ஜென்னி கார்ல் மார்க்ஸ்

மூலதனம்’ நூலை எழுதி “கம்யூனிஸத்தின் தந்தை’ என்று பெயரெடுத்த கார்ல் மார்க்சின் மனைவியின் பெயர்தான் ஜென்னி. மார்க்சை அறிந்த உலகிலுள்ள மக்கள் அனைவரும் அவரது மனைவி ஜென்னியைப் பற்றியும் அறிவர். அன்பு நிறைந்த பெண்ணிடம் காதல் கொள்வது என்பது ஒரு மனிதனை மறுபடியும் மனிதனாக்குகிறது என்று குறிப்பிட்டார் மார்க்ஸ். மார்க்சைவிட ஜென்னி 4 வயது மூத்தவர். ஜென்னியின அழகு, அமைதியான பண்பு, சிறந்த கல்வி அறிவு ஆகியவை கார்ல் மார்க்சைப் பெரிதும் கவர்ந்தது.
மார்க்சும் ஜென்னியும் ஜெர்மனியிலிருந்தும், பிரான்சிலிருந்தும், பெல்ஜியத்திலிருந்தும் மாறி மாறி விரட்டப்பட்டனர். மனிதன் தன்னுடைய சக மனிதனின் உயர்வுக்காகவும், நன்மைக்காகவும், பாடுபடுவதன் மூலமே அவன் தன்னை உயர்த்திக் கொள்கிறான். பொது நன்மைக்காகப் பாடுபடுவதன் மூலம் தங்களைச் சிறப்பித்துக் கொள்ளும் மனிதர்களைத்தான் வரலாறு மிக உயர்ந்த மனிதர்கள் என்று அடையாளம் காட்டுகிறது. மிக அதிகமான அளவு மக்களை மகிழ்ச்சியடைச் செய்யும் மனிதன்தான் மகிழ்ச்சிகரமான மனிதன் என்று வரலாறு வரவேற்கிறது. மார்க்ஸின் புரட்சிகரமான பணிகளால் காவல்துறை ஜென்னியையும் கைது செய்தது. அவர் இருண்ட சிறைக்குள் தள்ளப்பட்டார். அந்தச் சிறையில் வீடற்ற பிச்சைக்காரர்கள், நாடோடிகள், நீசத்தனமான கெட்ட நடத்தை உள்ள பெண்கள் ஆகியோர் காவலில் வைக்கப்படும் இடத்தில் ஒரு நாள் இரவைக் கழித்தார்.
மார்க்சின் கையெழுத்து மிகவும் மோசமாக இருக்கும். அதை யாரும் எளிதில் படிக்க முடியாது. அந்தக் கையெழுத்தைப் படித்து, அதைப் பிரதிகள் எடுக்க வேண்டிய வேலையையும் ஜென்னி செய்து வந்தார். அவருடைய கையெழுத்து மோசமாக இருந்ததால்தான், அவருக்கு எங்கும் வேலை கிடைக்கவில்லை.
மார்க்சோ, ஜென்னியோ அவர்கள் படுகின்ற கஷ்டங்கள் பொதுமக்களுக்குத் தெரியாதபடி தான் வாழ்ந்தார்கள். வறுமையிலும் நோயிலும் அடிபட்டதால், ஜென்னியின் உடல் மகனுக்கு பால் கொடுக்கும் நிலையில் இல்லை. என் மகனுக்கு இருந்த பசியில் அவன் பலமாக உறிஞ்சியதன் விளைவாக எனது மார்பு உரசலுக்கு இலக்காகி, தோல் வெடித்து விட்டது. அதனால் நடுங்கும் அவனது சிறிய வாய்க்குள் இரத்தம் கொட்டியது என்று மனம் திறந்து குடும்ப நண்பருக்கு எழுதிய கடிதத்தில் ஜென்னி குறிப்பிட்டார்.
ஒரு நேரத்தில் மார்க்ஸ் குடும்பம் உணவின்றித் தவிக்க ஆரம்பித்தது. மார்க்சின் கோட்டும் பேண்டும், அடகுக் கடைக்குப் போய்விட்டன. எனவே அவர் வெளியே வர முடியாமல் இருந்தார். கடிதம் எழுதுவதற்குக் கூட வெள்ளைத் தாள் வாங்க முடியாத நிலையில் இருந்தனர். வறுமையின் உச்சக்கட்டத்தில் இருந்த இந்த நேரத்தில் அவர்களுடைய சின்னஞ்சிறு மகள் பிரான்சிஸ்கா மரணமடைந்தாள். அந்த மகளைப் புதைப்பதற்குக் கூட இருவரும் மிகவும் சிரமப்பட்டனர். அதுவும் கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் முக்கிய பண்டிகையான ஈஸ்டர் பண்டிகையின்போதுதான் மரணமடைந்தாள்.
அந்த நேரத்தில் ஒரு பிரெஞ்சு அகதி ஒருவர் இங்கிலாந்தின் பணமான இரண்டு பவுண்டு கொடுத்து உதவினார். அந்தப் பணம் தான் சவப்பெட்டி வாங்குவதற்குப் பயன்பட்டது. அந்தக் குழந்தை பிறந்தபொழுது தொட்டில் வாங்குவதற்குக்கூட அவர்களிடம் பணமில்லை. இறந்த போது சவப்பெட்டி வாங்கவும் முடியவில்லை என்கிறார் ஜென்னி.
இதன்பிறகு எட்கர் என்ற பெயருடைய அவர்களுடைய எட்டு வயது மகன் ஒரு வருடம் நோயினால் அல்லல்பட்டு மரணமடைந்தார். உருக்கு போன்ற எதற்கும் கலங்காத நெஞ்சுரமுள்ள மார்க்சையே மகனின் மரணம் நிலைகுலையச் செய்துவிட்டது. 1880-ம் ஆண்டில் ஜென்னியை நுரையீரல் நோய் பாதித்தது. பிறகு அது ஈரல் புற்றுநோயாக மாறியது.
அந்தப் புற்றுநோயின் கொடுமையால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட ஜென்னி 1881-ம் ஆண்டு டிசம்பர் மாதம் 2-ம் தேதி காலமானார். புற்றுநோயின் காரணமாக ஏற்பட்ட வேதனைகளையும் சித்திரவதைகளையும் சகித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தார். ஆனால் ஜென்னியின் நகைச்சுவை குணம் ஒரு வினாடி கூட அவரைவிட்டு அகலவில்லை.
உயிர்போகும் கடைசி வினாடி வரை நல்ல நினைவுடன் இருந்தார். கடைசியாகத் தன் கணவர் மார்க்சிடம் என்னுடைய பலம் குறைந்து வருகிறது என்று கூறினார். ஜென்னி இறந்ததைக் கண்ட மார்க்சின் உயிர் நண்பர் ஏங்கல்ஸ், “மார்க்ஸ் செத்து விட்டார்’ என்று குறிப்பிட்டார். டிசம்பர் 5-ம் தேதி லண்டனில் ஏழை, எளிய சாமான்ய மக்களுக்காக ஒதுக்கப்பட்ட ஹைகேட் என்னுமிடத்திலுள்ள கல்லறையில் ஜென்னி மார்க்ஸ் அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார்.
உயிருக்குயிராக நேசித்த மனைவியின் இறுதி ஊர்வலத்தில் மார்க்ஸ் கலந்து கொள்ள முடியாதபடி மிகவும் பலவீனமாக அதுவும், மயங்கிய நிலையில் இருந்தார்.
எல்லாவற்றையும் இழந்து நின்ற இவர்களின் வாழ்க்கைப் போராட்டம், எல்லாருக்கும் எல்லாம் கிடைக்க வேண்டும் என்பதே.
ஏங்கெல்ஸ்: ஜென்னி – மார்க்ஸ் ஆகியோர் வாழ்வில் அவ்வப்போது தோன்றிய வசந்தம் – ஏங்கெல்ஸ். மார்க்ஸ் மறைந்தபோது மூலதனத்தின் முதல் பாகம் மட்டுமே வெளியிடப்பட்டது. அவரது மறைவுக்குப் பின்னர் மூலதனத்தின் 2ஆம் பாகமும் – 3ஆம் பாகமும் வெளிவர முழுப்பங்கு வகித்தவர்தான் ஏங்கெல்ஸ். இவர் ஜென்னிக்கும் மார்க்சுக்கும் தத்துவரீதியாகவும் – பொருளாதார ரீதியாகவும் துணை நின்றதோடல்லாமல் _ தன் மறைவுக்குப் பின் தன் சொத்தை எல்லாம் ஜென்னி – மார்க்சின் குழந்தைகளுக்கு உரிமையாக்கியவர். ஏங்கெல்ஸ் என்ற அருமை நண்பர் இல்லையெனில் ஜென்னி _ மார்க்ஸ் ஆகியோரின் உழைப்பின் பயன் உலகுக்கு முழுமையாகச் சென்று சேர்ந்திருக்காது. இவர்களின் ஒட்டுமொத்தச் சிந்தனையின் சாறுதான் பாட்டாளிகள் இழப்பதற்கு அவர்களின் அடிமைத் தளைகளைத் தவிர ஏதுமில்லை; ஆனால், பாட்டாளிகள் பெறுவதற்கோ ஓர் பொன்னுலகம் இருக்கிறது. ஆகவே, உலகத் தொழிலாளர்களே ஒன்றுபடுங்கள். இச்சாறு இன்றும் தொழிலாளர்களுக்கு உயிரூட்டுகிறது. பொருளாதார ஏற்றத் தாழ்வை ஒழிக்க இவர்கள் ஆற்றிய பணிக்கு நிகராக தந்தை பெரியார் நம் நாட்டில் வருணஜாதி வேற்றுமைகளை வேரோடு அழிக்க அறிவாயுதம் ஏந்தினார்.
எல்லாவற்றையும் இழந்து நின்ற இவர்களின் வாழ்க்கைப் போராட்டம் எல்லோருக்கும் எல்லாம் கிடைக்க வேண்டும் என்பதற்காகவே. 1881ஆம் ஆண்டு டிசம்பர் 2ஆம் நாள் உயர்வான காதலுக்கும், பொறுமைக்கும், சகிப்புத் தன்மைக்கும் இலக்கணமாக விளங்கிய ஜென்னி என்ற மலர் பூமியில் உதிர்ந்தது.
இவர்தம் சிந்தனைகள் ஏதும் இல்லாத மக்களை அடிமைப்படுத்தும் ஆதிக்க சக்திகளுக்குப் பெரும் அச்சுறுத்தலாக இன்றும் இருந்து கொண்டுள்ளது

