Reforms in Power sector.

Central Govt announced Rs.90K cr rescue package for power gencos through PFC and REC.But PRAAPTI ( Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators) website shows that the total overdue amount to be paid to Gencos stood at Rs.113.8K cr at the end of May 2020 continuously going up for the last 18 to 24 months. The total outstandings were Rs.125.6K cr.link.

Apart from this, there is renewable energy generation pending to be adjusted against captive consumption of factories which is not yet visible.This may be another iceberg submerged.

After clearing Rs.90K cr.as per GOI plan  stated above, how the state discoms are going to manage their future liabilities.

With a negative gap between Average Cost of Supply(ACS) and Average Revenue Realised at Re.0.41 per unit on an All India basis, it is a losing game. AT & C loss is also still very high at 18.72%link.UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) commitments lie in tatters.

All the UDAY Targets remain unfulfilled. The website says there are no newsletter releases after Jan 2019 and that sums up the state of affairs under UDAY. UDAY is now Asthamana.It looks like an orphan.

Targets on All India basis set were:

Feeder Metering                                   30th June 2016 
DT Metering                                          30th June 2017
AT&C Losses                                        15% by FY 2019
Consumer Indexing & GIS Mapping      30th Sep 2018
Upgradation of DT,Meters etc.              31st Dec 2017
Smart meter for Consumers                >500 units by Dec 2017;>200 units by Dec 2019
Elimination of ACS-ARR gap                 FY 2019

Smart metering completion is at 6% - 7%  on All India basis as per the website UDAY.in whereas , it should have been completed  100% by Dec 2019 according to the Targets set.

Are there methods amidst madness to come out of this mess?. There are practical methods to bring down AT &C loss by upgrading the cable quality.adoption of smart metering etc. But the easiest way to do is by horizontal deployment across states. State of Himachal Pradesh has the lowest AT &C at 5.62%. There are great lessons for other states to learn from them. The lowest gap between ACS and ARR is in Gujarat at just 4 paise. This will open the eyes of other States.This cross fertilisation of ideas is the way forward to healthy federal competition.

Many political parties give electoral promises of free electricity to farmers to win elections and in the guise of farmers many use free electricity even for their farm houses. This misuse is rampant across India.

The best way to counter this is to transfer subsidy given to marginal farmers to their Jan dhan account and charge uniformly for agri sector. Another method could be charge 10 paise for a unit for agri activity instead of calling it free and increase this tariff every year by indexing it to CPInflation for those agriculturists consuming more than 1000 units per annum.

எது நல்லது , எது கெட்டது-பகுத்தறிவு!

குழி தோண்டி
விதை விதைக்கிறேன்!

உடலைக் கிழித்து
உயிரைக் காக்கிறேன்!

களை பிடுங்கி
பயிரைக் காக்கிறேன்!

சத்தம்  போட்டு
அமைதி  படுத்துகிறேன்!

பொய் சொல்லி
உண்மைக்கு வாதாடுகிறேன்!

குண்டு வெடித்து
சமாதானம் கேட்கிறேன்!

உயிரைக்  கொன்று
உரிமை கேட்கிறேன்!

பாரதியார்

புலமைக்கு  ஒருஅணி பாரதியார்;
    புதுமைக்கு   ஒருமுடி பாரதியார்;
புவியினிலே  அவனோர் கவியரசன்;
     புரட்சியிலே அவனோர்  மெய்வீரன் !

ஊறும் மணற்கேணியன்றிவர் பாட்டு!
      பாற் கேணியாமவர் தம் கூற்று!
ஏறின் பீடுநடை தெறிக்கும் கருத்து!
      வீறு கொண்டேழுப்பும் செயலுக்கு!

தேனின்ப மட்டுமன்று தமிழ்ச் செவிக்கு!
        மேனியுள்ளமெங்கும் பரவு அமிழ்து!
ஊனுயிர் ஊட்டும் அவரின் செப்புமொழி!
         வானமெங்கும் பாடும் குயில் மொழி!

அச்சமில்லை என்றே முழங்கினான் அவன்;
         ஆணுக்கு சமானம் புதுமைப் பெண் என்றான் ;
இச்சகத்து உளோரெல்லாம் எதிர்த்து நின்றிடினும்,
         இனியொரு விதிசெய்வோம் தனியே என்றான்!

காவெனக் கத்திடும் காக்கையை அழைப்பான்;
           கானக அரசன் சிங்கமாய் கர்ஜிப்பான்;
பாரினில்  ஒருவனுக்கு உணவில்லை என்றால்
            பாரையே அழித்திட தீயாய் துடிப்பான்!

அவனில் ஞானபுத்தனைக் காணலாம்;
         அவரின் போதி தத்துவம் அறியலாம்!
அவனியைக் காக்கும் கண்ணனை ரசிக்கலாம்;
          ஆழ்ந்தவர் பக்திபரவசத்தை ருசிக்கலாம்!


         
         

" IT Harassments"- no euphemism pl!!

Pl. see the below page from the Central Govt published data.link

Regular IT assessments done by Dept is yielding only 7 to 8% of total Gross Direct tax collected where as Adv. Tax, TDS and SA Tax is 92% i.e the voluntary compliance .

