UNION Budget 2011

The Union Budget 2011 was presented on February 28, 2011 by Finance
minister Pranab Mukherji, in the background of Indian economy swiftly
coming back to a broad-based growth recovery path. The task on hand was
to ensure that the continuance of recovery is aided through policy actions, on
the one hand, and, on the other hand, to balance the growth trajectory with
the rising concerns on inflation.

As per the Budget statement, the fiscal policy will continue to be guided by
the principles of gradual adjustment from the fiscal expansion undertaken
during the crisis period in 2008-09 and 2009-10. The path has been slightly
front-loaded to help the government in reducing the debt to GDP ratio at
faster pace that, in turn, will help in unlocking more resources from
government revenue in future to be used for developmental programmes
instead of debt servicing. In order to achieve the enumerated accelerated
fiscal consolidation path, the government has focused on expenditure
correction in 2011-12.

Total expenditure is estimated to decline from 15.7 per cent in 2009-10 to

15.4 per cent in RE 2010-11 and 14 per cent in BE 2011-12. The sharp
correction in BE 2011-12 is designed with reorientation of expenditure to
priority sectors and reducing the growth of non-plan expenditure. In order to
keep the overall expenditure under estimated level, the government has
taken certain decisions to control the growth of expenditure in subsidies and
other related items. Decision to move towards nutrient based subsidy (NBS)
regime in fertilizer subsidy, along with increase in the MRP of urea has
helped in containing the expenditure on fertilizer subsidy during 2010-11.

With respect of rationalizing of petroleum subsidy, the government has

already decontrolled the pricing of petrol. And started providing petroleum
subsidy for under recoveries of oil marketing companies in cash instead of
securities. In order to arrest the diversion of subsidized kerosene oil, LPG
and fertilizers, and to ensure greater cost effectiveness and better delivery,
the government has started the move towards direct transfer of cash subsidy
to people living below poverty line. This will be done in a phased manner.

On the indirect tax front, the strategic priority of the government continues to
be to achieve further improvement in the tax-GDP ratio through an
expansion in the tax base, removal of exemptions and moderation of tax
rates. Maintaining the integrity of the credit chain is also a key priority as it
reduces cascading and improves the overall efficiency of a VAT type of tax.
In the medium term, these objectives are sought to be achieved through the
introduction of a comprehensive Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The Union Budget 2011 has enhanced the merit rate of Central Excise from
4 per cent to 5 per cent. To expand the tax base, a nominal duty of 1 per
cent ad valorem has been imposed on about 130 items that were hitherto
exempt or chargeable to nil rate of duty without CENVAT credit.

Service tax has been imposed on few more service categories. The Budget
also seeks to rationalize the CENVAT Credit scheme provisions, especially
with regard to the apportionment of credit between dutiable/taxable and
exempt goods or services.

The contribution of Direct Taxes to the total taxes collected by the Centre
has increased from 33.8 per cent in 1999-2000 to 58.6 in 2009-10. The
substantial increase has been based on strategy of maintaining moderate tax
rates while expanding the tax base by minimizing exemptions and phasing
out profit linked deductions.

The implementation of the new Direct Tax Code (DTC) has been postponed
to April 1, 2012. The Standing Committee on Finance is examining the code
in the Parliament. The major policy proposals in the Union Budget intend to
consolidate past achievements and align with the DTC provisions.

A number of administrative initiatives have been proposed to reduce the

compliance burden and promote voluntary compliance. These are:
(a) A category of salaried taxpayers who will not be required to files income
tax returns will be notified.
(b) A new simplified return form will be introduced for taxpayers who fall
within the scope of presumptive taxation (business with turnover less than
Rs 60 lakhs).
(c) Three more Benches of Settlement Commission will be set up to fast
track the resolution of tax disputes.
(d) The tax effect limits of tax disputes, which the government will not litigate
in higher courts, have been raised.
(e) The administrative as well as legislative framework for exchange of
information with other countries is being strengthened.

As part of the information technology initiatives the Central Processing

Centre (CPC) at Bengaluru is now processing 1.5 lakh returns per day. Two
new CPCs at Manesar and Pune will become functional by May 2011.
Another CPC will be set up in Kolkata in 2011-12.

In furtherance to better management of contingent liabilities, government

guarantee policy has been framed and released. It enumerates various
principles that need to be followed before new contingent liabilities in the
form of sovereign guarantees are undertaken. These principles inter alia
include assessment of risk and probability of development, institutional limits
on guarantees for limiting exposure towards select sectors and requirement
of guarantee vis-a-vis other forms of budgetary support or comfort.

The stock of contingent liabilities in the form of guarantees given by the

government has increased in absolute terms from Rs 1,07,957 crore at the
beginning of FRBM Act regime in 2004-05 to Rs 1,37,460 crore at the end of
2009-10. However, as a percentage of GDP, it has reduced from 3.3 per
cent in 2004-05 to 2.1 per cent in 2009-10.

The gross addition in guarantees was Rs 37,102 crore in 2009-10,

amounting to 0.6 per cent of GDP. This was higher than the target of 0.5 per
cent of GDP set under the FRBM Act. This deviation was necessitated in the
larger interest of re-invigorating the economy in the background of the
economic slowdown, to stimulate demand and increase investment in
infrastructure sector projects worth assistance from multi-lateral agencies.

The government policy towards borrowings to finance its deficit continues to

remain anchored on following principles: (a) greater reliance on domestic
borrowings over external debt; (b) preference for market borrowings over
instruments carrying administered interest rates; (c) consolidation of the debt
portfolio; and (d) development of a deep and wide market for government
securities to improve liquidity in secondary market.

During 2010-11, market borrowings of the government through dated

securities have remained within the estimated requirement in BE 2010-11. In
2011-12 the fiscal deficit of Rs 4,12,817 crore is proposed to be financed to
the extent of Rs 3,43,000 crore (amounting to 83 per cent of deficit) through
issuance of dated securities, Rs 24,182 crore (5.9 per cent of deficit) through
securities issued against NSSF, Rs 15,000 crore through Treasury Bills (3.6
per cent of the deficit), Rs 14,500 crore (3.5 per cent of the deficit) of
external debt and Rs 20,000 crore (4.8 per cent of the deficit) through cash-
draw down from the built up estimated in 2010-11.

Fiscal performance, along with growth in economy, during 2010-11 has been
better than the budget estimates presented in February 2010. While fiscal
deficit is estimated to decline from 5.5 per cent of GDP in BE 2010-11 to 5.1
per cent in RE 2010-11, the growth in Indian economy is estimated at 8.6 per
cent, against 8.5 per cent estimated in Budget 2010-11. The process of fiscal
consolidation that resumed in 2010-11 will be continued during 2011-12.
The government hopes to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.6 per cent of GDP
in 2011-12. This is better than the target of 4.8 per cent recommended by the
13th Finance Commission. The suggested road map on fiscal consolidation
will help in reducing the debt to GDP ratio from 48.1 per cent in 2009-10 to
44.2 per cent in BE 2011-12 and further to 41.5 per cent by 2013-14.

HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2011

TAXES

• Standard rate of excise duty held at 10 percent; no change in

CENVAT rates.
• Personal income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 180,000 from Rs
160,000 for individual tax payers.
• For senior citizens, the qualifying age reduced to 60 years and
exemption limit raised to Rs 2.50 lakh.
• Citizens over 80 years to have exemption limit of Rs 5 lakh.
• To reduce surcharge on domestic companies to 5 percent from 7.5
percent.
• A new revised income tax return form 'Sugam' to be introduced for
small tax papers.
• raise minimum alternate tax to 18.5 percent from 18 percent.
• Iron ore export duty raised to 20 percent
• Nominal one per cent central excise duty on 130 items entering the
tax net. Peak rate of customs duty maintained at 10 per cent in view
of the global economic situation.
• Service tax widened to cover hotel accommodation above Rs 1,000
per day, A/C restaurants serving liquor, some category of hospitals,
diagnostic tests.
• Service tax on air travel increased by Rs 50 for domestic travel and
Rs 250 for international travel in economy class. On higher classes, it
will be ten per cent flat.
• Works of art exempt from customs when imported for exhibition in
state-run institutions; this now extended to private institutions.

SUBSIDIES

• Subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at 1.44 trillion rupees.

• Food subsidy bill in 2011-12 seen at 605.7 billion rupees.
• Revised food subsidy bill for 2010-11 at 606 billion rupees.
• Revised fertilizer subsidy bill for 2010-11 at 550 billion rupees.
• Revised petroleum subsidy bill in 2010-11 at 384 billion rupees.
• State-run oil retailers to be provided with 200 billion rupee cash
subsidy in 2011-12.

FISCAL DEFICIT

• Fiscal deficit seen at 5.1 percent of GDP in 2010-11.

• Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6 percent of GDP in 2011-12.

SPENDING

• Total expenditure in 2011-12 seen at 12.58 trillion rupees.

• Plan expenditure seen at 4.41 trillion rupees in 2011-12, up 18.3
percent.

REVENUE

• Gross tax receipts seen at 9.32 trillion rupees in 2011-12.

• Non-tax revenue seen at 1.25 trillion rupees in 2011-12.
• Corporate tax receipts seen at 3.6 trillion rupees in 2011-12.
• Tax-to-GDP ratio seen at 10.4 percent in 2011-12; seen at 10.8
percent in 2012-13.
 • Customs revenue seen at 1.52 trillion rupees in 2011-12.
• Service tax receipts seen at 820 billion rupees in 2011-12.

GROWTH, INFLATION EXPECTATIONS

• Economy expected to grow at 9 percent in 2012, plus or minus 0.25

percent.
• Inflation seen lower in the financial year 2011-12.