Fifteen Free Online Education Resources That Will Make You Smarter

Being a successful entrepreneur means you have to wear a lot of hats, especially when your company is just starting out and you don't have enough employees to cover all the areas you need.

Learning the new skills necessary to start a new business can be expensive, but fortunately the initiative for free, high-quality, educational resources online has only continued to grow in the past few years.

Below are some of the resources available to learn more about marketing, entrepreneurship, business management and more.

1. CodeAcademy

This great resource offers free interactive programming sessions to help you learn programming languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP. You can save your progress as you go with a free account. Learning to code can help entrepreneurs fix bugs if they don't have a developer, or even go down the road of building their own website or products (such as apps).

2. HubSpot Academy 

The free certification program offers courses on inbound marketing, including website optimization, landing pages and lead nurturing. These skills are a must for business owners as they try to grow their business and online presence.

3. Moz

If you want to learn search-engine optimization to make sure your website is as visible as possible, check out this treasure trove of resources from SEO leader, Moz. Besides having the free Moz Academy, there are also webinars (live and recorded), and beginner's guides to SEO, social media and link building.

4. LearnVest

The most successful entrepreneurs know how to manage their money both on a business and personal side. In addition to having extremely affordable finance classes, LearnVest also offers some of its classes for free, such as "Building Better Money Habits" and "How to Budget."

5. Niche consultant courses

The Internet has made for a coaching boom, which is extremely helpful to entrepreneurs who want to learn how to start or better a business in a specific niche. Some great coaches and organizations that routinely have free courses and ebooks on building a business include Natalie MacNeil and MyOwnBusiness. Try searching "niche keyword" + "business course" to find one most applicable to you.

6. edX

This free site currently has over 300 courses on a variety of topics, including "Financial Analysis and Decision Making" and "Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer?" These courses not only cover business in general, but can also you help learn more skills that are applicable to your industry, such as big data or environmental conservation.

7. Khan Academy

This free learning resource was created to give everyone access to education in math, science, art, technology and more. There are over 100,000 interactive exercises to put your education to practical use. Even though many of the courses are geared toward high school students, there are several courses that would be good for anyone to have a refresher on, such as taxes and accounting.

8. MIT Open Courseware

These are actual courses taught at MIT and offered for free on the site for viewing and reading at your discretion. The school put together an entrepreneurship page that lists available courses that are beneficial to new business owners. Courses include "Early State Capital" and "The Software Business."

9. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

This university has almost 100 free on-demand college courses that are extremely applicable to entrepreneurs, including ones that cover business planning, operations and management and small-business tax.  

10. Coursera

Much like MIT's Open Courseware, this site has 114 educational partners that provide free courses to almost 10 million users. One benefit to Coursera is that there are very specific courses that fit perfectly into particular niches, such as "Data Management for Clinical Research" from Vanderbilt University and "Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace" from the University of Maryland. Its wide network of partners allows for a greater selection.

11. OpenCulture

This site isn't an educational platform on its own, but rather collects and shares free resources from around the web. Its list of 150 free online business courses is a great resource because it offers classes from iTunes U and other lessons on video and audio. The site also has lists of free audiobooks, certificate courses and other online courses.

12. YouTube

It's probably unsurprising to most users that YouTube is one of the world's largest search engines, as there are literally videos on just about anything you can imagine. From TED talks to recorded presentations on building a business, it's a great free resource on just about any topic.

13. Alison

This platform offers free online courses from some of the most well-known names on the internet today, including Google, Microsoft, and Macmillan. With over 4 million users and over 600 courses already, it covers topics such as economic literacy, personal development, and business/enterprise skills.

14. Saylor

The Saylor Foundation offers tuition-free courses and also works with accredited colleges and universities to offer affordable credentials. Its course offerings are similar to what you'd see when working toward a bachelor's degree.

