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Global Steel industry getting deeper into protectionist tariff rut
- Published on 22 August 2015
(Edited Image Courtesy: Tata Steel)
‘Slumping Yuan Threatens More Gloom for World’s Metals Producers.’ ‘Yuan Drop Leads India to Mull Steel Anti-Dumping Duties.’ ‘Increasingly cheap Chinese steel is concern for Europe-Eurofer.’
These recent headlines portend intensification of ongoing battle for anti-dumping duties and safeguards duties waged by steel companies from different countries against each other and especially against Chinese producers. A few countries have taken the safeguards duty row to Dispute Settlement Panel of World Trade Organization (WTO). Several countries have also sneaked in non-tariff measures as stringent product quality norms to protect domestic steel producers.
The tariff war has also cast shadow over China’s plea that it should be treated as market economy by all WTO members.
The steel producers in both developed and developing countries are currently going through tense moments following recent devaluation of Yuan by Chinese Government.
They believe that devaluation would make Chinese steel exports more injurious to their health. Hence the stepped-up clamour for protection from their respective governments.
Flawed Narrative on Land Acquisitions Obfuscate Growth & Jobs Agenda
- Published on 10 August 2015
(Annaji Attacking Land Ordnance - Edited Image Courtesy: Congress Party)
Political posturing by different parties as saviours of farmers’ land is hurting growth and jobs prospects.
Posturing has overshadowed the hurdles erected by government entities to delay and discourage developmental projects. The entities do so by flaunting their regulatory turf even as they merrily cede land to Slum Lords and squatters.
The obstructing entities include Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF), Department of Space, Department of Culture, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, defence forces and the authorities that maintain large swaths of government prime land in urban areas.
If we take the collective impact of all such constraints, then we can virtually write off forever the prospects for optimum harnessing of natural resources. Similar would be the case with ‘Make in India’ Initiative (M3I), which has been launched to reverse the alarming decline in share of manufacturing in the gross domestic product (GDP) during the last two decades.
Govt must break Parliament logjam over Lalitgate
- Published on 27 July 2015
Sushma breached core governance rules in helping Lalit Modi
(Edited Image Courtesy: Parliament)
Parliament impasse over Lalitgate should be resolved by looking at three key issues. These are: 1) abuse of discretionary powers; 2) violation of core governance rules named Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and prima facie breach of specific laws.
The Treasury and the Opposition have to act responsibly on these three dubious actions of disgraced External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj.
The initiative to break the stalemate must come from the Government, which is keeping all documents close to its chest. It has even stonewalled RTI queries on Lalitgate.
NDA Government knows that it would be left defenceless and faceless if it makes public all the documents. To judge whether Mrs Sushma’s role in Laligate is “humanitarian” or unethical, MPs must have access to all correspondence between Indian and British Governments during UPA & NDA regimes over the urgency to deport alleged economic offender Lalit Modi.
BJP’s stone-walling & mudslinging strategy is a de facto admission of the individual and collective guilt of Modi Government in aiding an accused to stay away from the long arm of the Law. The Government is leveraging Lokpal’s non-existence and implied threat to use Official Secrets Act to shield Mrs. Sushma. And it is also abusing official access to incriminating documents against Congress leaders to throw mud back at Congress to force it to back off.
Modi Government is thus acting as defendant, prosecutor and Judge all rolled into one!
Undo Constitutional Blunders in Governance of Delhi
- Published on 13 July 2015
(Delhi CM-Chaired DUSIB's mooted office-Image Courtesy: delhishelterboard.in)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has the knack of kicking up controversies to hog limelight as tantrums-obsessed item boy of Indian Politics.
Mr Kejriwal has thus botched the legitimate case to pull Delhi out of governance chaos. It resulted from adoption of Union Territory (UT)-State hybrid model in 1993. The model has spawned nebulous, conflicting and multiple roles of different entities. The chaos got compounded with break-up of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) into three bodies in 2012.
Mr. Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) very well knew the challenges of governing Delhi under this hodge-podge system at the time of State polls. Notwithstanding the limited powers of CM, he still can get the best of this model and make his mark as a deft political administrator. He should have made a cogent case for streamlining governance instead of behaving like a street-smart sloganeer.
Mr. Kejriwal is virtually holding national capital to ransom by throwing tantrums to press his short-sighted demand for full statehood. This is nothing but abuse of the majority mandate. People gave AAP thumping victory to improve Delhi. They did not vote for AAP for arm-twisting the Centre and Parliament to gratify immediately its lust for power.