DISINVESTMENT

• Disinvestment in 2011-12 seen at 400 billion rupees.

• Government committed to retaining 51 percent stake in public sector
enterprises.

BORROWING

• Net market borrowing for 2011-12 seen at 3.43 trillion rupees, down
from 3.45 trillion rupees in 2010-11.
• Gross market borrowing for 2011-12 seen at 4.17 trillion rupees.
• Revised gross market borrowing for 2010-11 at 4.47 trillion rupees.

POLICY REFORMS

• To create infrastructure debt funds.

• FDI policy being liberalized.
• To boost infrastructure development with tax-free bonds of 300 billion
rupees.
• Food security bill to be introduced.
• To permit SEBI registered mutual funds to access subscriptions from
foreign investments.
• Raised foreign institutional investor limit in 5-year corporate bonds for
investment in infrastructure by $20 billion.
• Setting up independent debt management office; Public debt bill to be
introduced in parliament soon.
• Bills on insurance, pension funds, banking to be introduced.

SECTOR SPENDING

• To allocate more than 1.64 trillion rupees to defence sector in 2011-

12.
• Corpus of rural infrastructure development fund raised to 180 billion
rupees in 2011-12.
• To provide 201.5 billion rupees capital infusion in state-run banks in
2011-12.
• To allocate 520.5 billion rupees for the education sector. Rs.21,000
crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
• To raise health sector allocation to 267.6 billion rupees.
• Rs.500 crore more for national skill development fund.
• Rs.54 crore each for AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) centres at
Murshidabad and Mallapuram.
• Rs.58,000 crore for Bharat Nirman; increase of Rs.10,000 crore.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
wage rates linked to consumer price index; will rise from existing
Rs.100 per day.
• Infrastructure critical for development; 23 percent higher allocation in
2011-12.

AGRICULTURE

• Removal of supply bottlenecks in the food sector will be in focus in

2011-12.
• To raise target of credit flow to agriculture sector to 4.75 trillion
 rupees.
• 3 percent interest subsidy to farmers in 2011-12.
• Cold storage chains to be given infrastructure status.
• Capitalisation of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) of 30 billion rupees in a phased manner.
• To provide 3 billion rupees for 60,000 hectares under palm oil
plantation.
• Food storage capacity to be augmented; 15 more mega food parks to
be set up in 2011-12; of 30 sanctioned in previous fiscal, 15 set up.
• Comprehensive policy on further developing PPP (public-private-
partnership) model.

MISCELLANEOUS

• To move towards direct transfer of cash subsidy for kerosene, LPG

and fertilizers.
• Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, headed by former
Supreme Court judge B. Srikrishna, to complete its work in 24
months; to overhaul financial regulations.
• Five-fold strategy against black money; 13 new double taxation
avoidance agreements; foreign tax division of CTBT strengthened;
strength of Enforcement Directorate increased three-fold.
• Bill to be introduced to review Indian Stamp Act.
• New coins carrying new rupee symbol to be issued.
• Anganwadi workers salary raised from Rs.1,500 to Rs.3,000.

• Housing loan limit for priority sector lending raised to Rs.25 lakh.
"I do not expect India of my dreams to develop one religion, i.e., to be wholly Hindu
or wholly Christian or wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with
its religions working side by side with one another.''
—Mahatma Gandhi

On paper, India is unquestionably a secular State with secure constitutional

guarantees for all citizens. Yet, at a social and political level secularism seems an
abstraction. There is a serious contradiction between the secular goal of the Indian
Constitution and the growing communalisation of its polity.

Secularism cannot be defined without relating it to the socio-political context. What

is true in the western context, may not be necessarily valid in Indian context and vice
versa.

Secularism, in philosophy and politics, is rejection of religious and sacred forms and
practices in favour of rational assessment and decision-making. In Europe and North
America, secularism can be traced to the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment or Age
of Reason. Enlightenment thinkers attacked classical traditions and religious
authority. In particular, they argued that the separation of Church and State would
enable the free exercise of human intellectual capacities and imagination, and would
bring about government by reason, rather than by tradition and dogma. The State,
which was subservient to Church, till then, was able to free itself from domination of
papal authority, after a long struggle.

Western dictionaries define "secularism" as the absence of religion, but Indian

secularism means a profusion of religions, none of which is privileged by the State.
Secularism in India does not mean non-religiousness, rather it means multi-
religiousness.

The Indian society was very different from the European society in its socio-
religious structure and could not, therefore, imitate the western model of secularism.
It had to evolve its own model of secularism from its own experimental context.
Since there was not any struggle against any established religious authority, there
was no question of any resentment against religion. Also, India was rich in
pluralistic traditions, and mainly relied on them for developing its concept of
secularism.

Indian pluralism is best summed up in two maxims: ekam sad vipra bahula vadanti
(That which exists is one; sages call it by various names) and sarva dharma
sambhava (All religions should be equally respected).

Thus, right from the beginning, Indian secularism drew its strength from pluralism.
It was the religious community, rather than the religious authority, which mattered in
the Indian context of secularism. The saner leaders of both the communities
emphasized justice in power-sharing, without questioning the religious authority of
either community.

In fact, the leaders of minority communities feared domination by the majority

community and interference in their religious affairs. The leaders of the majority
community, on the other hand, sought to assuage the feelings of minority
communities by assuring them they would be free to follow their own religions.
Such leaders were called secular, while those of the majority community who
resented unrestricted religious freedom for minorities were called communal. (a
loose definition) Thus, in Indian secularism an anti-religious attitude did not play a
part.

When the concept of secularism came to be accepted in Indian politics, beginning

with later part of 19th century, Indian society was deeply religious and people
jealously guarded their religious rites as well as religious identities. Even the modern
reform movements by Raja Rammohan Roy and Sir Syed, in the Hindu and Muslim
societies, respectively, were launched within the framework of respective religions.

The leaders of freedom movement, like Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad and
others were all believers themselves and adopted the religious idiom to mobilize the
Indian masses for the freedom struggle.

For Gandhiji, the basis of Hindu-Muslim unity was also religion. The political unity,
in his view, should also be based on one's religious duty to unite with other human
beings. He wrote in the Harijan of July 6, 1947 that "....by trying to befriend
Muslims I have only proved myself a true Hindu and have rightly served the Hindus
and Hinduism. The essence of true religious teachings is that one should serve and
befriend all". To strengthen his point then he goes on to quote a couplet-from Iqbal's
famous poem Naya Shivala: Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas mein bayr rakhna",
meaning, religion does not teach us to bear ill-will towards one another.

Constitutional concept
Differing views of national leaders meant that the form of secularism that found
expression in the Constitution after independence was ambiguous. The result was
that the Constitution sought to do several things. It made some allowance for the role
played by religion, especially Hinduism, in Indian life. It also gave statutory
recognition to minorities, thereby implicitly accepting the existence of a majority. It
aimed to foster a common civic identity, but then compromised this by the provision
of reserved seats in legislatures to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (initially
meant to last 10 years, no Parliament has contemplated doing away with this and its
regular extension has become a formality).

Though our Constitution is secular, originally the word 'secular' found only a single
casual mention in the document of 1950. The reference was to "economic, financial,
political or other secular activity" in Article 25(2a) and the usage followed the
standard dictionary meaning.

It was only during the emergency in mid-seventies, during Congress party rule, that
the words "secular and socialist" were added. The secular objective of the State was
specifically expressed by inserting the word 'secular' in the Preamble of the
Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976.

But the word 'secular' was not defined, although it was given official (not
Constitutional but operational) expression in the State practice of maintaining equi-
distance from all religions, or paying equal respect to all religions, not favouring one
at the cost of another. Thus, the unity and fraternity of the people of India,
professing numerous faiths, was sought to be achieved by enshrining the ideal of a
'secular State', which means that the State protects all religions equally and does not
itself uphold any religion as the State religion.

Thus, the spirit of Indian secularism is not denial of any religion or religious
practice, but religio-cultural pluralism. It is certainly better than atheistic secularism
as the latter does not admit the right of citizens to believe.

Critique
Uneven benefits of modernization and industrialization, on one hand, and
marginalization of religious traditions, on the other, have led to strong
reaction, lending legitimation to the reassertion of religious and ethnic
identities, and putting more and more pressure on the secular State.

During eighties, right-wing politicians mooted the concept of positive

secularism, putting a question mark on the Nehruvian concept of secularism.
The advocates of 'positive secularism' argue that all those who follow
Nehruvian secularism are following a 'pseudo secularism' or 'false
secularism', as they are indulging in 'minorityism' by unduly favouring the
minorities.

Religion in India, whether pre- or post-Independence, has never been

dissociated or de-linked from State institutions at any level: legal,
institutional or cognitive. Rather, the modern Indian State has been involved
in regulating the religious affairs of society, more to secure political goals
than to "modernize" the social structure of Indian society. As a matter of fact,
its various policies have promoted and strengthened the religious identity of
people and provided State patronage to religious institutions and leaders.

Secularism became not a creed of radical separation between religion and

politics, but of spiritualising politics itself, which often took the form of
mutual accommodation of orthodoxies.

The crucial question would be what should be the relationship between the
State and religion? Should the State play a part in religious affairs?

Many argue that it is not possible to do away with religion from politics in
India. It must be noted that though the Constitution provides for citizenship
on individual basis, irrespective of one's religion or caste, one can hardly
forget that our existential reality is communitarian, rather than individual-
oriented.

The Constitution had to take note of this existential reality. Thus, our
Constitution tries to imbibe elements of both as an honourable compromise.