15. Podcasts

Even though it's not an official course, podcasts are an amazing (and easily digestible) way to become a better entrepreneur. Podcasts can be listened to via streaming on your computer (if that certain podcast offers it) or via iTunes for iOS and apps such as Podcast Republic for Android. Podcasts such as Entrepreneur of Fire already garner thousands of listeners every episode and are a great way to learn the most up-to-date information and strategies possible. Another good list of entrepreneur podcasts include Think Entrepreneurship's.

Whether you learn best by audio, video or text, this list of 15 learning resources for entrepreneurs can help you learn more about building a business, accounting and getting customers.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/

The Eighteen Most Corrupt Countries In The World

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/

உலக நாடுகளில் லஞ்சம் வாங்கினால் என்ன தண்டனை தெரியுமா?

லஞ்சம் வாங்குபவர்களுக்கு அதிகபட்ச தண்டனை வழங்கினால், லஞ்சத்தை ஒழிக்கலாம் என்பது பலரது வாதம் லஞ்சத்துக்கு எந்த நாட்டில் என்ன தண்டனை?

# ஜஸ்லாந்து: இங்கு தண்டனை என்னவோ 2 வருட சிறைச்சாலைதான். அதற்கு முன்பு லஞ
சம் வாங்கிச் சேர்த்த பணம் முழுவதும் பறிமுதல் செய்யப்படும். (ஊழல் குறைவான நாடுகள் வரிசையில் இதற்கு முதலிடம்).

# எகிப்து: இங்கு லஞ்சம் வாங்குவது கிரிமினல் குற்றம். நிரூபிக்கப்பட்டால் ஆயுள் முழுவதும் சிறைதான். அதுவும் உள்ளே கடுமையான வேலைகளைச் செய்யவைத்து பெண்டு நிமிர்த்துவார்கள்.

# அர்ஜெண்டினா: சிறை தண்டனையோடு வேலையும் பறிபோய்விடும். விடுதலையான பிறகும் சாகும் வரை வேறு வேலை தர மாட்டார்கள்.

# செக் குடியரசு: சிறை தண்டனை, வேலை காலி, வீடு மற்றும் பிற சொத்துக்கள் பறிக்கப்படும்.

# நைஜர்: இங்கு தண்டனை கொஞ்சம் வித்தியாசமானது. லஞ்சம் பெற்றது உறுதியானால் அரசியல் மற்றும் குடி உரிமைகள் பறிக்கப்படும்.

# இங்கிலாந்து: சிறை தண்டனையுடன் வாக்களிக்கும் உரிமையும் ரத்து செய்யப்படும்.

# சீனா: கீழ்மட்ட அரசாங்க அலுவலர்களுக்கு சிறை தண்டனை. உயர் பொறுப்பில் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு மரண தண்டனையும் உண்டு. விஷ ஊசி போட்டு நொடிகளில் சாகடித்து விடுவார்கள். முன்பெல்லாம் துப்பாக்கியால் நெற்றியில் சுட்டுச் சாகடிப்பார்கள். துப்பாக்கி குண்டுக்கான செலவு உறவினர்களிடம் வசூலிக்கப்படும்.

எல்லாம் சரி இந்தியாவில்..? அரசு ஊழியராக இருந்து லஞ்சம் வாங்கினால் அதிகபட்சம் ஒரு வருடம் வரை சிறை தண்டனை அல்லது அபராதம் அல்லது இரண்டுமே! உணவு, மது, பொழுதுபோக்கு போன்றவற்றை லஞ்சமாக.... ஸாரி 'கிஃப்ட்டாக' வாங்கினால் அபராதம் மட்டுமே. அரசியல்வாதியாக இருந்து லஞ்சம் வாங்கினால் அப்படியே எம்.எல்.ஏ-வாகி, அமைச்சர் ஆவதுதான் 'தண்டனை'!

Do you know about the Piaggio APE 50? contains all the elements needed for living

 It’s the cutest little three wheeled vehicle you’ll ever set your eyes on. Do you love camping? How about totally on your own? How about camping totally on your own inside an APE? The project you’re about to set your eyes on is called the “Bufalino,” and it’s a one-person camper using the APE 50 as its platform. Made for absolute flexibility, the Bufalino contains all the elements needed for living. Only the engine, frame, chasis, and parts of the cab were kept perfectly APE.
The APE is a unique vehicle in that it is exempt from taxes in some countries because of its extremely economical working nature. It is also allowed in certain metropolitan areas that larger cars are not. It uses only a tiny amount of gas. It’s super cute.
Inside the Bufalino you’ll find a bed, two seatings, a cooking zone, basin, relatively lots of storage, a refrigerator, and more. Designer: Cornelius Comanns

Why I Think This World Should End

பணச் செலவில்லாத விவசாயம்...!

