Monthly Archives: September 2019

The first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit is now over. Will the self-proclaimed masters of the world at least attempt a global climate plan?

September 24 has come and gone without the most ardent of climate activists recognising in any significant manner that they had no views on the Youth Climate Summit at the United Nations (UN). The three-day-long United Nations Climate Action Summit culminated on September 23 and thousands of young people also marched and rallied for urgent corrective action.

The Youth Climate Summit was the first time that the UN got involved with a generational issue. The debate was not just about development, equity or climate change, it was and remains about something much deeper. It continues to deal with paradigms of human welfare, development and one could add, happiness.

The global leaders of so-called significant economies meet ever so often in different exotic locations to discuss issues which they consider grim. What these dialogues achieve is a well-kept secret because the statements post these events are full of claptrap, self-approving, ambiguous and trite phrases. No country seems to be keen to reduce its own carbon emission. The stronger ones urge the weaker ones (who depend upon them for economic support) to behave […]

It’s time to prepare for the future before the nature of raw materials and inputs changes so drastically that a new civilisational order is required

There comes a time in management of knowledge when phrases become clichés and are repeated ad nauseam, without many pausing to think about their meaning or significance. One such phrase is “The world is changing.”

What is often not clear is what is changing, by how much and in which direction? Unfortunately though, this does not even bother people sufficiently for them to pause. This is also true about the watershed times that we live in. Fossil fuel is now nearly passé. Hydrocarbon-based energy, to move vehicles and generate heat, is given a lease by the most optimistic of forecasters of not more than 30 to 40 years. The rest of the debate is known too well to bear recount.

Yet, there are obvious aspects which never figure in the debate. The overall consumption would indeed go down if the population was to remain a constant. The reduction in the quantum of the demand of the existing population is more than made up by the rise in demand from the population which is subsequently added. To bridge the […]

Mergers and recapitalisation of public sector banks are no guarantee of success but we don’t seem to learn from past experiences

Any person dealing with conflict management issues would agree that treating the symptoms seldom cures the cause. The symptoms are often a manifestation of the context, the personalities at play and the immediate trigger. However, the causes continue to fester. This led to a major observation made decades ago on conflict management that if two people cannot agree on something, check the assumptions. After all, logic is often found to support what one already believes to be true.  Before this write-up turns into an exploration of inter-personal dynamics, it is important to realise that the above references are just a bid to answer some of the more basic questions regarding organisations and the economy.

The private sector vs public sector debate has been running in India for decades. Whenever there is a public outcry against privately-run firms, the oft-heard refrain is “nationalise them.” When the trouble is with public sector undertakings (PSUs) the quick solution offered is “privatise them.” Empirical evidence has it that neither of the two has ever solved the basic ailment. The problem remains and the misery continues, […]