Strictly speaking, the ruling elites do not rule in the name of religion, or for a
particular religion. However, politics of the ruling elites has always found it
convenient to negotiate with various communities, rather than individuals.
Religion has firm presence within the communities, and it is a reference point
for the communities to define themselves. The Indian State, therefore,
continues to interact and deal with communities, and in the process,
constantly legitimises and reinforces the communities through its acts.

The meaning of religion varies from one person to another. All religious
people are not dogmatic, narrow-minded, ignorant, superstitious and
intolerant. Dogmatism and narrow-mindedness or fanaticism are
psychological rather than religious categories. In that way, even an atheist or
agnostic can be dogmatic or intolerant and even fanatic.

The role of religion has often varied, from being an instrument in the hands
for enforcing abject subjugation of the toiling masses, to that of inspiring the
revolt against tyranny or racial oppression.

Religion for toilers generally steps in to cement the strong bonds desired. It
provides values and meaning to their lives. It is their hope. Religion acts not
only as a substitute to science in explaining the universe and its laws, it also
acts as a popular philosophy for even the most ordinary person to be able to
appreciate.
The ordinary or powerless need stronger, collective existence to give meaning
and purpose to their existence. The collective social existence through which
the individual seeks to compensate his or her powerlessness is to have
common social values, culture, and a world-view.

Some social scientists in India have argued that the serious threats to social
tolerance and diversity in India today come either from an anti-democratic,
majoritarian, ethnic nationalism or from a homogenising and modernising
nation State, and the imposition of alien values on Indian society. Such
theorists prefer a State which does not claim procedural neutrality and
separation of State from religion but is, instead, guided by an encompassing
indigenous culture, although they oppose the interpretations of Indian culture
which are being marketed by right-wing forces today. Minorities could be
protected, they argue, by the tolerance and modes of coexistence which have
evolved in the society over time, rather than by a modernising nation State
with alien values. The State should be prepared to devolve some of its powers
and functions on to communities.
Rise of Entrepreneurs in India
There is a galore of Indian entrepreneurs in the Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest
every year. But, this is merely a factoid; more significant is the rise of new
entrepreneurs in India. In almost every new industry that has attained stature in the
last decade, the rising star is not from the established business houses but an upstart.

Take Sunil Mittal, whose phone company now has the sixth-highest value. Ten years
back, Mittal would not have figured even in the B list of Indian businessmen. Today,
he is ahead not only of patricians like Tatas but also of a global major like
Hutchison-Whampoa.

Naresh Goyal’s Jet Aiways, barely in fifteen years, has emerged as the largest
airline in the country, upstaging the State-owned Indian Airlines, and buying up a
private sector rival, Sahara.

In the sunrise retailing sector the big boys, Kishore Biyani and B.S. Nagesh, are
creating a furore. Kishore, a totally unknown name a decade ago is now a media
darling, a man-on-the-go. Pantaloon and Shoppers’ Stop are the Indian challengers-
in-waiting for Wal-Mart as they have already swept the likes of Tata (Trent) and
RPG off the floor in the retail business.

What about the country’s leading airports? The carpetbaggers here are again first-
generation names like G.M. Rao and G.V.K. Reddy. Having interesting histories in
banking, power and hoteliering, both are now into the big league after outdoing
airport bids against celebrities with household surnames.

The most extraordinary stories of meteoric rise in the annals of entrepreneurship,

however, belong to Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar. They have
surpassed their counterparts in advanced countries in software development and
helped India emerge as the leading Software power. In the same breath, we must
mention Subhash Chandra, the amusement parks owner and a pioneer of satellite TV
in India. Within a few years he has outperformed the oldest media house in the
country.

Uday Kotak has founded a bank that promises to be yet another ICICI. Rajeev
Chandrashekhar, an engineer–turned-telecom tycoon is truly an adventurer.
Returning from the US, he got into a telecom business, sold it out and is now
entering into freight transport —as the railways are privatising the container
business. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, another pioneer, has made impressive forays into
biotech industry.

Among the electronic media enterprisers Prannoy Roy and Raghav Behl are India’s
news kings. How about Jignesh Shah, the challenger. He is another first-generation
business entrepreneur involved in a David-Goliath duel with the country’s biggest
financial players for market leadership in commodity exchange. The list is getting
longer daily.

Only a few decades back, Indian entrepreneurs had to leave India in order to prove
their spirit of enterprise. Aditya Birla wandered all over South-East Asia setting up
companies and factories. Laxmi Mittal had to flee his homeland to become the
world’s steel sultan.
Doing business in India is no cakewalk, what with the bureaucracy’s red tape and
greasy palms, yet the Indian entrepreneur is proving his mettle. India is now a vast
and vibrant market. Capital can be organized and technology accessed. De-
regulation is creating new opportunities. Forbes list is no longer an Everest for
Indian entrepreneurs.

Indian business is also fanning out and challenging the global multinationals. For
instance, Tata is now one of the world’s lowest-cost steel producers. Indians are
shaking Europe, America, other continents with their global mega-mergers and
hostile takeovers. L.N. Mittal—based in London but holding an Indian passport—
grabbed the world’s largest steel-maker, Arcelor. Tata, not to be left behind, gobbled
up another major steel manufacturer, Corus, to become the fifth largest producer.
These deals hail the emergence of global Indian entrepreneurs on the world stage.
India is fast becoming a hub for metals, petro-products and auto components.

India’s second largest private firm, the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries,
may soon be among the top 10 in the world list.

According to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report, “a revolution in global

business is under way”, and the axis of corporate power was shifting towards the
BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.

A 2006 study by Mape, an investment bank, observed: “the Indian Multinational

Company (MNC) has finally come of age” and “Indian buyers have become a force
to reckon with in many industries such as pharma, auto components and oil and
gas”. Liberal policies, access to cash, and the rise of entrepreneurial ambitions are
creating conditions for the emergence of global Indian enterprises.

Besides the exceptional first-timer Indira Nooyi, the Pepsico chief, many banks,
insurance companies and business enterprises now have women in key positions—
chief executives, chief strategists, chief economists. Many head the human resource
wings and are tough and tactful while dealing with the hard-core politicos and burly
men dominating the restive trade unions. Kiran Shaw Majumdar, Biocon chief, or
Anu Agha, who took over Thermax after her husband’s sudden death, is no transient
phenomenon but is becoming a normal face of Indian business.

Higher education and new confidence are helping daughters and daughters-in-law of
traditional families take up high-profile corporate roles. Women are better students,
quick to grasp the nitty-gritty of work and more willing to listen to elders.
Shefali Munjal is a third generation member of the Munjal family who manages
Hero Group, among the world’s largest two-wheeler makers.

Priya and Priti Paul of Apeejay Surrendra Group, met the challenge after their father
got killed in a terrorist attack in India’s turbulent northeast, where the family has a
tea business.

Sulajja Firodia Motwani manages her Kinetic Group as well as family. She joined
the family enterprise on returning from Carnegie Mellon University. Mallika
Srinivasan of Chennai-based Tractor and Farm Equipment is the eldest daughter of
A. Sivasailam, chairman of the Rs 25 billion Amalgamations Group, and wife of
Venu Srinivasan of the TVS Group. She is rated as one of the most successful Indian
women CEOs.

Cremica is a popular biscuit and confectionery brand where Geeta Bector is both
director and wife of Akshay Bector, M.D. She thinks women have a special
advantage when it comes to food.

S.K. Dhamija in his book Women Entrepreneurs says: “The hidden entrepreneurial
potentials of women have gradually been changing with the growing sensitivity to
the role and economic status in society… Today, women entrepreneurs represent a
group that has broken away from the beaten track and are exploring new avenues of
economic participation.” It is estimated that women entrepreneurs currently
comprise about 10 per cent of the total number of entrepreneurs in India.
Shashi Ruia describes his Essar Group as “serial entrepreneurs” and predicts the rise
of new entrepreneurs. “There has not been a better time in India to reach out and
touch the horizon ... entrepreneurship is no more limited to family-managed
businesses in India”, he said while addressing a Convocation of the Entrepreneurship
Institute of India.

WORK ETHICS
That work yields moral benefit is a commonly-held belief in western societies. In the Bible, Adam was banished from
Paradise to live by the “sweat of his brow”. Christian Humanism also recognizes work as an enhancer of character. In
Japanese and Chinese cultures also work ethic is a strong element of earthly living just as it is much emphasized in the
Protestant value system. In its practical aspect, ‘ work ethic’ may include reliability, initiative and social skills.

Both in theory and practice, a worker who attests to a good work ethic deserves to be selected for better position, larger
responsibility and higher promotion. Workers who do not measure up to prevailing norms of work ethic are considered
lacking in capability to offer fair value for the wage the employer is paying them. Such workers, according to the
employer, deserve no promotion and even a sack.

A central concept of free market economic theory of western capitalism is that “workers who work hard and play by the
rules will be rewarded (eventually)” and will move ahead. Those who do not work hard need to be dealt with a firm
hand,
given a warning to improve performance and, if they do not heed, there is no alternative but to dispense with their
services. This principle is almost universally practiced but has not remained unchallenged.

The counter-cultures within the American society in the sixties, such as, the beatniks and hippies, boldly challenged
these values. In the 19th century, the “Arts and Crafts” movement of William Morris in the UK and Elbert Hubbard in
the US countered that “alienation” of workers from ownership of the tools of production and from products they
produce destroys the work ethic. In the expanding industry and business of those times, the workers felt exploited and
faced general hopelessness. They only did their minimum, just to survive and subsist on deplorable wages.

