The public discourse on climate change has tended to frame the issue as a tradeoff between development and greening; as a choice between generating wealth and creating a less carbon-intensive environment.
With United Nations talks in Copenhagen aimed at negotiating a global deal to replace the Kyoto protocol round the corner, it is the governments and political leaders of the world’s nations that have taken centre stage in the discussion.
But one crucial actor missing from much of the climate change conversation is business. If society is to make any fundamental changes in the model of growth, then business must not only be on board but must be a driver of innovation.
So, what does business have to say about the fight against global warming? How is the debate being framed by the wealth generators of society? Can climate change in fact be a money spinner?
Increasingly a number of businesses, both from traditional as well as newer, green-tech sectors, are answering that query in the affirmative. And unlike in the political sphere, the private sector’s response reveals a surprising unanimity between operators in the developed and developing world.
A recent report by Dalberg, an international consulting firm, titled ‘Champions of the Low Carbon Economy — Why CEOs are ready for a global climate agreement,’ undertook a survey of 40 global companies to conclude that business was eager for the opportunities an ambitious deal at Copenhagen would engender.
Three Indian groups were included: the Tatas, the SUN group and Praj Industries .
The common conclusion of the interviewed CEOs was that fighting climate change could be profitable, but a global deal would be necessary to secure the regulatory certainty required by business to truly commit to a new model of growth.
Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of Praj Industries, for example, envisioned a “2-3 times worldwide growth (for Praj) in the subsequent four- to five-year period, once a strong agreement and roadmap is in place.”
“The energy revolution is one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time,” added SUN Group’s Uday Khemka. “It will make the tech sector’s growth seem like a minor economic boom.”
Khemka warned however that “the failure to establish certainty and a price on carbon could result in a categorical disaster, because this could fundamentally undermine the confidence in clean energy investing and move the sector back a generation.”
Even companies without a specific focus on the environment underscored the need for a strong climate agreement, often in terms of protecting their customer base. Peter Foyo, who heads the wireless carrier Nextel Mexico, for example, claimed his business interest lay in the fact that, “My customer tomorrow needs to be a healthy person in a healthy world.”
The profits of fighting climate change are, moreover, not only a thing of the future. Many companies have already experienced how greening can be good for business. S M Trehan, Managing Director of the Indian power sector heavyweight Crompton Greaves , told Business Standard the company’s foreign subsidiaries survived the financial crisis by converting their manufacturing units to making transformers for wind turbines rather than the thermal power equipment they traditionally focused on.
“Climate change is the business opportunity of the twenty-first century,” said Trehan. “We need to focus on renewables and also energy efficiency. The opportunities lie in working out how to lower the losses during electricity transmission.” Crompton Greaves is part of the Avantha Group whose other main focus is on thermal power plants.
“If we envision the India of 2040, then 80 per cent of that country is yet to be built,” pointed out Richie Ahuja, the Indian representative of the Environmental Defence Fund. “This begs the question – do we follow the old growth paradigm or do we shift and develop a new growth paradigm that not only creates jobs but in the long run places us at a competitive advantage in the global economy?” Ahuja alluded to the fact that China has already seized the business opportunity inherent in low-carbon technologies.
From being the poster-child for environmental degradation, China has managed to turn its image around in a few short years, primarily because there is money to be made from it.
The country already produces some 50 percent of the world’s solar water heaters and nearly a third of the global solar photovoltaic units. The world’s largest SPV manufacturer, Suntech, is Chinese.
Suntech’s CEO Zhengrong Shi, also interviewed in the Dalberg Report, holds 11 patents and grew his business from a startup to its current size of $2 billion, in just eight years.
The Suntech story has encouraged a slew of companies to join the solar power sector, including Sunvim, a Zhejiang-based textile maker better known for one of the country’s popular towel brands.
According to a China Daily report, entire towns in Zhejiang province, the heart of the country’s light manufacturing region, are turning from textile production, in which China has long been a world-beater, to polysilicon manufacturing, a key component of the SPV industry.
The report quoted Shen Fuxin, the General Secretary of the Zhejiang Solar Energy Industry Association as saying that the average profits made by companies in the sector were reaching 20-30 percent.
China is also set to become the world’s leading manufacturer of wind turbines, with production capacity already at 13 GW, way ahead of the 10 GW by 2010 target set by the government. Chinese firms are aggresively competing in other global, low carbon markets as well, including energy efficient home appliances, and rechargeable batteries.
According to the UK-headquartered Climate Group investment in renewable energy in China — almost $12 billion in 2007 — is almost level with world leader Germany as a percentage of GDP.
Pan Jiahua, Deputy Director of the Research Center for Sustainable Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the Business Standard that green businesses in China were benefiting from a government that had realised that fighting climate change and economic development could go hand in hand rather than being seen in terms of a trade off.
