Showing posts with label Municipal Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Municipal Finance. Show all posts

Apr 1, 2013

Next time you are bullied tell them you are on an exponential learning curve!



Is it "the right time" for education system to introspect on its evaluation and certification process?

You see, you have been bullied every now or than for apparently no good reasons especially in your early growth phase as you can recall from your childhood memories and being bullied even today while you undertake every new challenge. Take a pause and rewind, being bullied for not performing as well as the next bright child in your class or neighborhood, not been able to memories the obvious answers to the obvious questions asked in the endless class tests, being bullied for not performing financially as well compared to people with similar background in life.

Let’s see what's the DNA of this bullying business and has it any significance in the light of the fact that learning and absorption capacity of a person is mostly independent of their childhood performance due to several unknown and very unpredictable environmental influences and opportunities available in one's life as they grow compared to limited and intentionally restricted options available/ provided to them in early childhood. Has it any significance at all in today’s rapidly changing world with emerging technologies, accessible and free resources of knowledge and why this business of bullying should fade away real fast, at least why its high time for the same to happen. Let’s see why the boundaries of education system should and will disappear very soon.

If you will closely observe the peripheral resources of learning available today while tracing the chronological changes in streams of information dissemination and future possibilities of technological infusion in informal learning process which all cumulatively presenting a new and broadened learning process, this informal learning process is getting so inclusive, so fast every passing day that it will make your head spin. These informal learning tools are mostly ignored in education process at present. 


Let’s look at the parallel growth in education system, which apparently seems way behind the real life real time pace of development when it comes to learning process - internet, smart phone, social networking just couple of examples though, you know! Unfortunately none of these wonderful tools of information exchange and knowledge transfer which have become core of everyone's everyday life are in the priority list of education system at all, and neither going to be an area of interest or exploration very soon for them, rather they will make sure that this plethora of life changing tools shouldn't get into the education system in the name of discipline, in the light of childhood vulnerability! Of course you need some kind of regulatory mechanism.

If we go with the current ideology of educational evaluation system then people in their life should be arranged in the exact same order of professional success as they were arranged in their school or graduation class, as evaluated based on their marks gained, based on their knowledge of the curriculum, but take a look around and you will realize it’s not true, it can’t be and it will never be true. The current evaluation system doesn't acknowledge the real potential of individual; they just care about the part of potential confined to their established boundary of curriculum, including peripheral limited activities like cultural and sports participation, ignoring the future environmental influences especially technological ones.

Present educational evaluation system seems somewhat flawed and bit dangerous as well; this whole process of establishing and certifying who has what capacity at the very early stage of individual's growth period while the growth of a person is directly proportional to what kind of opportunities he or she received in post schooling or later part of educational or personal life. Imagine a hypothetical situation in which an institution firmly establishes this fact that some particulate child has capacity of a D+ grade performance in primary or high school level, imagine if he or she could not get through selection process of a good school at secondary or higher secondary level and hence could not further got enrolled in a good university because of that D+ grade. Now imagine, what if that same child becomes extremely knowledgeable and efficient few years down the line after completing primary or high school education possibly due to new environmental influences, due to the latest learning tools and vast knowledge resources available today, what if he or she is the first one to grasped and master the latest tools of learning and research, what if that D+ grade student is technically the soundest candidate for higher secondary or university entrance but couldn't secure admission just because some institution had long back established and authoritatively certified the poor grade of student based on some skewed benchmark. A dream might get devastated due to early certification of knowledge on a discreet fragmented evolution system often within a limited bandwidth of educational framework. Couple of questions for you to answer - Can you justify assessment establishing poor performance of a geek child in cultural and sports activities or visa-versa? Can you justify assessment based on questions asked in class tests, answers of which you can find out in less than 20 seconds in Google? Can you justify bullying of that poor student who does not know the one word answer of that textbook question, when he or she can find out a precise and elaborate answer of that question within seconds while learning much more in the process only if you could have allowed him or her to use their smart phone? What’s the validity of asking such questions today and what is the validity of educational assessment based on such questions today at all? Don’t you think it’s the right time for the education system to introspect?

Mutation of educationsystem due to technological infusion is an emerging area of exploration which educational strategists should focus on. Learning is a constant process, and with the exponentially growing free and accessible resources of knowledge, learning process is bound to be an exponential phenomenon. So, if you are a parent or a teacher or educationalist think twice before bullying your child or student or to those supposedly less knowledgeable than you today, because they are going to come back tomorrow loaded with knowledge and laced with such innovative tools of precise knowledge acquisition which we can’t even imagine today. Today's comparison of two kids has no realistic relation or reflection at all with the actual success in their life in future when they will be at the highly accentuated curve of learning, the only deciding factor would be who shows how much interest in the emerging technologies and sources of learning, who familiarize himself or herself how much and who absorbs how fast and all of this is totally independent from the performance and potential assessment of today.