Marxists, and most sociologists, however, debunk “work ethic” on principle. They find “work ethic” as irrational in
industry if the employee cannot hope to become more than a manager, as she/he remains a tool in the hands of owner
whose decisions are final. For Sociologists, excessive concern with work ethic is a form of alienation from the truer
need to connect with family and community. The twentieth century “critical theory” regards “work ethic” as a unilateral
demand that has evolved from a gross confusion between Max Weber’s “Protestant work ethic” of company founders,
and a sociological phenomenon, which in fact produces deviance from normal living in the form of addiction to work,
and family neglect.

It has been pointed out that an excessive “work ethic” leads to drug addiction as is evident from the widespread use of
crystal methedrine in American rural communities, which is attributed to excessive work schedules. It also causes sharp
division between work and play, and neglect of recreation (time with family, volunteer work, or cultural pursuits), and
turns a dedicated worker into a workaholic who leads an imbalanced, if not abnormal, life.

Anyhow, a shift in values has been happening in the workplace. Some observers see a new ethical outlook developing
regarding work and the workplace. They believe that new values are reshaping business and impelling companies to
think up new ways of attracting and retaining right people in their service. How these companies view work and what
they want from it is also changing. This new outlook may have resulted from the difficulties employers everywhere are
facing to find sincere and loyal employees. Big and small companies are experiencing high rate of attrition, especially
in South Asian countries, including India where salaries are going up and faster promotion and higher compensation are
possible for employees by jumping from one company to another. This is the opposite of the “hire and fire” trends in the
sixties and seventies.

Today’s workers look for meaning in the work they do. Some Western business concerns have found that their average
worker is less interested in the bottom line and more interested in purpose and value. Daimler Chrysler AF of Stuttgart,
a leading motor company, has joined with Mattel Inc. to help teach parents how to properly install child safety seats.

Business Companies are adopting volunteer service through the workplace as a strategy to connect employees with the
larger community. Volunteer service or socially beneficial activity originating from workplace enhances the importance
(value) of the workplace itself. According to an analyst, “in an increasingly “hi-tech” world there is a need for “hi-
touch” experiences” for adding meaning to life. A worker feels elevated within his self whenever he hears: “What you
do is noble”, and “You do make a difference.”

In western countries, societies are aging while in India younger generations are dominating the market place. Therefore,
everything the western companies are doing to change work ethic cannot and does not apply to India. Even the notion of
work ethic is somewhat alien to Indian workplace but, with the Globalization and so-called Reforms going apace,
western methods are getting incorporated in the Indian system. It will be advisable, therefore, to keep track of what is
happening in the West right now so that the western experience could be used for improving the Indian workplace.

Labour market is getting tight and new workers to replace the retiring ones are not easy to find. Employers have to offer
personal growth and development opportunities as incentives to recruit and retain employees. Personal learning and
growth have been identified as factors that attract western younger workers today. Volunteerism offers options for
personal growth and development. Whether sharpening current skills or seeking to develop new ones, volunteerism
offers a safe environment for learning, practicing and growing. The current company slogan is “Come grow with us!”
and “Come see what’s in this for you!”

The worker has to feel a sense of partnership with the company he works for. Experts Izzo and Withers have
identified “five traits of partnerships: communication from above rank, open book policy, performance-based pay,
partnering leaders, vigilance and attention to symbolism.”

Workers, according to them, expect recognition based on performance. They want to feel like partners with all levels of
paid staff. Employees value leaders who are “in it with them” and expect organisations to be vigilant in protecting their
rights. It is not just a Red Cross pin, a Race for the Cure T-shirt, an association coffee mug, an organisational plaque or
other outward symbols but a sincere appreciation of “noble work” done by them is what the workers value.

Employees no longer like to be machine-like cogs on the assembly line. Softball and bowling leagues are now official
and employees/ workers now form friendships and connections on company time. So also, dress in offices has become
casual; no longer the grey suit and blue shirt always. Workplace is also a fun place. Google offers extraordinary menu
for lunch and dinner in its canteens. Other companies are also emulating Google within budgetary constraints and
provide employee club-like facilities.

The workplace is being re-invented so that the worker feels that the employer cares and respects his/her personal life.
Workers today do not like to be work-addicts or workaholics. They seek balanced living, spending quality time with
family and friends.

Yet, employees can and do burn out in today’s fast paced work environment. Intel, like several other companies, offers
an eight-week sabbatical after seven years on the job.

Noble work, personal growth and development, partnerships, community, trust, balance and
synergy are magic words while recruiting employees. The test, however, comes when these words have to be turned into
everyday values within a company’s work ethic. Increasing dimension of employee attrition suggests that something is
amiss within the company’s inner working. People get drawn to employing organisations but depart when they find that
these organisations are not practicing the values they proclaimed when they advertised the vacancies.

Can we shape workers who have the sense that they serve the company and community? That remains a question!
ROVISIONS FOR BACKWARD CLASSES, MINORITIES AND RESERVATIONS

India is a plural society and a democratic State and, from time to time, faces demands from various caste,
tribal religious and gender groups for social justice. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs &
STs) are regarded as deserving for historical reasons, and by national consensus accorded positive or
affirmative discrimi-nation. The Constitution provides for special quota or reservations in education,
employment and other State-granted benefits.

There is no agreement about other categories but the demands for their inclusion in the affirmative action
(positive discrimination in Indian parlance) list are assuming serious dimensions and the State is under
pressure to respond to bitter agitations or compulsions that are purely political. Major categories now are
SCs and STs, the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the Minorities, and Women at the federal level.
Individual States too have faced demands and most recent is the case of the Gujjars in Rajasthan.

It is ironical that the Indian State is increasingly withdrawing from the social sectors under the garb of
liberalisation and globalisation of the economy, yet it has been yielding to the demands for widening the
scope of Reservation and enlarging the list of State-supported categories/castes/ communities.

Concomitant with the demands for concessions and special benefits is the challenge of harmonizing the
society and justifying the economic costs of such lop-sided distribution of social benefits in the larger context
of the poverty removal goals of the Indian State.

Constitutionally, contradictory political concept of equality before the law, irrespective of religion, caste,
creed, race, and gender, and that of social justice at the cost of equality before the law continue to strain
India’s socio-political structure. Other democracies too face similar counter claims within their constitutional
framework. In the United States, for example, the State has taken recourse to affirmative action to ensure
justice for the less privileged sections at the cost of individual merit and equality of all citizens before the law.

In India, large numbers of people have faced social discrimination through centuries on account of Indian
society’s peculiar caste system. After Independence, the Indian State has provided redress to these under-
privileged, socially and economically depressed sections through “the policy of reservations or quotas for
them in jobs, seats in educational institutions and legislatures, and in governmental aid, loans and other
developmental assistance”.

Mahatma Gandhi, while leading the nationalist movement, recognised the need for positive discrimination for
undoing the wrongs done to the depressed castes and outcast communities. Surprisingly, the Mahatma as a
devout Hindu was a believer in the caste system, but as modern political activists, he also advanced human
rights and claims of individual dignity. He awakened the conscience of the so-called upper castes to reform
the society and remove “untouchability” and other humanly degrading practices. He also brought the
depressed castes and backward communities into the political mainstream and broadened the base of the
freedom movement. He renamed untouchables as Harijans (people of God) so as to bring them into the
traditional fold of caste Hindus and give his policy of human equality a religious sanction.

Gandhi’s political logic was not without dissenting voices. Most notable among them being B.R. Ambedkar,
who resented the patronising attitude of the upper castes toward the exploited castes and outcasts.
Ambedkar saw in the political conflict between the Congress and the Muslim League an opportunity to
demand separate electorates for the untouchables, like the Muslims enjoyed under the British.

The British government, on August 17, 1932, announced the Communal Award granting separate
electorates for the depressed classes by treating them as a minority. Gandhi protested and went on a hunger
strike. The issue was resolved by the Poona Pact of September 1932. The pact provided for 148 reserved
seats instead of the 78 separately elected members under the Communal Award. It also granted certain
privileges to the Harijans, such as educational opportunities, representation in services, and the franchise. A
schedule of depressed castes was prepared in 1936 under the government of India Act, 1935. It covered
43.6 million people or 28.5% of the Hindu population and 19% of the total population of British India. The
Constituent Assembly later adopted this very list.
Similarly, tribes too got officially listed; the British had treated them separately for administrative purposes. At
the 1991 census they were about 66 million—7.75% of India’s population.

This policy of positive discrimination has resulted in improvement among the scheduled castes and tribes. In
1957, the percentage of SCs in the Class I Central Government services was a mere 0.7. By 1971 it had
risen to 2.58%. For Class II and III services the rise was from 2.01% to 4.6% and 7.3% to 9.59%,
respectively. In 1947-48, only 650 scholarships were awarded to the SC students for post-school studies,
costing the State Rs 540,000. By 1973-74, the number of such scholarships had gone up to 270,420, costing
the Indian exchequer over Rs 120 million. Improvements were recorded amongst the STs as well.

Social discrimination has, however, not disappeared in spite of economic rise through reservation. Casteism
has surely received a boost in the midst process of modernization going on apace in India after
Independence. The quotas earmarked for the SCs and STs are often not filled on account of the indifference
of the heads of departments. Non-availability of qualified candidates could be a genuine reason, though.

While the OBCs and intermediate castes fight for their rights vis-à-vis the upper castes, they are unwilling to
support castes lower than theirs. The noted social anthropologist M.N. Srinivas aptly observed: “I am equal
to those who think of themselves as my betters, I am better than those who regard themselves as my equals,
and how dare my inferiors claim equality with me?”

