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The Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) is an initiative of Department of Science and Technology of Government of India, conceived to help Policy makers and planners to formulate developmental strategy. In doing so, they have the advantage of the progress made in recent years in the methodologies designed to collect, archive and process the multidisciplinary ground data
This basic data on land, its people and the natural resources has been collected since several decades by multiple national and private organizations on varying scales. Initially, the size and data population was restricted only to major parameters but gradually with advancement of the science and development of methodologies in data collection, it was possible to gather a wealth of data over a large terrain for several parameters in a short time and store in a more convenient format for retrieval at a desired time, for use in governance or for research purposes.
This changed scenario, especially the support and application of computers and tools of Information Technology, with application of indigenously developed GIS package, Geo Referenced Area Management (GRAM++) on Windows 95/NT platform has enabled quicker data mining and its use. The development of spatial data management tools has further made the application and research in this field possible giving impetus to micro level, integrated panchayat and district level planning. India has been making tremendous inroads in the sphere of information technology and has been keeping pace with the developments being made internationally. It is rightly being considered to be one of the main sources, globally, of intellectual force behind the new developments taking place in this field.
Several governmental agencies such as:
- Survey of India (SOI),
- Geological Survey of India (GSI),
- Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM),
- Space Application Centre (SAC) of ISRO,
- Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) of DRDO and its numerous laboratories,
- National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS),
- Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG),
- Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG),
- Botanical Survey of India (BSI),
- Zoological Survey of India (ZSI),
- National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organization (NMTMO),
- Central Ground Water Board (CGWB),
- National Institute of Hydrology (NIH),
- Census of India,
- Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP),
- India Meteorological Department (IMD),
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM),
- National Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NMRWF) Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS),
- National Centre for Seismology (NCS), National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR),
- National Institute of Oceanography (NIO),
- Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE),
- Fishery Survey of India (FSI), Central Marine Fishery Research Institute (CMFRI),
- Wild Life Institute of India (WII), etc are engaged in collecting, updating and collating the database in the field of their respective expertise.
As a result of such concerted efforts, the nation has developed huge databases that cover nearly all important fields of living and non living natural resources, basic data on demographic details, socio-economics, agro-economy, rainfall and other met parameters as well as basic data on infrastructure with village/ district as the basic unit.
The SOI, for example, has prepared topographical maps of entire India on varying scales but more commonly on 1:50,000, which give information of infrastructure such as roads, railway lines, rivers, canals and all important structures that can be projected on that scale.
The lateral distances and vertical heights are depicted. The contours along with heights above mean sea level of some triangulation points help in linking the sites to such trigonometric positions. The use of aerial photography and photogrammetric tools has enabled SOI to map difficult Himalayan and other inaccessible terrains. These maps serve as a basic tool for plotting other detailed subject wise database and prepare hundreds of thematic maps such as soil and agronomic maps (Fig 1), satellite image maps (Fig 2), Seismic zonation map maps (Fig 3) and maps showing distribution of economic minerals. Geological maps, earthquake risk and coastal management maps etc. may be quoted in this line. The list is unending.
Fig 1. Soil map of Karnataka.
Fig. 2. Satellite Map of parts of Bengaluru (Roads and Buildings)
Fig.3. Seismic Zonation map of India
Applicability in Governance:
Most of the above information is linked to location of the site of data in 3-D form or in latitudes, longitudes and vertical height (the coordinate system) i.e. it is spatial. The integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) into spatial datasets has increased the accuracy and ease of adoptability of the information for various governance purposes. Need for collating this vast data and information into a system that can be used by governmental and private bodies has given rise to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).
This spatial information on natural resources, cultural and environmental aspects is available at the local/state and national levels for concerned authorities for putting to use in decision making towards formulation and execution of socio-economic/ developmental programs for communities. The spatial database will come handy for infra-structure development and disaster management, especially during natural calamities such as floods, droughts, landslides, earthquakes etc.
The proposed developments of “e-superhighways” and “going digital” movement of Government of India, have opened new vistas of data sharing. The fast way of sharing the data would greatly help in coordination and cooperation efforts between sister organizations and adjoining districts as well as between state and national Bodies, especially, for hazard mitigation activities.
To quote some examples: the mapping of active landslide areas, mapping of glacial lakes under threat of outburst (GLOF), preparation of microzonation maps of earthquake prone districts – installation of seismometers and activation of Tsunami prediction Centres, mapping of coastal regions, especially of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu likely to be inundated by cyclones and linkages of this and similar data with district/ state and central agencies demonstrates how the National Spatial Data Infrastructure can be of immense use to communities at ground level.
ISRO’s Annual Report for 2016-17 describes ‘the societal services offered by INSAT / GSAT satellites in the area of tele-education and telemedicine and that of the applications of Remote Sensing projects at National, State and Local levels through well-established multi-pronged implementation under NNRMS in the country. The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite constellation has helped in Agricultural Crops Inventory, Agricultural Drought, Forest Fire, Landslides and Earthquake Monitoring, Gas pipeline monitoring, Groundwater Prospects Mapping, Inventory, Monitoring of Glacial Lakes / Water Bodies and Satellite Aided Search & Rescue.’
Some of the societal programs where NRDMS / NSDI database is going to be developed for used by multiple agencies are :
- a) Development of village level geospatial information system, especially for health related issues,
- b) Revival of village ponds to store rain water to make up for water scarcity ,
- c) Ground water availability/ aquifer mapping in drought prone areas
- d) Water resource availability in different water sheds, or drinking and agricultural, purposes
- e) Geological and geotechnical mapping of vulnerable areas w .r .t. landslides in Uttarakhand and other Himalayan regions,
- f) Land records and land management
- g) Energy resource- thermal / hydro / solar
- h) Natural Disaster mitigation
- i) Identification and mapping of proglacial lakes that have potential of breaching.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.