நம் இந்திய நாட்டில் நிலத்தை நம் தாயோடு ஒப்பிடுகின்றோம். மேலும் அதை உயிரோட்டம் உள்ளதாகவும், வளமானதாகவும், அதில் செய்யும் வேளாண்மையை ஒரு புனிதமான தொழிலாகவும் கருதுகின்றோம். விவசாயம் செழிக்க நிலம் வளமானதாக இருக்க வேண்டும். நிலத்தின் வளத்தை கடந்த ஐம்பது ஆண்டு காலமாக நாம் இரசாயண உரம் பூச்சிக் கொல்லிகளை பயன்படுத்தி மண்ணை மலட்டுத் தன்மைக்கு கொண்டு வந்துவிட்டோம்.
மக்கள் தொகை வளர்ச்சிக்கேற்ப உற்பத்தியை அதிகரிக்க வேண்டும் என்பதற்காக “பசுமை புரட்சி” என்ற பெயரில் நவீன இரசாயண முறைகள் விவசாயத்தில் புகுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. இதனால் மண்ணின் அமைப்பும் அதில் உள்ள நீரும் விஷமாக மாறுகின்றது. இரசாயண பூச்சிக் கொல்லிகளை பயிர்களுக்குத் தெளிப்பதால் அது காற்றில் பரவி அதை சுவாசிக்கும் மனிதனுக்கு ஆஸ்துமா, சைனஸ் போன்ற வியாதிகளை உருவாக்குகின்றன. செயற்கை உரங்களை இடுவதால் பயிர்கள் பசுமையாக, மிருதுவாகப் பூச்சி எதிர்ப்பு திறனின்றி வளர்கின்றன. பயிர்கள், பூச்சிகள் தாக்குதலுக்கு உள்ளாகிறது. இந்த பூச்சிகளை அழிக்க மீண்டும் இராசயணப் பூச்சிக் கொல்லிகளைப் பயன்படுத்துகின்றோம். இதனால் மண் கார அமிலத் தன்மை அவ்வப்போது மாற்றப்படுகின்றது. மண்ணில் உள்ள பயன்தரக் கூடிய நுண்ணுயிர்கள், மண் புழுக்கள் அழிக்கப்படுகின்றன. இதனால் மண் வளம் குறைந்து உப்பு மண்ணாக மாறி வளம் குறைந்து பலனற்ற மண்ணாகி மாறிவரும் அவலநிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.
எனவே விவசாயிகள் குறுகிய கால நன்மைக்காக இரசாயண உரங்களை பயன்படுத்துவதை தவிர்த்து இயற்கை உரங்களை தயாரித்து பயன்படுத்த முன் வரவேண்டும். இயற்கை உரம் பயன்படுத்தும்போது பக்க விளைவுகள் அற்ற, உயிராற்றல் கொண்ட, நீண்ட நாள் பயன்தரக்கூடிய இயற்கை விவசாய வாழ்வு முறை கிடைக்கும்.
வேளாண் பயிர்களில் ஏற்படும் பூச்சிகள் அவைகளை எதிர் கொள்ளும் விதம் பற்றி இனி காண்போம்.
பூச்சிகள், கரையான்கள் மற்றும் புழுக்கள் முதலியன தாவரங்களுக்கு பாதிப்பை விளைவிக்கின்றன. எனவே இவைகள் பெஸ்ட் (Pest) எனப்படும். மனிதனின் இயல்பான சுகாதாரத்தையும், பொருளாதார நிலையையும், தாவர வளர்ச்சியையும் குறைக்கின்ற பூச்சியினங்கள் ‘பெஸ்ட்ஸ்’ என வரையறுக்கலாம். இவைகள் உற்பத்தியின் அளவையும், அதன் தன்மையையும் குறைக்கின்றன. தானிய உற்பத்தியில் 30% பூச்சிகளின் செயல்களினால் அழிக்கப்படுகின்றது.
மேலும் பூச்சிகள் வேளாண் பயிர்களை உணவிற்காக நாடுகின்றன. இவைகளை 3 வகையாக பிரிக்கலாம்.
1. கடித்து மற்றும் மென்று தின்னும் வாயுறுப்புகளுடைய பூச்சிகள்.
2. துளையிட்டு உணவை உறிஞ்சும் வாயுறுப்புகளையுடைய பூச்சிகள்.
3. நோய் கிருமிகளைப் பரப்பும் பூச்சிகள்.
மேற்கண்ட பூச்சி வகைகள் தாவரங்களின் பல பாகங்களில் அழிவை உண்டு பண்ணுகின்றன. அதாவது விதைகள், தாவரத்தின் தண்டுகள், வேர்கள், மலர், மொட்டுகள், கனிகள் ஆகிய பாகங்களில் தாவர வளர்ச்சியை சிதைக்கின்றன.
பயிர்களுக்கு சேதத்தை உண்டுபண்ணும் இவ்வகைப் பூச்சிகளை அழிக்க நாம் பொதுவாக இரசாயண பூச்சி கொல்லி மருந்துகளை பயன்படுத்துகின்றோம். (உ.ம்.) டயல்டிரின், எண்ட்ரின், ம்ம்வீ, யக்ஷிளீ, டயாசினோன், பெனிட்ரோதியான், பென்தியான், டெமக்ரான், எக்காளஸ், மானோ குட்டபாஸ், டைத்தீன், செவீன் பவுடர், எண்டோசல்பான் இன்னும் எத்தனை வகையோ...
பயிர்களுக்கு இரசாயண பூச்சிக் கொல்லிகளை பயன்படுத்துவதற்கு பதிலாக மூலிகை மூலம் “பூச்சி விரட்டி கசாயம்” பயன்படுத்துவது மிகவும் நல்லது. அவை தயாரிப்பது மிகவும் எளிது, சிக்கனமானதும் கூட, பக்க விளைவு இல்லாத அற்புத வீநுஹிணூளீ ஆகும்.

பூச்சி விரட்டி :-
தேவையான பொருட்கள் : (1) ஆடா தொட இலை (2) நொச்சி இலை (3) வேம்பு இலை (4) எருக்கு இலை (5) காட்டாமணக்கு இலை (அ) புங்கன் இலை.
செய்முறை : மேற்கண்ட இலைகளை வகை வகையாக எடுத்து ஒரு உரலில் போட்டு நன்கு இடிக்க வேண்டும். நன்கு மசிந்த பிறகு அவைகளை ஒரு மண்பானையில் போட்டு இவைகளுடன் பசுமாட்டு ஹோமியத்தையும் கலந்து (20 லிட்டர்) ஊறல் போட வேண்டும். மண்பானையை துணியால் வேடு கட்டி நிழலில் வைத்து தினமும் காலை மாலை நன்கு கலக்கிவிட வேண்டும். (வலமிருந்து இடமாக, இடமிருந்து வலமாக சுமார் 10 முறை) கலக்கி வர வேண்டும். 1 வாரத்திற்கு பிறகு பசும்பால் அல்லது மோர் ஊற்றலாம். 21 நாட்களுக்கு பிறகு மண் பானையில் உள்ள கரைசலை நன்கு வடிகட்ட வேண்டும். வடிகட்டிய பிறகு கிடைக்கும் அந்த ‘கரைசலுக்கு’ பூச்சி விரட்டி அல்லது பயிர் வளர்ச்சிக்கான வீநுஹிணூளீ எனப்படும்.
பயன்படுத்தும் முறைகள் :-
10 லிட்டர் தண்ணீரில் 1 லிட்டர் கரைசல் கலந்து ஸ்பிரேயர் மூலம் பயிர்களுக்கு தெளிக்கலாம். நெல், கடலை, எள், உளுந்து, முந்திரி, பழ வகை மரங்கள் இவைகளுக்கு பயன்படுத்தலாம்.
பயன்கள் :-
1. இக் கரைசலை பயன்படுத்துவதால் நன்மை தரும் பூச்சிகள் அழிவதில்லை.
2. பயிர்களுக்கு கேடு விளைவிக்கும் பூச்சிகள் விரட்டியடிக்கப்படுகின்றன.
3. பயிர்க்கு இக் கரைசல் உரமாகவும் பயன்படுகின்றது. (75% தாழைச்சத்து, மணிச்சத்து, சாம்பல் சத்து; 25% பூச்சி விரட்டியாக பயன்படுகின்றது)
4. மண்ணில் உள்ள நுண்ணுயிர்கள் பாதுகாக்கப்படுகின்றன.
5. பயிர் கருமையாகவும், விளைச்சல் அமோகமாகவும் இருக்க இக் கரைசல் உதவுகின்றது.
6. மண் வளம் பாதுகாக்கப்பட்டு நஞ்சு இல்லாத உணவு கிடைக்கின்றது.
7. இரசாயண பூச்சி கொல்லி மருந்து செலவைவிட இக் கசாயம் தயாரிக்க செலவு மிகவும் குறைவு.

What does “good governance” mean?

Security Council meeting and voting on Syrian matters. Photo: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

 “Good governance” is a term that has become a part of the vernacular of a large range of development institutions and other actors within the intenational arena. What it means exactly, however, has not been so well established. Rachel Gisselquist highlights the problem of conceptual clarity when it comes to “good governance” and why this is problematic for the practical outcomes that development institutions and the like are trying to achieve.

♦♦♦

Almost all major development institutions today say that promoting good governance is an important part of their agendas. The outcome document of the recent 2011 Busan High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness further reflects these commitments. In a well-cited quote, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that “good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development”.

Despite this consensus, “good governance” is an extremely elusive objective. It means different things to different organizations, not to mention to different actors within these organizations (to make matters even more confusing, governance experts also routinely focus on other types of governance —global governance, corporate governance, IT governance, participatory governance and so on — which may be related only peripherally to the good governance agenda vis-à-vis domestic politics and administration (which is our focus here).