Politics of Reservation has acquired the worst kind of caste-orientation. Politicians distort and bend the public
policies for personal or party ends. The landlessness of certain groups keeps them perpetually poor which
also prohibits them from learning new skills. Dalits in predominantly Dalit villages are the worst off. Dalit
leaders, who got it made in politics, have become thoroughly corrupt and arrogantly exhibit ill-gotten wealth,
callously ignoring community interests.

Certain inherent flaws also mar government policies. Mushrooming private schools, far better than the State-
funded schools, are under no obligation to reserve seats and undermine the policy regarding education and
employability of the depressed castes and tribes in an increasingly competitive socio-economic environment.

Reservation is a double-edged weapon. If the situation is altered in favour of the SCs/STs/OBCs, for each
category of jobs there is the risk of positive discrimination going to the exclusive benefit of the élites amongst
the SCs/STs/OBCs and sharper divisions and inter-caste conflicts would come to the fore. Therefore, the
Supreme Court has ruled that creamy layers or the well-off among the reserve categories shall be excluded
from State benefits. But this rule is being flouted by raising the income norm, so that legislators, bureaucrats
and power elites continue to corner State-granted benefits at the cost of the poorer SC/ST/OBCs.

Flaring caste fury marked the recent Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government finally yielded
and passed a Bill providing 5 per cent quota to Gujjars under the ‘’special backward class’‘ and 14 per cent
to poor among the ‘’economically backwards’‘ (EBC).

Other communities could also rise in agitation in other States to gain similar advantages. A backlash among
the economically poor among the so-called upper castes could also sweep the nation if the violent agitations
by rival castes are allowed to gain an upper hand repeatedly.

Reservation was to be a talisman for creating an egalitarian, harmonious, casteless society but is turning
modern India into a conflict-ridden society with ultra caste-orientations of another kind.
LIFE IMPRISONMENT IS A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Can life imprisonment be a good alternative to death penalty? The issue remains unresolved. Even the US Supreme
Court that had abolished ‘Death Penalty’ reversed its decision when new and less cruel methods of execution were
introduced.

Why does a society punish its members for certain acts that are offensive and unacceptable to its laws and codes? This
can be a starting point of exploring our dilemma about death penalty vs. life imprisonment.

It is argued that fear of death deters people from committing crimes, and the penalty of death exerts a positive moral
influence.

The American death penalty laws have invited ire and ridicule of human rights activists everywhere, including in the
USA, and Courts in most democratic countries, including India, have been very sparing in pronouncing death sentences
in the ‘rarest of rare cases”. Yet, crimes of murder and rape and the cruel manner in which they were carried out, at
times, make ordinary citizens support and commend death penalty and believe that fear and intimidation of capital
punishment shall keep other citizens from violating the social and normative codes of their State and society.

But there are contrary views and arguments, according to which capital punishment does not deter crime and death
penalty is not necessary. Countries that no longer have death penalty have not experienced an increase in the number of
murders. Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland and Belgium have not carried out executions since the early part
of the century, yet these countries have not experienced a rise in crime rates. But the retributive value of capital
punishment dismisses the question of deterrence. Deterrence works only if forbidden acts are illegal as well as
immoral. So the easily frightened will not break the law, but “the fearless will break the law, the irrational will break the
law, and all others will break the law”, it has been argued.

Capital punishment is retributive justice, and murder rates bear no logical correlation to the death penalty’s deterrent
value. There are no actual statistics about the deterrent value of capital punishment as it is impossible to know who may
have been deterred or not deterred from committing a crime.

If some one is thinking of committing murder and is aware that he will be released because of early parole, then it will
not deter any future crime from happening.

Most criminals would ponder before committing murder if they knew their own lives was at stake and, it is argued that
because very few people are executed so death penalty does not work satisfactorily as a deterrent. “During highly
publicised death penalty cases the homicide rate is found to go down but it goes back up when the case is over
(Bailey).”

According to some researchers “executions maximize public safety through a form of incapacitation and deterrence.
Incapacitating a person is depriving him/her of the physical or intellectual power. Executing a person takes away the
capacity of, and forcibly prevents recurrence of violence. Deterrence is the act or process of discouraging and
preventing an action from occurring. The possibility of execution, thus, gives a potential pause in the thought process
of the murderer, using fear as an incentive for preventing recurrence or quite possibly the first occurrence of murder.”

Opponents of the death penalty argue that although it is said to exist as a crime deterrent, in reality it has no effect on
crime at all. “Modern supporters of capital punishment no longer view the death penalty as a deterrent, but as a just
punishment for the crime. Previously, the deterrence argument put the burden of proof on death penalty advocates, but
recently this argument has become less effective as in recent years the appeal of deterrence has been supplanted by a
frank desire for what large majorities see as just vengeance.”

The opponents to death penalty argue that criminals who are in the “business” of killing make sure that they do not get
caught; they skilfully concoct plans to make sure they are not suspected of criminal activity. A person who gets caught
for killing another individual is usually someone who did not plan to murder in the first place. These individuals fall
into the “crimes of passion” category. Crimes of passion are defined as unlawful acts of an individual which are
unplanned and erupt as a result of a fit or rage or anger. These illegal actions usually stem from drunkenness or a short
term loss of logical thinking, which can be attributed to anger. The death penalty would logically deter crime, but the
problem is that most murderers are unplanned and are not a result of logic.

During the 1930s the federal government, under the direction of Jack Gibbs, investigated the effectiveness of the death
penalty in deterring serious crime. The results of Gibbs investigation is that capital punishment did not deter. However,
during the 1970s, Prof. Isaac Ehrlich found out through his research that capital punishment did deter but no one else
besides Ehrlich has come up with the same results. The conclusion that researches have drawn up during the past decade
is that the death penalty does not significantly have an effect on serious crime, one way or the other.

Another reason that many people are against death penalty is that they feel that many a times innocent people are
wrongfully executed, all in the name of justice, even though there are many safeguards guaranteeing protection of the
rights of those facing death penalty.

Abolitionists of death penalty want the procedures of punishment more humane and victim-oriented. They argue that the
offender be required to compensate the victim’s family with his/her own income from employment or community
service. To that end, the offender has to be kept alive. By working, the criminal also “pays back” the society. For the
imprisoned criminal there is no need of monetary compensation for his work. Money is of no value in jail. An example
cited in this behalf is the case of Leopold and Loeb, both nineteen years old when they committed “The Crime of the
Century” in 1924—kidnapping and murder of a fourteen year old boy just to see what it was like. They were not
awarded death penalty but sentenced to life imprisonment. They worked at hospitals, taught illiterates to read, created a
correspondence school, made important contribution in the World War II Malaria Project, and wrote a grammar book.
“An inestimable amount of people were directly helped by Leopold and Loeb; both of them making a conscious
commitment to atone by serving others”.

Abolitionists also oppose capital punishment as it is cruel and extraordinary. The Eighth Amendment of the United
States Constitution condemns cruel and unusual punishment and the abolitionists find it handy to quote in support of
their view. However, the US Constitution was drafted when capital punishment was widely practiced and it was not
specified as wrong or cruel or unusual. The framers of the Constitution mostly endorsed capital punishment, as also the
philosophers of the time.

Opponents of death penalty point out that expert after expert and study after study have emphasized the lack of
correlation between the threat of the death penalty and the occurrence of violent crime. Also, the belief that execution
costs less than imprisonment is false. The cost of the apparatus and maintenance of the procedures attending the death
penalty, including death row and the endless appeals and legal machinery, far outweighs the expense of maintaining in
prison the tiny fraction of criminals who would otherwise be slain.

“Capital punishment is a barbaric remnant of an uncivilized society, immoral in principle, unfair and discriminatory in
practice. It can deprive completely innocent persons of life because legal procedures involved are not foolproof. It has
no purpose and no effect.” (American Civil Liberties Union National Office 2-16-95).

Opponents of capital punishment contend that the death penalty demeans the moral order because it is cold,
premeditated homicide. It lowers the state and raises the criminal to moral equality with the social order.

In view of the above arguments and counter-arguments, and dispassionately considered, life imprisonment with some
added social purpose appears to be a better alternative to death penalty.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Governments continue to dither and differ on solutions and their adoption. Experts are in panic because the rich nations
are trying to lock in their advantages by revising the 1992 Rio bargain and re-ordering their Kyoto Protocol obligations,
inviting sharp division between haves and have-nots, on a similar pattern as was created by the Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) when the Nuclear Powers tried to impose an unequal treaty to which India never became a signatory.
Now, belatedly the Nuclear haves are tackling the anomalies through the India-USA Nuclear Deal.

On Climate Change, a new bargain is being hammered out for fashioning a 2009 Copenhagen Protocol to rich nations’
advantage.

The Kyoto Protocol had targeted only 7 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions below 1990 levels but richer
nations did not adhere to their commitments. For their failure, they are blaming India and China. They are resorting to
high sounding rhetoric to justify their lack of responsibility and asserting that global warming cannot be slowed down
unless India and China agree to cut their emissions at par with them, even though emission levels in these countries are
much lower.

Decision makers in rich countries hold the ultimate power to decide the fate of billions but cannot think beyond their
own national and geographic boundaries. They can also not think of times beyond their own. They care only for their
immediate national interests, pushing the world to the brink of global disaster. But, the threat of climate change is global
and cannot be dealt with by individual nations who all face the challenge of sustainable development.

Men of narrow vision believe that global warming would affect different countries differently and some, who currently
wield great political clout, are smug with the thought that their own country would not be so badly off. The rich nations,
with their vast technological resources, appear to have calculated that countries in the colder climes would, in fact, gain
by climate changes because warming would bring about favourable changes in terms of cropping and vegetation, thus
providing them with greater food security than they enjoy currently.