Is there not a strong case for abolishing Assts for atleast individuals who have good track record of say 10 continuous years and have limited scrutiny assessments only for Corporates/Companies with incentives for exemption from assessments if they remit Tax at least 15% more year on year.This will take care of tax buoyancy ratio and reduce assessment costs drastically.

Mr.Sunil Jain of FE recently sent a tweet to FM saying that IT dept is following up with him on some assessment notice despite complying with it and paying tax. Everyone of us have similar experiences on IT assessments despite computerisation. Straightaway all these scrutiny assessments can be called " IT Harassments "-no euphemism.

But it should also be emphasized that the scale of high pitched assessments has substantially come down over the last one/2 years but still more needs to be done in order to totally move away from Tax Terrorism to augment direct tax revenue. I am not making a case for tax evaders or dodgers who r small percentage and who will anyway continue to do so.

My firm conviction is ,if assessments are done away with , then more small businessmen will voluntarily pay under presumptive tax, file return and forget.Another indicator is the difference between how many assessees have paid tax/TDS and the no. who have filed returns.Almost 2 crore nos.!! Is it not sounding another loud bell for doing away with Assessments /Scrutiny assessments but with safeguards  like good track record or yoy 15% inc. in tax remittance etc.

 One last point. Out of such Tax assessed and  shown collected by the Dept how much is contested in appeals before CITs, Tribunals , HCs and SCs.Huge burden on these Courts will also come down and unnecessary litigation is avoided. Lots of multiplier effects can be seen if assessments are abolished.

For encouraging people to file their Income Tax return, Govt can run a lottery or even give atleast  health insurance policy under Ayushman Bharat free of cost.  

 Page 7 reproduced below:

2

தாய்மழை!!

துளித்துளியாய் வீழ்கின்ற வேகம்,
களியின்பம் ஊட்டுகின்ற ராகம்!

வெட்டுகின்ற  ஒளிக்கீற்று பறக்க,
கொட்டுகின்ற  மழைநீரும் ஒலிக்க,

விண்ணுலக  மடைதிறந்து பொழிந்து,
மண்ணுலகப் பச்சையுடன் கலந்து,

ஏங்குகின்ற  பயிரனைத்தும்  அணைத்து,
தாங்குகின்ற  காட்சிதனைப்  பார்த்தால்,

அழுகின்ற குழந்தையின் பசியாற்ற
சுரக்கின்ற  தாய்ப்பால் போலத்தானோ!!

Board diversity and "what if " strategy

The other day somebody told me that Abraham Lincoln after winning the elections , formed his first cabinet with three of the people who were his rivals for Republican nomination. Lincoln had a logic- Cabinet should represent diverse views and perspectives and also fiercely independent.

Should a Corporate Board reflect such diversity and independence? Every director in the Board brings with him or her wisdom for running the business and board diversity ensures that several new windows are opened and explored, new doors are found and hidden doors are unhinged.

One of the tasks for Boards is to form Committees like Audit Committee,NRC, Independent Directors' Committee etc. Now with rapid  and disrupting changes happening around you,the importance of forming Risk Management Committee, Technology Adaptation Committee, Business Strategy Committee etc. has gained quite a bit of traction. Invariably for effective functioning of these Committees, Boards must have requisite reservoir of expertise and experience.

In this respect it is worthwhile to consider what Elon Musk has said about adopting first principles of thinking. Usually first principles of thinking process involves breaking down a larger complex issue into its conceivable parts for a coherent, cogent and cohesive understanding. But Musk says getting rid of preconceived conceptions about what you are creating is first principle of thinking - new age thinking.

Technology with its long hands of IoT, AI, Robotics, ML, DL,Industry 4.0,3D printing etc. ,has occupied the pride of place in managing today's Companies be it Shopfloor or Boardroom.

The second most important part of decision-making in the Board room should be asking "What-if " questions to the Strategy development. Board members must not shy away or hesitate to ask "what if "questions on all problems they foresee and look for the impact of such scenario analysis on the expected results. They should not hesitate to seek the help of outside experts for a report on such objective views with back up sensitivity analysis,data mining etc.

As a corollary, Board must always look for fail safe mechanism and should have a Plan B, Plan C etc up their sleeves, if their strategy meets unexpected risks and Black Swan or Grey Rhino events.

Many a grand strategy flounder when "what if" questions are not asked by Board members before approving the Strategy.

புத்தகம்

நல்லதொரு பெண்ணே!
உன் மேலுடையின்
பொலிவு மட்டுமே
உன்னை அழகுபடுத்தவில்லை!

உன் உள் பக்கங்களை
படிக்க படிக்க
அர்த்தமுள்ளதாகக்
காண்கிறேன்!

உன்னை ஒவ்வொருமுறை
படிக்கும்போதும்
புத்தம்புதிய
பதவுரைகளை
என் உள்ளத்தில்
முத்தமிட்டு
பதிய வைக்கிறாய்!

உன்னைக் கைப்பிடித்த
நாள் முதலாய்
வற்றாத ஊற்றாய்
நீ
பலவிதப் பார்வையில்
ஆயிரம் அர்த்தங்களை
அள்ளித் தெளிக்கிறாய்!
உனக்கு
என்மேல்
அவ்வளவு அன்பா?!