"Water and a City" - discussions following the screening

murali772 - 26-APR-2010

The movie brought out the scenario fairly well, but which most on Praja are quite aware of.

During the discussions that followed, I brought up the matter of the reported 40% odd losses, largely on account of the inefficiencies/ mismanagement in distribution (compared to less than 10% in an efficient system), and followed it up with a suggestion "if the kind of contract entered into between Mysore City Corporation and JUSCO, was not the way to address the issue?".

Prof Mohan Kumar (Civil Engg Dept, IISc) responded saying a study/ survey had been conducted by L&T and Anglian Waters (or, one of the other foreign players - I am not quite sure which) a few years back covering some parts of Bangalore (I thought I heard the name Fraser Town mentioned) at a cost of Rs 32 crores - did he mention World Bank funded?. He did not mention if any work was actually undertaken. But, went on to add that it raised all kinds of technical issues, like "how do you replace the pipes in an area like Avenue road, etc?"

Raison d'être for continuance of the Public Sector

murali772 - 24-APR-2010

Is this why they won’t disinvest Air India, kept afloat at massive expense to the taxpayer? In a violation of DGCA rules, an AI aircraft was pulled out of a scheduled flight from Delhi to Coimbatore in order to ferry IPL players, apparently at the behest of aviation minister Praful Patel’s daughter Poorna. It appears the public sector airline fulfils the private and nepotistic purposes of public servants.

For the full report in the TOI, click here.

Isn't this also why the government persists with BMTC/ KSRTC (check this), BESCOM, etc, so that they can further the interests of the Poorna Patels of this world? - all in the name of Socialism; the tax payer be damned.

Muralidhar Rao

Private Universities

murali772 - 13-MAR-2010

Amid protests and dharna from the opposition Congress and the JD(S), the Legislative Assembly on Friday adopted the Azim Premji University Bill, 2010, thus paving the way for the state’s first private university aimed at improving the quality of primary and higher education by providing training to teachers. The Alliance University Bill, 2010, another private university Bill, was also passed in the Assembly.

Both the Bills were adopted through the voice vote as the opposition parties staged a dharna in the well of the House, insisting on a joint select committee (JSC) of the house for a thorough deliberation on the Bill before getting it passed by the legislature. Opposition leader in the Assembly expressed fears that the passage of the Bill would open the floodgate for private universities in the absence of any set of regulations to govern them. Instead of placing a Bill for an individual university, the government should bring in a comprehensive private university Bill while listing out elaborate guidelines, they demanded.

Step-by-step privatisation of Air India likely

murali772 - 10-MAR-2010

Faced with accumulated losses of Rs 7,200 crore, national carrier Air India's deteriorating condition has forced the government to push for privatisation of the carrier. While the UPA government does not favour strategic sale, the civil aviation ministry and the Air India management are likely to consider a piecemeal approach to privatisation.

Railways to privatize

murali772 - 9-FEB-2010

Attempting an image makeover after opposing most major projects in her home state of West Bengal, railway minister Mamata Banerjee seemed to be going over the top in a bid to privatize every sector of the Indian Railways.

Right model from the left?

murali772 - 2-FEB-2010

When even die-hard Socialists seem to be reconciled to letting perennially sick public sector units (PSUs) being either privatised or left to waste away, Kerala is showing another way. The state is not just propping up haemorrhaging PSUs but is pulling them out of the red; some are even making decent profits.

Govt firm on privatising Escoms

murali772 - 19-NOV-2009

The Government is firm on privatising the Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) as per their policy. Both Central, State govts regard the move as key step in power reforms, and also for ensuring financial stability, Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa said here on Wednesday.

Mysore in the news - for right reasons!

murali772 - 10-NOV-2009

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC), which has privatised solid waste management in 48 wards of the 65 wards in the city, has bagged the Icon City award for best solid waste management. The award has been instituted by the Centre for Quality Management System, Jadhavpur University, Kolkata.