Such beliefs could prove devastatingly illusory. Recently, US Senator Joe Lieberman acknowledged at a group
discussion that US government dishes out such ideas and information as foster resistance in the US Congress to
America slashing its high emissions. This was the reason why the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade Bill got defeated in
the US Congress. We must not forget that the USA accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s total carbon emissions.
The sly diplomacy of the
western nation-States led by the USA is shocking.

The Western powers, whether it is the question of subsidies at the WTO’s Doha rounds of talks or global bargaining on
climate change, are trying to trick and deceive the poorer nations into arrangements that would render them even more
vulnerable. And, Western powers’ political and economic dominance will continue. They are not willing to work out
arrangements that are equitable and fair to all nations.

China and India are being targeted to bear the maximum brunt of climate change even though their current contribution
to global warming is small compared to that of the advanced G-8 countries. China and India’s enlarging economies are
causing concern among Western nations and they would do every thing possible to keep India and China at a
competitive disadvantage.

Western diplomacy works on the principle that national interest is the ultimate director of foreign policy and the
powerful nation is entitled to use all the persuasive-coercive tools to make other nations bend to the powerful nation’s
demands and interests. But in the present situation, they are forgetting that there will be no winners against global
dimensions of climate change. Climate change, as is already being seen, will make weather patterns more unpredictable
everywhere, including in higher latitudes. In the upper reaches of the Arctic already warming is twice as fast as the rest
of the world. Un-seasonal heat and rain, floods and droughts have affected Europe and USA as much as Asian countries.
Climate change potentially can wreck agriculture, public health and ecosystems in colder lands also, besides breeding
unmanageable viruses. Strangely, in the subsahara regions it is bringing rain and greenery and a new pattern of
cropping that these deserts never saw before.
Another important point to remember is that China and India are no longer weak on the negotiating table. The western
countries are not in a position to ignore the huge developing markets and economies of these two Asian giants. These
two countries are fast developing and leading other poor nations in the WTO and other forums. Western powers are
finding it difficult to divide the poor nations at the economic forums and so is also the case at the Climate Change
Conferences.

There is danger and risk in this climate of distrust and division among governments of the world for people everywhere.
These divisions and unresolved disagreements will create more threats for humanity. The efforts and vision of
sustainable development at this time is enveloped in an atmosphere of devilish disregard to the questions of survival.
We cannot talk of sustainable development and national interests at the same time. Globalization is being exploited by
richer nations to gain an upper hand and not for treating the McLuhanesque global village as one community.

It is true that our scientific knowledge at this time is short of fully understanding and answering questions that are being
thrown up by climate change and changing world environment. So, US President and other western leaders find the
environmental issues as mere exaggerated projections of scientists and human rightists. They, therefore, underestimate
the likely impact of climate change.

In the present international political scenario, we can see that climate change could escalate interstate and intrastate
competition and contest over natural resources. For India, this potential threat looms very large. The Great Game over
water, experts predict, will have Asia in its grip. China’s control over Tibet, which is the source of all major Asian
rivers except the Ganga, may create problems of continental dimensions for agriculture and sustainable development
and countries from India to Cambodia could find it difficult to sustain the growth of their economies. “Accelerated
melting of glaciers and mountain snows would affect river-water flows, although higher average temperatures are likely
to bring more rainfall in the tropics”, says Brahma
Chellany, a security expert.

Higher extremes of weather could create a rise in ocean levels and will “spur greater interstate and intrastate migration
—especially of the poor and the vulnerable—from the delta and coastal regions to the hinterland”. The influx of aliens
would disturb the local populations and “provoke a backlash” and internal and regional security will be threatened as
there would be strains on the resources. Already, Bangladesh, has been losing land to saltwater incursion and further
trend in this environmental change will force its people to enter India in hordes.

The whole concept of sustainable development is in jeopardy because of climate change and human security itself faces
the maximum threat. Climate Change will devastate the vulnerable economic sectors altogether. Disparities are bound to
get aggravated. The resource conflicts and uncontrollable migrations, failing states, spreading extremism and high
frequency of unpredictable weather are in store for the whole world, if governments do not come together to deal with
questions arising from the issue of changing climate and its impact on human environment.

The changing pattern of production and how it will impact humanity at large is illustrated by the diversion of food for
biofuels that has created a windfall for major farm industries while pushing the world’s poor to greater backwardness.
This is how the issues of environment and sustainable deve-lopment are inextricably linked. Another innovative but
highly coun-ter productive measure is the buying of carbon credits from poor nation-States to exceed carbon emission
targets of richer nations. This is proving as no more than mere “environmental grandstanding” and a form of “carbon
colonialism” because, ultimately, the net impact on global warming remains the same.
Nuclear Energy in India - Boon or Bane?
Points to be known:-
• Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity
in India after thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity.
• There are 442 nuclear reactors in the world. And some more nuclear plants are in construction.
• As of 2010, India has 20 nuclear reactors in operation in six nuclear power plants, generating
4,780 MW, while 5 other plants are under construction and are expected to generate an
additional 2,720 MW.
• India plans to increase nuclear power output to 64,000 MW by 2032. It aims to supply 25% of
electricity from nuclear power by 2050.
• Six nuclear power plants in India are located in Kaiga in Karnataka, Kakrapar
in Gujarat, Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, Narora in Uttar Pradesh, Rawatbhata in Rajasthan,
Tarapur in Maharashtra.
• India involved in ITER ( International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ), which consists
European Union, United States, Japan, China, South Korea, Russia as other members.
• Indo - US nuclear deal was done on July 18th, 2005, under which India agreed to separate its
civil and military nuclear facilities and place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work
toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.

In Favor:-
• Nuclear fission produces energy equal to 10 million times of the energy produced by burning of
an atom of fossil fuel or hydro or wind power.
• Through Nuclear plants, we can save our planet from Global warming as there is no release of
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, chlorofluorocarbon) during nuclear reaction.
• By burning fossil fuels, poisonous CO2 releases.
• Uranium is obtained from open-cut mines, which is not expensive. And Currently, the high
reserves of uranium found on Earth, are expected to last for another 100 years.
• Nuclear fuel is inexpensive and easier to transport.
• Nuclear Energy can be produced in large quantities over short periods of time.
• When compared to the fossil fuel waste, the nuclear waste which occurs due to the production of
nuclear power is small in quantity.
• We can save oil reserves which are going to be run out at some point.

In Against:-
• Nuclear plants are dangerous if it explodes. Thousands of people suffered in the nuclear accident
happened in Chernobyl in 1986. Recently, on march 11th, 2011, four nuclear reactors exploded
in Japan due to earth quake. And there are 17 nuclear plant explosions happened in the world till
now.
• Nuclear power releases radiation, which causes severe health problems to the people in it's
surroundings. The radiation released by this, lasts for tens of thousands of years in the
environment.
• Nuclear reactors last for about 40 to 50 years.
• Terrorists may take advantage of this and may produce nuclear weapons, which is a great risk
for entire world.
 • Even though it produces small amount of waste, it is highly hazardous. And the long-term storage
of this waste is too difficult.
• Nuclear plant is highly expensive.
• Uranium is not renewable. If the resources of uranium are completely used, there isn't any more.

Conclusion:-

It's definitely a bane as it is highly dangerous. What is the use of this power, when people
are suffering from severe health problems. It's not too difficult to live without power, but it's difficult to live
without good health. Growth of Technology should not be a danger for human survival. We should work
more on alternatives such as solar energy and hydroelectric energies etc.

Examination - Has it killed Education?

Points to be known:-
• Ancient China was the first country in the world that implemented a national wide standardized
test, which was called as 'Imperial examination' in 605 AD. The purpose of examination was to
select for able candidates for specific governmental positions. This examination system was later
applied to education.
• In closed book system, the test taker was tested based on the memory to respond to specific
items. In open book system, the test taker was tested based on the analyzing capability, test
taker can use a reference book and a calculator when responding to an item.

In Favor:-
• Most of the exams pattern is not sufficient to evaluate the real capabilities of the student.
• generally, there are some important questions which comes every year. So some students just
byhearting the answers for them like robots and getting good score even though they are not
aware of the actual concept.
• There are many exams annually like daily, weekly and monthly tests. So, students barely has any
time for extra curricular activities.
• In present generation schools and colleges unnecessarily pressuring everyone including kids to
get above 90%.
• Most of the private colleges are not conducting practicals, they are just focusing on theoretical
subjects to make their students toppers so that their college can become famous. By this
students are not knowing the applicability of subjects.
• Because of excess pressure of examinations some students committing suicide.
• Some of the persons, who corrects the paper are giving marks based on number of papers
without seeing the actual content. This discourages the students who have real worth.

In Against:-
• Examinations help to evaluate an individual academically.
• It helps the student understand the pressure which he/she will face in their professional lives.
• Exams help in facing competition.
• Exams help the students stay connected to their books.If there are no exams, most of the
students don't concern about studies.
• Through Exams students can know the areas which they are weak, so that they concentrate
more on those areas.
• If we qualify a person without exams, it may lead to critical situations like a doctor would kill many
of his patients.