Good governance as a concept

In general, work by the World Bank and other multilateral development banks on good governance addresses economic institutions and public sector management, including transparency and accountability, regulatory reform, and public sector skills and leadership. Other organizations, like the United Nations, European Commission and OECD, are more likely to highlight democratic governance and human rights, aspects of political governance avoided by the Bank. Some of the many issues that are treated under the governance programmes of various donors include election monitoring, political party support, combating corruption, building independent judiciaries, security sector reform, improved service delivery, transparency of government accounts, decentralization, civil and political rights, government responsiveness and “forward vision”, and the stability of the regulatory environment for private sector activities (including price systems, exchange regimes, and banking systems).

In short, working uses of the term “good governance” include a variety of generally “good” things. But these “good” things do not necessarily fit together in any meaningful way. Indeed, good governance would be a great example of a poorly specified concept for an introductory course in social science methodology. What makes a concept good? In a 1999 article, political scientist John Gerring spelled out eight “criteria of conceptual goodness” that provide a useful framework. Four of these criteria are especially relevant here:

• First, “good governance” lacks parsimony. Unlike good concepts, good governance has endless definitions, and we always need the details of each to understand if we are talking about the same thing.
• Second, “good governance” lacks differentiation. Well-governed countries often sound a lot like functioning liberal democracies, for instance, and it is not clear how they differ.
• Third, “good governance” lacks coherence. Its many possible characteristics — from respect for human rights to efficient banking regulations — do not clearly belong together.
• Fourth, and most important, “good governance” lacks theoretical utility. It confuses, rather than aids, in the formulation of theory and the related project of hypothesis testing, not least because the concept is so fluid that analysts can easily define it in the way that best fits their data.
  

Methodological discussions are often esoteric and best kept within scholarly circles, but this one has real world relevance to development policy. Donor agencies regularly measure and assess the quality of governance, and may condition assistance on these measurements. The Millennium Challenge Corporation of course is one of the most explicit in doing so, but it is in good company. Donors also purport to design and implement evidence-based policies on governance reform. They further justify this focus on good governance partly on the basis of evidence that better governance promotes economic development.

Difficulties

The weakness of the good governance concept, however, calls into question each of these projects. Without stronger concepts, donor agencies have no clear basis upon which to argue the merits of one measurement versus another, or to evaluate the relative importance of various components of governance in any classification. Without better measures, donor agencies cannot, in a rigourous manner, empirically test hypotheses about how political and economic institutions change, much less develop evidence-based strategies about how to positively influence this change. Nor can they be very convincing about the rigour of quantitative findings suggesting a causal relationship between (weakly-conceptualized) measures of governance and development outcomes.

Rwanda provides just one illustration of some of these issues. As many observers note, Rwanda has made clear progress in terms of economic growth, public sector management and regulatory reform since the genocide in 1994. As many other observers note, its record with respect to democracy and respect for civil and political rights has been extremely problematic. Should Rwanda be considered well governed because of its economic progress, or poorly governed because of its democratic deficits? The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), for instance, has been the largest bilateral donor in Rwanda, effectively arguing the former. Human Rights Watch, among others, sharply criticized DFID policy last year, effectively arguing the latter.

The question of “how to improve governance?” is, of course, the most pressing from a policy perspective. However, this question cannot be rigourously answered without better addressing the concept of good governance: “how to improve what exactly?”. These points are discussed in greater depth in my forthcoming working paper, “Good Governance as a Concept, and Why This Matters for Development Policy”. The paper provides a review of donor approaches to governance, discusses conceptual issues in greater depth, and argues that one promising way forward is to disaggregate the concept of “good governance” and to refocus our attention and analysis on its various disaggregated components (e.g., democracy, civil and political rights, public sector management).

In short, the term “good governance” has become a catchy shorthand way to describe a variety of political and economic institutions and outcomes . While it thus is likely to remain in common public usage, as is, it is not a useful concept for development analysts and policymakers.

* * * * * *

This article originally appeared in the January 2012 UNU-WIDER WIDER Angle newsletter.

Capitalism starves children.

Have You Heard of The Great Forgetting?

Have You Heard of The Great Forgetting? It Happened 10,000 Years Ago & Completely Affects Your Life

Republished from deep-ecology-hub.com
By Deep Ecology Hub The Great Forgetting refers to the wealth of knowledge that our culture lost when we adopted our new civilized lifestyle. The knowledge that allowed indigenous cultures to survive, the knowledge that we had once also been tribal and the understanding that we were but one mere culture of thousands. All of this disappeared in a few short generations.
The Great Forgetting accounts for an enormous cultural collapse as once tribal people found themselves in a new and strange mass centralized society. New beliefs, new ways of life rushed into this cultural vacuum to fill the void. But without being tested by natural selection over thousands of years this new culture was evolutionarily unstable.
It is only recently that the Great Forgetting has been exposed. Understanding it holds the key to making sense of our destructive culture. And remembering what it is that was forgotten holds the key to our future.

How The Great Forgetting Took Place

It began around 10,000 years ago when one culture in the Near East adopted a new way of life that humans had not tried before.
They began to practice an intensive form of agriculture which enabled them to live in a settled location.
They developed large food surpluses which led to a population and geographic explosion. What began as farming communes eventually turned into villages, then into towns, and then kingdoms. Civilization began.
But it was a long time before anybody began to write down history, several thousand years later in fact. What happened in between was that the people of this culture forgot what had happened. They forgot that they once were hunter gatherers and foragers who lived a nomadic lifestyle. They assumed that mankind arrived on the planet at the same time as civilization. They assumed that civilization and settled agriculture was the natural state of mankind, as natural as living in a herd and grazing is to buffalo.
Naturally this gave rise to the belief that we were only a few thousand years old, that mankind had began when civilization began.
The primitive cultures that lived on the fringe areas of early civilization would appear to suggest that humans had lived another way. But they were easily explained away. They had fallen from the natural state of civilization; they had degraded into savagery. They had once lived as fully fledged humans but they had forgotten the way and now they were inferior, they were sub-human.

The Philosophical Roots of Our Culture

This collective cultural memory lapse; this belief that humans had arrived in the world as civilization builders was held by the foundation thinkers of our culture.
The philosophers, historians and theologians of the ancient civilizations: Sumer, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, India and China wove the Great Forgetting into their work.
Those that followed – the Hebrew authors of the Bible, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, the great Western thinkers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and the great Eastern thinkers Lao Tzu, Gautama Buddha and Confucius -  all wove the Great Forgetting into their work.
The thinkers of more modern times also followed suit, they didn't take any Great Forgetting into account. Why would they? They had no reason to believe that humans had not come into this world as civilization builders. They had no reason to believe that this wasn’t our natural state. So Thomas Aquinas, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes carried on our culture with the Great Forgetting at its root.

