservation; and
critically appraises the thrust areas with its future implications. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Energy
Conservation: A Sectoral Analysis
-- R
Sthanumoorthy and Leena Mary Eapen
This
article stresses on the need to conserve energy from the point of view of three
major energy usage sectors—agricultural, industrial and residential sector.
The two main energy sources used in the agricultural sector are electricity and
oil. These energy sources have allowed for many laborious tasks on the farm to
be handled by machinery. With increased mechanization of agricultural operations,
energy consumption in the agricultural sector has also been on the rise. Since
the industrial sector is a major energy consuming sector in a country, conservation
of energy in industries has been a priority for the governments in many countries.
Experience proves that application of energy saving technologies in industrial
production is helpful in improving industrial productivity and sustaining high
rates of economic growth. The common energy sources used in a household are electricity,
liquid petroleum gas, kerosene and coal. The availability of all these forms of
energy sources are limited, a shortage in the supply of which would inevitably
have adverse consequences. Hence, it is the duty of every socially responsible
individual to conserve energy. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Public-Private
Partnerships: The Best Method to
Finance Urban Infrastructure
-- Rudra Prakash Pradhan
The
paper discusses the demand and supply aspects of urban infrastructure in India.
While the demand for urban infrastructure is growing at a much faster rate, supply
is more or less stagnant and lacks quality. The former is mostly due to the growing
urban population along with rural-urban migration, whilst the latter is typically
caused by the paucity of financial resources of the government. The author discusses
the various methods to finance urban infrastructure in India, which are categorically
grouped under budgetary and non-budgetary provisions. But at the end, the paper
strongly suggests that public-private partnerships are the best method to finance
urban infrastructure in India. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Empowering
Rural India: From
Pipe Dreams to Reality
-- Archana G Gulati
Even
after 56 years of planning in rural development, India has not made any significant
breakthrough in eliminating rural poverty and deprivation. We cannot dream of
marching forward as a nation if we leave two thirds of our population behind.
The time has come to look at knowledge and technology as crucial to rural empowerment.
The need of the hour is to focus on productivity and change, like never before.
This paper portrays the Village Knowledge Center (VKC) as a powerful tool for
rural empowerment. VKCs have the potential to provide villagers with information
and awareness as well as vital feedback mechanisms, leading to their socio-political
empowerment. VKCs can provide crucial knowledge inputs to the productive activities
of rural and poor households, making regional, national and even global enterprises/markets
accessible to small rural enterprises. Apart from e-government services, tele-medicine
and tele-education would become available through VKCs. For VKCs to take off,
bridging the digital divide through the rapid spread of rural telecom connectivity
and development of vernacular content is essential. The author calls upon both
the Government and the private sector to work towards the establishment of this
crucial rural ICT infrastructure. ©
2006 Kurukshetra Journal. This article had earlier appeared in the Kurukshetra
Journal, April 2006, Vol. 54, No. 6. Research
Summary
A
Primer: The State's Infrastructure and the Use of Bonds
-- Summarized by N S Sudesh
This
paper focuses on the issues concerning the use of bonds for financing infrastructure
projects both by the Governor and the legislature in California. The focus areas
are California's infrastructure needs, options available for their payment and
the important issues involved in using additional bonds. ©
2006 The Legislative 's Office (LAO), Sacaramento, CA. All Rights Reserved.
IUP holds the copyright for the summary.
Book
Review
Manual
on Best Practices in Indian Thermal Power Generating Units
--
Reviewed by P Nair and Vasakarla Jayavani
Maintenance
of ecological balance and a pristine environment has been of utmost importance
to all Indian Thermal power plants. Environment protection continues to be a key
area of concern, along with growth in generation of power. Driven by its commitment
for sustainable growth of power, NTPC has evolved a well-defined environment management
policy that focuseson minimizing the environmental impact arising from the setting
up of power plants and preserving the natural ecology. Environment-friendly approach
to power has already begun to show results in conservation of natural resources
such as water and fuel (coal, oil and gas) as well as control of environmental
pollution. The spirit behind this manual is to act as a catalyst to initiate the
activities in Indian Power generating units towards continuously improving the
performance of individual units and achieving world class standards. ©
2006 Confederation of Indian Industry. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review.
| 