Conclusion:-

Examinations are not killing the education, but the pattern of some exams are killing it. Questions must
in a way to make students think about it in order to write an answer. The weightage of practicals should
be more than the theoretical subjects. Exams must include projects, assignments and presentations to
judge the actual worth of a student.
Are Advertisements Beneficial or misleading?
Points to be known:-
• Advertisement are an integral part of modern life.
• Advertisement is a process of promotion of goods and services through media, such as TV,
Radio, Newspaper etc.
• The focus of today's advertisements is, by hook or crook, to promote the business.
In Favor:-
• All kinds of businesses depend on advertisement, particularly at the time of launching new
products.
• It is the fastest way to point across. Through advertising, anyone can reach large number of
people in a short period of time.
• People can know the whole range of products available in the market along with their price.
• People can select the products of their need.
• In the absence of advertisements they cannot possibly know which products are available in the
market.
• The recruitment columns in the newspapers offer wide opportunities to job seekers to get
employment as per their qualifications, experience and skills. Lakhs of people get suitable
placements due to these advertisements.
• There are business opportunities, sale and purchase of various types of goods from household
goods to old vehicles.
• There are advertisements about lost or found things, missing things.
• There can be alerts in commercials about a criminal on the loose, warning the people to be
careful.
• So many students buy newspaper for classifieds.
• Parents can search suitable match for their young children.
• Without advertising , we wouldn't have our favourite t.v. shows.
• Without advertising , newspapers would be very expensive and most people wouldn't buy it.
In Against:-
• The promoters only emphasise on the merits.
• Advertisers present the product as a favourite of the celebrities. This has great influence on
young minds.
• People are preferring ready made food than fruits and vegetables through advertising. These
new habits are adversely impacting their health.
• Some pesticides, though in very small quantities were found in common cold drinks. But
advertisers are not revealing this fact.
• All cosmetic products are advertised in the name of fruit extracts, the chemical contents are
neither displayed nor printed on the product cover.
• Teenagers are attracted by cigarette, alcohol and diet pills advertisements, and their health is
adversely effecting by these habits.
• Consumers tend to be manipulated by an advertisement's promise that the product will do
something special for them, which upsets their budget.
• An advertisement for an expensive good is likely to create an ill-feeling in the mind of a poor
teenager who cannot afford it. Such feelings often lead to hatred and anti-social activities.
Conclusion:-

The advertisers should keep fine balance between reality and urge to promote the product. There is
nothing in this world which is perfect, everything has some good points and some bad. It's better to
ignore the disadvantages and concentrate on the positive role that the advertisements are playing today
in laying bare the whole market before us so that we exercise a judicious choice. It's up to us to monitor
ourselves.
Are Foreign television channels destroying our culture?
Points to be known:-
• International channels available in India are TV5MONDE Asie, Deutsche Welle, CCTV 9,
Australia Network, KBS World, NHK World, TBN, BBC World, CNN, Russia Today, Channel
News Asia, F TV, INDIA Live24 24hr, HOME SHOP 24X7, TELE SHOPPING channel.
In Favor:-
• Now-a-days people can't able to talk pure mother tongue because they are watching foreign TV
channels most of the time.
• These channels have adverse effect on institution of marriage.
• Some people try to imitate the trends which are shown in TV.
• Fashion TV in the name of exhibiting new trends, vulgarity has been showing.
• Children and youth are easily fascinate towards bad things than the good things.
• After the introduction of foreign channels, there is a drastic change in our culture.

In Against:-
• Culture depends on a person's perception. Nobody can destroy our culture without our
permission.
• As world is becoming a global village, we must be ready to embrace all other cultures and have a
knowledge about it.
• By having foreign TV channels, we can able to know about world shows and can participate in
them.
• Discovery, National Geographic, BBC and much more foreign channels expand our knowledge.
• Through star sports, Ten sports we can see the sports of all countries.
• Cartoon Network, which is the best channel for kids.
• With the new DTH technology users can subscribe the channels as per their wish.
• Parents can lock those channels, which are dangerous to children.
• We can't blame foreign channels as some local channels are also destroying our culture.
• It's not their mistake because they are just following their culture.

Conclusion:-

Every coin has two sides, we should take only positive side. We are responsible for our deeds. But of
course, I&B ministers should take necessary steps for the controlled telecast of visual media whether it
is foreign or local channel.
Balance between Professionalism and Family
Points to be known:-
• Professionalism and family can be described as the two sides of the same coin as both are
equally important in one's life.
• Profession gives us an individual identity and financial security and family gives us an emotional
security.
• In today's hitech busy lifestyle one cannot find the time to spend with his/her family. They may
lead a luxurious life but there is absence of peace of mind.
• Without profession there will be no meaning of our life in present generation. Profession is not for
just to earn money for family but for our self satisfaction.
• With the development of newer technologiesand each and everything we need money not only
for fill our hunger but also for survival in the better society.
• professionalism is important but not as much as relationships.
• Professionalism is not all about being a workaholic. It is all about knowing your priorities and
acting professionally both at the workplace and at home.
• Being more workaholic leads to express frustration on family members. It will lead to a bad
impact on children.
• Some people are not spending with their family even in holidays to earn more money. They
should remember that money is just a tool for happiness. Money can't give someone who shares
our sorrows and happiness.
• If we concentrate only on professionalism we may get fame and money but we loose many
sweetest moments in our life.
• Going to abroad for just to earn money is not a good choice. He can't be replaced by money for
his family.
 • Some people are not concentrating on their children because they are giving much more priority
to their profession. So children may feel unsecured and it may lead to wrong path.
• To achieve goals sometimes we need to sacrifice family. For example the people in the army
,inorder to serve the country they have to stay away from their families.
• If both parents are working it's better to stay in joint family. So that children will be taken care by
their relatives.
• Avoid procrastination.
• Plan the weekends with family by keeping the office matters aside.
• Prioritize the things and plan effectively. So that one can have free time.
• We should not do office work in the home unless we really need to.
• If we spend some time with family, obviously there will be need to go to the psychiatrist for stress
relief.
• The ultimate goal of everyone is being happy. So, We must make ourselves and our family
happy.
• Make a habit of saying 'no' to the unimportant matters and spend that time with family.
• if one of the track is damaged in railway track, train will be derailed, so as in life, professionalism
& family plays same role.

• Inner strength plays a big role in balancing professionalism and family.

• If we learn to balance between professionalism and family, our children follows us and stays in
the correct path.
Conclusion:-

The important thing to balance profession and family is saying no to unimportant events. By planning
everything before, anyone can balance both. Only one of these can't fulfill a person. We should
remember the fact that the ultimate goal of anyone is happiness and peace.
E-Learning: A substitute for classroom learning?
Points to be known:-

• E-learning is essentially the computer and network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge.
• E-learning applications and processes include Web-based learning, computer-based learning,
virtual classroom opportunities and digital collaboration.
In Favor:-
• Through E-learning we can study from anywhere at anytime. All we need is just a computer and
internet connection.
• E-learning costs less than classroom learning.
• Through E-learning we can continue studies while doing full - time job.
• We can repeat the lesson for many times if we didn't understand the concepts.
• We can easily update new information / inventions.
• We can e-mail the doubts, and can be clarified.
• Student takes whole responsibility of himself in learning process. So that he becomes more
confident.
• Students will become more flexible with computer, which is much essential in present generation.
• We can do the course in the university of foreign countries without going to there.
• Students can become comfortable in face-face to conversations which is very important in
career.
In Against:-
• Through classroom learning, we can clarify our doubts immediately.
• Through classroom learning, we can increase our presentation skills.
• Through classroom learning, we can know how to behave with colleagues and superiors.
• Teachers in classroom can know whether students understand the topic or not, and explains the
topic clearly using general examples.
• Unemployment increases, in result our nation's GDP decreases.
Conclusion:-
 E-learning has its own advantages and disadvantages. It can't be a substitute for classroom
learning up to graduation level. But after graduation level E-learning can be a substitute for classroom
learning. If the student have more interest in studies, he can go for E-learning. If he has no interest, a
person must be there to create interest in him by general examples and to make him study, that's only
possible with class room learning.
Should euthanasia / mercy killing be legalized?
Points to be known:-

• Euthanasia means the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease
or an irreversible coma.
• Euthanasia is of two types, one is active and another is passive. Passive Euthanasia means
stopping the treatment which is of no use and allowing the patient to die peacefully.
Active Euthanasia means injecting the poison to make the patient die.
• Determining Euthanasia has two cases. One is the person is able to express his willingness to
die because of unbearable pain. And the second case is the patient is being in coma and unable
to express his views, in that case patient's relatives and doctors have to take the decision.
• In Netherlands, both active and passive euthanasia are legalized. In United Kingdom, only
passive euthanasia is legalized. In remaining countries, it isn't legalized.
• Earliest story of euthanasia is found in the Talmud (Avoda Zara 18). One of the ten martyrs,
Rabbi Hanina ben Teradyon, was burnt at the stake holding a Torah scroll. His students stood
around and said to him, “Rebbe, open your mouth. Let the flames and smoke enter your body
and choke you so that you will die quicker and not suffer this terrible torture.” He said, “No. God
gave me my soul. Only He should retrieve it from me.”
In Favor:-
• It should be allowed, if there is no hope of life and the pain is so high. And It should be decided at
least two qualified doctors.
• It should be legalized to the patients who are in 'persistent vegetative state' ( the state of patients
who are living through ventilators and there is no ray of hope).
In Against:-
• Science and technology is increasing rapidly, there is a chance of inventing medicines for
incurable diseases too.
• If euthanasia is legalized, some doctors won't think of alternatives for living.
• By legalizing this, many people may think as suicide is legalized. They easily go for suicide even
for small difficulties.
• If the patient is not in a state to express his/her views, his/her relatives may choose euthanasia
for him/her for their selfish reasons.
Conclusion:-

It should be legalized if the pain of the patient's pain is intolerable and there is no chance to
survive, but with strict rules like more than two doctors conformation and the patient's family acceptance.
Multinational Companies: Are they devils in disguise?
In Against:-

• The main advantage of MNCs is reducing of unemployment.