“At the moment our power is coal based. But this is very dirty and we suffer from terrible pollution. Clean technologies will have a huge, positive health impact. What’s more they create jobs,” explained Pan.
“Looking at China,” EDF’s Ahuja concluded, “the question arises: Is this not the story we want to replicate in India based on the local context?”
Crompton’s Trehan answers with optimism. “It’s just a matter of time. India already has the fifth largest installed base for wind energy. As a business we are bullish on climate change.”
October 31, 2009
Got a fake note by mistake? You still are in trouble!
Posted by vkman under Education, Facts (Plz comment), Knowledge & Tricks, News, Uncategorized | Tags: crime, fake currency, fake money, fake notes, Money, offence, outlook money, polymer notes, RBI |Leave a Comment
Bindisha Sarang,Outlook Money
Picture this. You are in a tearing hurry and you pay off the taxi guy as you reach your destination. He gives you the change, which you hastily dump in your purse and rush. Off you go to a shopping mall to buy something. You pay at the counter with the notes you just got from the taxi guy.
The salesperson looks at one of the notes with suspicion and gives you an eerie look. He checks the note against fluorescent blue light, smells, crushes and lick tests it. Yuck! You say in disgust. He declares it fake and asks you for another one.
Standing agape, you demand he takes it. He threatens to call the police. You run for your life.
You better do!
Rakesh Maria, joint police commissioner (crime), Mumbai City, says: “Possession of fake notes is an offence. One Rs 5 fake note is good enough [to be guilty of possession].” Well, now that you have a fake note in possession, you are already in trouble, technically! So what do you do now? Read on. . .
The legal tangle
With revenge on your mind, you determine to palm off the note to some unsuspecting fellow. In fact, if you think of palming off the note, you are not alone.
A quick dipstick survey shows 98 per cent people would do the same. But you better not do that, either.
Maria says, “It is unfortunate that people palm off fake notes. Palming off a fake note knowingly is also an offence.”
You definitely do not want to be caught doing that. In fact, intentionally passing on a fake currency note is a cognisable offence, which could lead to a prison term.
Cursing your fate, you decide to get rid of the bummer right away, but how? A friend who inadvertently received a fake note donated it to a temple. (Another dipstick survey at a few local religious places shows that nearly 20 per cent of donations are in form of either soiled or fake notes.)
That’s too low for you to do. Having run out of options, you march to a local bank, hoping to get an exchange.
The brutal truth
A Reserve Bank of India spokesperson says: “According to the RBI, when a customer takes a counterfeit note to a bank, the bank is supposed to impound it and give the customer an acknowledgement receipt.”
After impounding the note, they will stamp it ‘Counterfeit bank note impounded’ and give you an acknowledgement receipt, even if you refuse to countersign the same. You lose your money since a fake note is never paid for but confiscated.
But that’s not the end of the story.
The bank will file a First Information Report against your name at the local police station. A copy of this FIR is sent to the Forged Banknote Vigilance Cell at the bank’s head office.
The bank will be alert if you try to deposit any fake notes in the future. The police will look into the matter and carry routine investigation in order to get any further leads and zero down on the exact source.
Says Maria: “Crime does not differentiate between class. Even if you are a housewife who inadvertently has a fake note, we can investigate. Once we know that there is no mens rea (criminal intent), we just make a diary entry.”
Following the investigation, if you are found to be an inadvertent victim, the matter ends there.
But let’s get real! Do you, even as a customer who honestly walked into a bank after being palmed off a fake note, want to face the police?
What if you are planning for studies abroad, or an employment visa? Wouldn’t an FIR in your name have a negative influence on visa authorities? “No,” says Maria. However, a source from British consulate says: “. . . on verification, things like this may give a wrong impression about you to visa authorities.”
Are banks remiss?
Newspapers and news channels have been reporting about ATMs dispensing fake notes. Instances of bank staff diluting authentic currency with fakes have been reported, too.
Take the case of the chief cashier of a State Bank of India branch in Domariaganj, who was caught in the Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million) fake currency scam. Such instances show that even banks can be a source of fake notes these days.
A cashier in a private bank says on the condition of anonymity: “We get customers who bring in fake notes, claiming that our ATM had dispensed it, but since they can’t prove it, we are helpless to do anything about it.”
Stories of banks brushing off responsibility, after dispensing fake notes via ATMs, is not uncommon.
The RBI has taken initiatives to deal with the dispensing of fake notes by ATMs. It has asked banks to set up note-sorting machines at all branches. In future, ATMs might be fitted with in-built detectors for fake currency notes.
The apex bank has proposed to introduce plastic notes, and it is common knowledge that improvisation in security features of the notes is an ongoing process.
Data from the RBI show that 398,111 counterfeit notes were detected during 2008-09 at the Reserve Bank’s offices and branches alone. It goes without saying that there are many more in circulation and the number will only increase.
The best defence is to be vigilant while handling cash, especially with Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. And of course, pray that you never receive a fake note again!