The Truth Is Revealed

Palaeontology exposed the Great Forgetting. Palaeontology made it clear that mankind had not arrived on Planet Earth when civilization emerged. We had lived for a very long time, millions of years in fact, in a completely different way. Mankind hadn’t fallen from the natural state into primitive living. That was how we began.
Looking back on it one could assume that the exposure of the Great Forgetting would have been a momentous discovery. It should have shook the very foundations of our way of thinking, the very foundations of our culture. One could have assumed that this would have led to some fundamental changes about who we are and how we should live.
But it didn’t. The Great Forgetting just got explained away. Instead of admitting that two very different and legitimate ways of living had been adopted by mankind in his history the thinkers of the 19th Century came up with this: man may have been born into this world as a primitive savage but he was destined to become a civilization builder.
In essence they said: “Who cares that we didn’t arrive as a civilization builder. It was our destiny to become a civilization builder. Now that we are here who cares what went before us. Those people that lived before us were just a precursor to us. They weren’t important.”

We didn't arrive as a civilization builder. But it was our destiny to become one.

The historians came up with a convenient way to disregard those humans that walked the earth those millions of years before our culture emerged.
Instead of accepting that they were part of history the historians relegated them to pre-history. They were before history, because history began when civilization began. We are the good stuff; we are the ones who are fulfilling the destiny of mankind. We are the ones who should be studied.

The Myth of the Agricultural Revolution

Our culture’s transition from hunter gatherer to civilization builder was also explained away. The term our thinkers coined was “The Agricultural Revolution.”
This is how it was explained: Before the agricultural revolution humans didn’t know how to farm or how to practice any kind of agriculture. They lived as hunter gatherers and foragers. Once they discovered farming they were then able to settle down and build civilization. The agricultural revolution was the foundation from which all the greatness of humanity stems.
It was explained in such a way that leads us to believe that the agricultural revolution was:

• Something that happened more or less by everybody.
• Something that happened more or less at the same time.

The story is told so we think that one group of people figured it out and those nearby saw what they were doing and thought “aha what a better way of doing things, what a better way of living.” Once a group was enlightened with the knowledge of agriculture they immediately stopped their primitive hunting and gathering ways and settled down to practice the better way. They could see that this was man’s destiny and they eagerly took it up.
This myth has permeated our culture since the 19th century thinkers created it to support their idea that civilization is the divine destiny of mankind. However the agricultural revolution was not a revolution and it had absolutely nothing to do with agriculture.
Agriculture had been practiced in many different ways and forms by thousands of different cultures around the globe. Agriculture is not unique to civilization. What is unique to civilization is a particular form of agriculture, that Daniel Quinn terms totalitarian agriculture.

The Agricultural Revolution had absolutely nothing to do with agriculture.

Totalitarian agriculture subordinates all life forms to the relentless single minded production of human food. It is the belief that the whole world is ours by right and we should turn all of the land into human food.
This generates huge surpluses which generates rapid population growth and rapid geographical expansion.
Through sheer weight of numbers totalitarian agriculturalists overrun neighboring regions obliterating other cultures and their way of life. The agricultural revolution wasn't something that started and finished thousands of years ago. It is still happening today, being driven forward by our cultural doctrines which tell us that the earth is a foe that must be conquered.
The agricultural revolution wasn’t about humans finding a better way to live. It was about a single culture out of thousands beginning to live in a way that only worked through exponential growth. Civilization didn’t spread because it was a good idea. Civilization spread through force. The exponential growth of the totalitarian agriculturalists displaced anybody and everybody else. It wasn’t a revolution; it was an experiment that became a runaway train.
So when the Great Forgetting was exposed it was quickly covered up. Our culture went from believing this:

First Humans
|
Us

To believing this:

First Humans
|
Paleolithic Humans
|
Mesolithic Humans
|
Neolithic Humans
|
Us

When in fact the reality looks more like this:

First Humans
|
Paleolithic Humans
|
Mesolithic Humans
|
Neolithic Humans
|
Great Forgetting

|                              |
10,000 other cultures             Us

A New Way of Thinking

The realization of the Great Forgetting gives us a fresh perspective on human history and our place in the world. It gives us the opportunity to see that another way of living legitimately existed on this planet.
The answer to this ecological crisis doesn’t lie with bumbling along the same way we have been trying to perfect for ten thousand years. It doesn’t lie with manically trying to fix a way of life that can only succeed by growing. Eventually it was going to grow so big that it would run out of room to keep going. That time has arrived now.

Instead of trying to tweak and change our lifestyle to somehow make it work we need to have a complete overhaul of the way we live.
Now we can study indigenous cultures and say they haven’t degraded into savagery.
They haven’t been left behind in the march to progress; they aren’t the most undeveloped peoples of civilization.
They live in a way that is completely different to us.
A way that is not inherently inferior and a way that is in no means a precursor to civilization. Now we can look on them with fresh eyes, with newfound respect and listen to what they have to say.
They have lived sustainably on this planet for millions of years. We have much to learn from them.
We can now see that with the ecological crisis the problem is not humankind. Humans are not parasitic. Humans can and have lived sustainably. The problem is a single culture. The culture that began 10,000 years ago with totalitarian agriculture and still practices it today. We don’t have to change humans. We don’t have to fix them. We just have to abandon a single destructive culture.
We aren’t 99% of the world’s population because we have a better way of living. We are 99% because our culture grew and displaced those who didn’t need to grow.
We can find a new way.
Help spread the word by sharing this page on your favorite social networking sites. Thanks for your help!
This article summarizes the ideas of Daniel Quinn, first written about in The Story of B, which was a sequel to Ishmael. The longer, original essay can be read here, and comes highly recommended.

The material footprint of nations

UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

In 2008, China had the largest material footprint. Image: Federico Rostagno/Shutterstock The amount of raw materials needed to sustain the economies of developed countries is significantly greater than present indicators suggest, a new Australian study has revealed. Using a new modelling tool and more comprehensive indicators, researchers were able to map the flow of raw materials across the world economy with unprecedented accuracy to determine the true “material footprint” of 186 countries over a two-decade period (from 1990 to 2008). The study, involving researchers from UNSW, CSIRO, the University of Sydney, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, was published today in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It reveals that the decoupling of natural resources from economic growth has been exaggerated. The results confirm that pressures on raw materials do not necessarily decline as affluence grows and demonstrates the need for policy-makers to consider new accounting methods that more accurately track resource consumption.  “Humanity is using raw materials at a level never seen before with far-reaching environmental impacts on biodiversity, land use, climate and water,” says lead author Tommy Wiedmann, Associate Professor of Sustainability Research at the UNSW School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “By relying on current indicators, governments are not able to see the true extent of resource consumption.” “Now more than ever, developed countries are relying on international trade to acquire their natural resources, but our research shows this dependence far exceeds the actual physical quantity of traded goods,” says Wiedmann, who worked at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences when the research was undertaken.   In 2008, the total amount of raw materials extracted globally was 70 billion metric tons – 10 billion tons of which were physically traded. However, the results show that three times as many resources (41% or 29 billion tons) were used just to enable the processing and export of these materials.  The researchers say that because these resources never leave their country of origin, they are not adequately captured by current reporting methods. They have used a new indicator they call the “material footprint” to more accurately account for these ‘lost’ resources and have developed tools that could assist policy-makers in future. Economy-wide accounting metrics (such as Domestic Material Consumption or DMC) currently used by certain governments and intergovernmental organisations, including the OECD, the European Union and the UN Environment Programme, only account for the volume of raw materials extracted and used domestically, and the volume physically traded. These indicators suggest resource-use in wealthy nations has increased at a slower rate than economic growth – something known as relative decoupling – and that other countries have actually seen their consumption decrease over the last 20 years – something known as absolute decoupling. (See figures). Decoupling of raw material usage from economic growth is considered one of the major goals en route to achieving sustainable development and a low-carbon economy. But the study authors say when their “material footprint” indicators are factored in these achievements in decoupling are smaller than reported and often non-existent. Selected country findings: Australia had the highest material footprint per capita (about 35 tons per person), but because it is a prolific exporter of resources, it appears to have a relative decoupling. Other developed economies (USA, Japan, UK) show similar levels at around 25 tons per person. Lower material standard of living and lower average level of consumption in many developing countries is reflected in a footprint below 15 tons per person, with India at the lower end at 3.7 tons per person. In absolute values, the US is by far the largest importer of primary resources embodied in trade and China the largest exporter. The largest per-capita exporters of embodied primary materials – in particular metal ores – are Australia and Chile. All industrialised nations show the same typical picture over time: as GDP grew over the last two decades there appeared to be a relative decoupling of resource use as indicated by DMC (even absolute decoupling for the UK). However, when measured by the material footprint indicator, resource use has grown in parallel to GDP with no signs of decoupling. This is true for the USA, UK, Japan, EU27 and OECD. South Africa was the only country shown to have an absolute decoupling using the MF indicator. Editor's note: Original news release can be found here.