• India is a developing country. MNCs helping India to become developed country.
• They are helping us to connect with whole world, which is highly necessary for developing
countries in present generation.
• Some MNCs are including in social activities.
• They are introducing new products of cost effective.
• The employees of these companies are having high salary.
• Economy of India increases.
In Favor:-
• India has many intelligent people. But the intelligence is not used by India, and using for the
development of the other countries.
• Many talented people are settling in foreign countries to work for MNCs.
• The stress of MNC employees is more compared to others. There are many cases of mental
health problems in these employees.
 • The pay scale of Indian employees of these companies is less compared to foreign employees of
the same companies.
• Employees of these companies are working like robots, and not spending their valuable time with
their family.
• Some young people are attracted by the high salary and moulding their career wrongly for luxury
life.
• In these companies there is least scope of using creativity. Mostly, employees are just following
instructions of their superiors.
• By MNCs, local companies are having losses.
Conclusion:-

Multinational companies are not disadvantage to our country. India need MNCs to become
developed country. But employees of these companies should not take responsibility
for overloaded work just for high salary. So that, there can have fulfilment of passion and also fulfilment
of personal life.

Privatization will lead to less corruption.

Points to be known:-

• Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise,

agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector.
In Favor:-

• Employees of private companies are given high salaries, so they are much more motivated to
work, and less interest on corruption.
• Private companies take immediate action on those who take bribe. This creates fear in
employees to take bribe.
• If we take private airports, they take more care to keep them clean and to provide more facilities.
• Private companies have competitive spirit. So, they offer more features to public.
• Through privatization, our country's GDP increases from the taxes.
In Against:-
• There is no guarantee that privatization leads to less corruption, because there are some
companies in the news which did scam.
• The cost of products increases by privatization.
• If we take private petrol bunks, even though they keep petrol bunks clean, they charge high than
the bunks under government control.
• Our rights of demanding decreases by privatization.
Conclusion:-
Corruption does not depend on whether it's private or government, it completely depends on
individual's attitude. But by privatization, we can reduce corruption up to some extent.

Is Globalization Really Necessary?

Points to be known:-

• Some world historians attach globalization big bang' significance to 1492 (Christopher Colombus
stumbles on the Americas in search of spices) and 1498 (Vasco da Gama makes an end run
around Africa and snatches monopoly rents away from the Arab and Venetian spice traders).
In Favor:-
• Through Globalization developing countries can become developed countries.
• We can share technologies and inventions.
• We can sell our products all over the world.
• India has resources of skilled manpower. So through globalization other countries invests money
in India. And by that our economy increases.
• We can share the medical inversions which helps the patients of dangerous diseases.
• We can exchange resources such as petrol, coal etc.
 • People are communicating with the world through their own languages as we can translate
everything to our own language. So, their mother tongue will survive.
• We can study fantastic books of foreign authors.
In Against:-
• Through globalization, poor becomes poorer.
• There is a chance of culture.
• Non-globalized human societies will become extinct species.
• There may be a chance of forgetting their own mother tongue.
• Diseases like swine flu are spreading to other countries through the travelers.
• Due to Globalization unemployment may increases. For example, The people of USA are facing
unemployment, because so many people of different countries from all over the world are
migrating to USA and doing jobs there.
Conclusion:-
There are more advantages compared to disadvantages. Nothing is perfect in this world. So we
should see the positive side. In today's world Globalization is necessary.

Media is a mixed blessing/How ethical is media?

Points to be known:-

• Media is about all the ways you can get information — books, e-media, magazines,
newspapers, radio, and television.
• In present generation media is playing a very important role.
• Media is a freedom of speech especially in democratic countries.

In Against:-

• Media played a big role in getting independence to India as it created awareness in people.
• Through media, we can know the happenings around us.
• It is the communication from the country to country.
• We can know the jobs available and products available through advertising.
• It helps people to realize their duties.
• It helps citizens realize how people in the army lay their lives to save ours.
• It helps the country fight against issues like terrorism.
• It helps to punish the criminals soon.
• Media is reducing corruption by creating fear to take bribe as it is showing the pictures of the
people who are taking bribe.
In Favor:-
• In Mumbai attacks (26/11), media caused increase of the problem. Terrorists were able to see
what's happening there, and threw greneds at the commandos.
• Media creates a hype of everything.
• Through media rumors are spreading on celebrities.
• Most of the times their allegations are not true. This puts lives of many people and their career at
stake.
• News channels want to create a sensation in order to gain audience attention instead of giving
the actual information to the people.
• News channels are showing people, several ways to kill, and rob etc. By this number of criminals
is increasing day by day.
• Some politicians are using news channels to show news in their favor. People cannot able to
know the actual truth as different channel says the matter differently.
• It is making criminals as celebrities.
Conclusion:-
 Govt. should limit the no. of news channels and must regulate the channels which are already
present. Media must be ethical enough to preserve our traditions and culture and Indian values. We can
accept Media until it doesn't cross it's limits.

Commercialization of health care : Good or Bad ?

Points to be known:-

• Only 22 per cent of the health expenditure is public funded in India as compared to 44 per cent in
the US, or 95 per cent in countries like Sweden or 75 per cent in all the market economies of the
world taken together.
In Favor:-

• Private hospitals spend vast amounts of money to buy necessary equipments. So, they are
taking more money from patients.
• Private hospitals keep their hospitals clean, and take more care of their patients as it will lead to
a good name for their hospital.
• Government itself can't invest more money for hospitals. So, it's better to give responsibility to
private people.
• Doctors spend a huge amount while studying. Most of them are taking loans to study. So, how
can we expect them to do service to people without taking money.
• Because of commercialization of health care number of doctors is increasing. It's benefit to
patients.
In Against:-

• Some Doctors suggests to take tests which is of a high cost, even though it is a small problem.
• Poor people are dying as they can't bare the fees for treatment.
• People ready to pay any amount of money as health is much more important than it. So most of
the private hospitals are taking advantage of this.
• Some doctors used to write more medicines than enough just for pharmaceutical profit.
Conclusion:-
Government should improve the quality of treatment in government hospitals. So, those people
who are not having enough money can take good treatment. Then people can have a choice to choose
between private hospitals and Government hospital as per their comfort.

Bullet For Bullet: Is It The Right Policy?

In favor:-
• If someone is going to kill us, and if there is no chance to survive without killing them, then we
have a right to kill them under the Article 21 as per our constitution.
• If we keep on forgiving the terrorists, terrorism may not be terminated.
• If any person knows that we don't punish them, then number of criminals increases.
In Against:-
• As per Gandhiji's words "An Eye for an Eye leaves the whole world Blind", bullet for bullet is not a
right policy.
• Some people innocently doing crimes. In that case, we should not kill them. Instead we should
educate them about what is good and what is bad.
• If there is chance of discussing, we should discuss for better results, instead of killing.
Conclusion:-
Bullet for bullet depends on the situation. If we suffered because of them, there is no use by
suffering them by doing the mistake which they have done. If we have a threat from them, then Bullet
for bullet is the best policy. Otherwise just forgive them, and live your own life. Life is too short to be
serious.

In an over-regulated society corruption is

inevitable.(MICA)
Favour
• Forcing human mind to follow the rules which are unnecessary and biased make them revolutionary
and they move towards revange and corruption is one of the way to take that revange form
governement.
• Few people believe laws are made to be broken so this is case of the economic phenomenon of
regulatory arbitrage

Against
• corruption is a personal equation and holds good or bad depending on an individual's and
organization's personal value systems.Regulations , like democracy is a systemic phenomenon ;Both
have nothing to do with each other.

Conclusion
• Over regulating simple things of daily life can create problem in daily life but regulations are must to
run the complex morden life .

Profit is the only business of business.

Favour
• Definitely i feel Businessman getting richer now a days and they are not putting affort for the social
causes.
• The industries only propogating the all kinds of polloutions in society.
• The Social work done by the businessmen is minute as compared to the investment it is taking from
the society.
• The fundamental behind running business is Capitalization .Capitlaization is based on only profit.
• Homan life is improving day by day due to business because the kind of innovations happening due to
business is not possible without buiness.The kind of R&D facilities business putting for new
innovations is making life better and safer.
• Definition of business:Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately
owned and formed to earn profit to increase the wealth of owners.

Against
• Running a buiness a no more only profit because no organizational structure now a days allow buniess
money flow to a perticular person the profit go to each and every person in organization as per there
role.
• Each and every well build organization is giving there profits to charity.
• The Core capatalization is now no more there because organizations now managed by more then one
person.
• Business providing the jobs and revenues to society for what ever cost society give to business.
• In economics, a business (also called firm or enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity
designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers or corporate entities such as governments,
charities or other businesses.

Conclusion
• Buiness is definitely a profit making enterprise but the benifits society getting out of it is also
considerable.
• Due to buiseness only the human life is getting better and safer.

Group discussion forms the primary stage of contact between the interviewer and interviewee. These are
management entrance procedures by universities or also adopted at the recruitment stage by many companies.
Aided with qualifications and mutli faceted job related profiles candidates are all of the cream variety. Group
discussions once more separates the cream group and makes them eligible for further rounds of tests so as to be
chosen in an accurate career position.

Though group discussion sounds a cacophonic idea of many individuals, there stems many management points that
can be noticed in an individual. Skills of management level and expertise in cooling down a situation can easily be
recognized during discussion of a topic. This helps the conductor of group discussion to list out the right candidate.