The economics of happy

Australian National University

[New research has shown that natural and social capital have decreased over the past 35 years. Image: JaredRodr'iguez/truthout/ANU Over the last three decades global society has grown richer, but not better off. “Although the global economy has tripled since 1950, global human well-being, as estimated by the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), has been flat or decreasing since around 1978,” said Dr Ida Kubiszewski. A study from The Australian National University (ANU) led by Dr Kubiszewski compared the GPI to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 17 countries representing the majority of the world’s population. GPI is calculated through the measure of 25 different variables including consumption, income distribution, volunteer and household work, and importantly, environmental and social costs. “Interestingly, 1978 is also around the time that the human ecological footprint exceeded the Earth’s capacity to support life on it. Other global indicators, such as life satisfaction, also began to level off around this time.” Dr Kubiszewski said that both natural and social capital have decreased over the past decades. “The depletion of natural capital can be seen through the decreased quality of air and water in many countries, climate disruption, deforestation, acidification of our oceans, and many other impacts humans are having on the environment. “On national levels, the deterioration of social capital can be seen through the significant increase of inequality.” Dr Kubiszewski said that the research highlights the need for taking a more considered approach to measuring success in societies. “The original creators of GDP never meant it to be an indicator of societal well-being and it’s a mistake to continue using it for this purpose,” she said. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Achieving Economic Goals In The Midst Of Global Challenges: Views Of Independent Economists

By W.A. Wijewardena  -

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

The Sri Lanka Economic Association or SLEA, the long standing professional body of economists of Sri Lanka, has published some selected papers presented at its Annual Sessions in October 2011 in a volume titled “Achieving Economic Goals in the Midst of Global Challenges”.

The volume, edited by two veteran economists – Professor A.D.V.S Indraratna and Mr Sarath Vidanagama – contains 6 papers written by a number of independent economists and the Presidential Address delivered by Professor Indraratna as SLEA’s incumbent President. The address of Professor Indraratna was reviewed in a previous My View published in this paper on 2 July 2012 under the title “Sri Lanka as Emerging Wonder of Asia: Suitable ground conditions to realise the goal are a must” (available at: here )

Since the other papers in the volume are valuable readings on the current status of Sri Lanka’s economy from the eyes of independent economists, this My View is devoted to introducing a critical review of those papers to readers.

Sri Lanka cannot do without the global economy

The theme selected for the Annual Sessions of 2011 is appropriate for two reasons.

First, it recognises that Sri Lanka has to operate within the global economy nourishing it on the one side, while being nourished by it on the other in the process. This is an open view taken by SLEA contrary to the popular belief held by many that Sri Lanka can do without the global economy. Sri Lanka is a small economy without natural resources of worth to mention and has to sell a significant part of its surplus output to foreigners while buying essential consumer and investment goods from them. Hence, Sri Lanka cannot be oblivious to what is happening outside and has to reorient its economic policy to face the emerging global challenges successfully.

Second, after the end of the disastrous ethnic war in 2009, Sri Lanka has now to work tirelessly to open the economic opportunities which it had lost in the past. This takes the form of steering Sri Lanka along a high economic growth trajectory so as to bring prosperity to its entire population. To attain this objective, Sri Lanka has set itself high economic goals to be realised in the next few years, but its success would largely depend not only on the domestic policies pursued but also on how favourable the global economy would be for the sustenance of such policies. The papers in the volume have shed some lights as to how Sri Lanka should overcome the challenges posed by this emerging global environment which is not favourable at all to the country in the present juncture.

Impartial and objective views of independent economists

The volume also demonstrates the independent and impartial view taken by the contributors on different aspects of the economy. The analyses in the papers, while appreciating the recent economic measures taken by the authorities, have highlighted the critical risks which the country is facing and the need for introducing policy reforms on a priority basis. This is quite contrary to the official analytical sources which have painted a very good picture on the country’s economy always highlighting it as a success story which can be emulated by other nations. Such a view taken by the official economists makes them slaves of their own arguments closing the door for critical review of policies and preventing them from taking corrective action in time. It is not a satisfactory state at all since the global economy to which Sri Lanka is now highly connected throws new challenges making Sri Lanka’s path toward prosperity within a few years, as planned by the country’s authorities, almost impossible. In this sense, the papers contained in the volume are eye – openers for all.

Commodity prices and inflation

Mr C.P.A Karunatilake, Superintendent of Currency of the Central Bank, has in a paper titled “Commodity Prices and Inflation” tried to establish the relationship between these variables as applicable to Sri Lanka. Karunatilake has identified two sources for the continuous change in the general price level of a country leading to high inflation, the aggregate demand shocks and the aggregate supply shocks. Central banks in their monetary policy actions concentrate wholly on aggregate demand shocks emanating from increases in money supply boosted by high deficits in both the government and private sectors of a country. For central banks, the way to tackle inflation is to control the source by raising interest rates to discourage private consumption and raise savings and using moral suasion to put good sense to the governmental authorities to go for austerity measures. However, Karunatilake has found a positive relationship between the changes in commodity prices and the consumer price index in Sri Lanka thereby implicitly suggesting that the Central Bank has become irrelevant and redundant.

By using Vector Auto Regressive or VAR techniques to establish the underlying relationship, Karunatilake has found an immediate significant positive impact exerted by imported foods, oil prices, and domestic paddy prices on the consumer price index but gradually tapering off the initial impact over a 60 month period. He has found the same relationship, somewhat in a weak form, between these prices and the wholesale price index meaning that consumer prices will increase after a given period of time when goods on wholesale trade are released to the market. He has thus concluded that the commodity prices have a strong impact on domestic prices at consumer price level but a weak relationship at the wholesale price level. The latter is only an indicator for the Central Bank to take appropriate monetary policy in advance to avoid an impending crisis.

These findings are naturally to be expected since commodity prices are a sub set of the general prices and if they go up, they will do so by elevating the general prices as well. However, the importance of his findings is the cumulative impact which commodity price increases have inflicted on general prices with their cascading effect on the price system. This too is to start to fizzle out after 10 months, according to Karunatilake. Thus, if a government is interested in controlling the consumer price index, it could do so by controlling commodity prices either by direct controls or by giving a subsidy to the consumers. Both are inflationary in the long run due to distortion of relative prices in the first case and having to run excessive budget deficits in the second case. Sri Lanka had a very bad experience in the first case prior to 1977 with a stagnant economy. It is experiencing a similarly bad experience at present in the second case with mounting losses in key public enterprises by compelling them to sell their products below the costs.

Taxing exports through appreciated exchange rates

Dr Saman Kelegama, Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies, has discussed the impact of trade imbalances in the context of contemporary trade policies and agreements. According to the data presented by Kelegama, Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic policies have favoured imports and discriminated against exports in the last decade. The share of Sri Lanka’s exports in both the global exports and the country’s GDP has recorded a decline over this period. Accordingly, Sri Lanka’s exports accounted for 0.09 per cent in 2000. This share fell to 0.05 per cent in 2008. Similarly, Sri Lanka had exported about 33 per cent of its GDP in 2000. By 2010, according to Kelegama, its share has fallen to 16 per cent. The fall in exports while imports have remained more or less a constant share of GDP over this period has augmented Sri Lanka’s trade deficit reducing its ability to maintain the stability in the exchange rate without resorting to borrowing from abroad. Even then, when the external shocks have been too severe, it had to allow its external reserves to decline fast driving the country to a critical level. In the meantime, Sri Lanka’s rupee has appreciated in real terms as demonstrated by the appreciation of the real effective exchange rate index calculated by the Central Bank with respect to 23 major trade partners. Hence, Kelegama has found fault with the country’s macroeconomic policy authorities for not allowing the rupee to adjust appropriately till the end of 2011. Economists call this a policy of taxing exports and subsidising imports.

Given this scenario, Kelegama has recommended that Sri Lanka does not have option but to promote regional trade agreements, especially with neighbouring India and Pakistan.

Want to promote exports? Trust the private sector

Mr Sarath Rajapatirana, former economic advisor to the World Bank, has taken Kelegama’s study forward in his paper on “Further Thoughts on Trade Policies and Agreements”. While agreeing with Kelegama that Sri Lanka’s past trade policies have favoured imports and discriminated against exports, Rajapatirana has argued that Sri Lanka should trust markets for promoting exports instead of trying to fine-tune export policies. The market system will allocate resources among competing ends efficiently while targeting of exports has been a failure in Sri Lanka in the past. Rajapatirana mentions the example of Sri Lanka’s attempt at promoting non-traditional exports in 1970s at the expense of traditional exports through targeted export policies. This policy did not help Sri Lanka to diversify its exports in that era mainly because such industries were manned by inefficient governmental authorities. After 1977, the diversification took place to some extent through the market system. Hence, even to promote trade with East Asian markets, Rajapatirana recommends that it should be done with the private sector which would promote exports to those countries driven by profit motive. Rajapatirana concludes his paper by suggesting that the trade imbalances should be corrected by adjusting exchange rates and not by resorting to tariffs and subsidies, a position endorsed by Kelegama too.

FDI flows are a plenty, but Sri Lanka is starved

Professor Anoma S P Abhayaratne and Ms Thushari Vidanage, Abhayaratne being the Dean of Arts Faculty at University of Peradeniya and Vidanage a lecturer at the same university, have discussed the challenges faced by Sri Lanka with respect to the attraction of foreign direct investments and portfolio flows in the context of global developments in these flows in the recent past. Abhayaratne and Vidanage have found that FDI flows to many developing countries have been prompted by the need for seeking markets and resources rather than for harnessing economies of scale present in those countries. Sri Lanka is not an exception in this regard. However, developed countries still attract the lion’s share of global FDI flows because of the presence of salutary factors for businesses to flourish in those countries. It is only in 2010 that developing countries have been able to match the FDI flows to developed countries.

According to the two authors, Sri Lanka’s FDI flows have improved from less than 1 per cent of GDP in 1978-93 to 1.5 per cent in 2005-2009. However, compared with flows that had been attracted by China, Brazil and India, Sri Lanka’s FDI flows amounting to an average of $ 502 million are still negligible. If Sri Lanka is to raise its economic growth to above 10 per cent, FDI flows should rise to at least 8 – 10 per cent of GDP in the coming years. They have also identified several pre-conditions that should be put in place for Sri Lanka to attract significantly high FDI flows in the future. Of them, creating a better investment climate in Sri Lanka through appropriate government policies and macroeconomic and political stability plays an important role.

Want inclusive growth? Then, go for micro interventions

Ms Nilakshi de Silva, Ms Gayathri Lokuge and Ms Arunika Meedeniya of the Colombo based Centre for Poverty Analysis and Ms Ramini Gunatilaka of Monash University have in a joint paper attempted to identify the drivers of inclusive growth in Sri Lanka by using both quantitative and qualitative methods. While Sri Lanka is pursuing the goal of doubling its per capitaGDPover the six year period from 2010 to 2016, inclusive growth issues have to be understood in order to make that economic growth accessible to all the people of the country. The authors have used the national data available in the Household Income and Expenditure Surveys conducted by the Census Department in 2002 and 2006/7 to identify the drivers of inclusive growth in their quantitative study and have found that access to infrastructure, education and skill development have contributed to inclusive growth. In the qualitative analysis done in Puttalam District, access to technology, credit and work related experience have been important drivers of inclusive growth. Hence, the authors conclude that economic growth alone will not guarantee inclusive growth and more micro interventions are needed for a society to attain the same.

Pro-poor policy has not reduced income gap

Dr R.M.K Ratnayake, presently consultant to the Ministry of Higher Education, has in a paper titled “Economic and Social Equity” tried to examine the qualitative aspects of economic development from an equity point of view. It is argued by many that in a globalised world, when global shocks hit poor countries, the poor are disadvantaged to a greater extent. Hence, it is worthwhile for Ratnayake to examine the equity issues in Sri Lanka. Since Sri Lanka has followed an ‘equity now and growth later policy’, the data should show a move toward greater equity in the country. However, according to the data presented by Ratnayake, this has not happened till 1978 as demonstrated by all the equity criteria of the country. Even after adopting pro-poor policies in 2000s, there has not been a marked reduction in inequity in the country. For instance, Gini Coefficient still remained at 0.49 in 2009/10, the level it had been in 1953. During 2006/7 to 2009/10, per capita GDP in Sri Lanka increased by 13.7 per cent. But the income of the poorest 40 per cent increased only by 0.6 per cent meaning that the bulk of economic growth has been shared by the well to do in the country. Hence, instead of moving toward economic and social equity, Sri Lanka has been aloof to that goal throughout.

SLEA publication a must read

Overall, it is the view of this writer that the volume released by SLEA recently containing seven scholarly papers is a must read by every student and professional practitioner of economics in order to understand the strategies which Sri Lanka should adopt in order to overcome the challenges which have been posed to it by the emerging adverse global developments.

(Writer is a former Deputy Governor – Central Bank of Sri Lanka and teaches Development Economics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. This article first appeared in Daily FT  - W.A. Wijewardena can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com )