It’s not just the fault of education system which apparently fails to timely acknowledge the impact and possibility of technological development which has and will always outpace the development of educational system. Education system has its own constraints which we should also acknowledge, which is that they need to thoroughly investigate, assess and validate everything before letting it into the curriculum of education system, they can’t really merge the trending knowledge into the mainstream education without thorough understanding of the trend and its possible impact on the students, young or mature, and by the time they understand the trend and tame it down to the extent to be eligible for the mainstream educational inclusion, that trend becomes outdated, hence this constantly lagging process of chasing new knowledge and hence this outdated dissipation of knowledge through structured education system. And since the benchmark of assessment is outdated, there is grossly wrong process of assessment of students as well. For another example, no matter what and how extensively that particular student knows about some area of his or her interest, it is not going to help him get the good grade unless that knowledge is about one of the couple of subjects specified in the curriculum. That student is supposed to stick to the curriculum diet imposed on them by the institution; apparently every other knowledge is irrelevant in the eyes of education system at least that’s what they think is important to secure a good job at the end of the day. A fundamentally wrong notion of educational performance at least a highly irrelevant model of evaluation of talent in today's world when you are not just solely dependent on schools and universities for your learning, while you are learning wherever you are, whenever you want, in that very moment, learning on your mere wish. In spite of all this free and immense knowledge the existence of educators can’t be negated, what is needed is to have a holistic approach towards talent evaluation and fast inclusion of technological shifts.

This is "Learning on the go" generation and we can’t confine it in the predefined boundary of education, we can’t impose on others what they should learn, rather they should decide what they want to learn and it’s our responsibility to provide them the customized curriculum of their individual interest, education system will increasingly have to be much more flexible, it’s inevitable and its need of the hour. What needs to be done here is that to create a macro framework for the education system, flexible, fast and inclusive enough to quickly notice, sanitize and accommodate the changes occurring in technological field and otherwise, into the mainstream education system. A framework which makes the educational system sensible and smart enough to allow unlocking the true potential of unique individuals rather than mass production.


Apr 20, 2012

Key strengths and potential sectors of Indian states

ANDHRA PRADESH
ITES destination
Industrial estates
Abundant energy
World-class academic institutions
Storehouse of minerals

ASSAM
Comprehensive central investment policy for NER
Liberalised state industrial policies,
Skilled and cheap manpower
Pleasant climate and scenic landscape
Locational advantage for foreign trade

CHHATTISGARH
Power surplus
Availability of low grade coal-power plants
Ample amount of land

HARYANA
High per capita income
Proximity to trade and consumption centers in country- NCR
Automobiles and automotive components
IT/ITES facilities /software,
Textiles and readymade garments
Property development and retailing
Agro export

HIMACHAL PRADESH
High incentives index
Consumer market index
Most urbanised state
Low power tariff and cost of power generation
Policy proactiveness
Availability of natural resources for agro-based industries
High literacy rates and good quality workforce
High quality limestone

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Concessional land rates for industries on lease
Large tourism potential
Horticulture industry
Skills of weaving and designing of textile products,
Traditional skills of fine craftsmanship can be used in the field of electronic and precision engineering.

KARNATAKA
Proactive government
Sector-friendly policies
Large pool of skilled manpower
Best infrastructure
Larger focus on industrial growth

KERALA
High literacy rate
Largest producer of coconut, pepper, coir, cocoa, rubber and areca nut

MADHYA PRADESH
Law and order
High growth in infrastructure development..
High growth in agriculture
Good governance.
Centrally located, / accessible
Low cost of skilled labor
Low cost of land
Cement, textiles and edible oils.
Track record of attracting private investment in transport infrastructure
Initiated greenfield special economic zone.
Automobile and pharmaceutical industries
Improving social development indices

RAJASTHAN
Cement
Mineral production
Producers of cotton and wool
Tourist destination
Progressive states in electricity sector reforms
Oil and gas reserves
Emerging destination for it and ITES industries

UTTARAKHAND
Hydro-potential
Promoting industrial estates, industrial parks and growth centre
Vast pool of a natural resource
Tourism development
Quality human resource base at competitive rates
Number of fiscal benefits like concessional industrial package


By Anoop Jha


Source: pppindia.com

Apr 18, 2012

Municipal Finance in India : Municipal Tax Revenue sources

Municipal Revenue generation through Taxation in India

“Local Self Government becomes meaningless in the absence of financial autonomy. It enjoys the power of imposition of local taxes. The municipal bodies must have a wider scope of collection of revenues”
(Source: UIDSSMT)


ULBs have invented many channels and instruments of revenue generation in course of time due to urgency of handling growth, some of the tax sources both conventional and non-conventional, are mentioned below.


TAXES/FEES

CONVENTIONAL MUNICIPAL REVENUE SOURCES

Composite Property Tax
Water Charges
Sewerage Charges
Conservancy Charges
Building Permit Fee
Development Charges
Trade Licensing Fee
Advertisement Tax
Shop Room Rent

OTHER GENERAL MUNICIPAL REVENUE SOURCES

House Tax 
Show Tax  
Building Plan Fee
Tax on the consumption of Electricity    
Sale of liquor     
Cess on the transfer of immovable property   
License for Dangerous and Offensive trades
Rates are varied in respective ULBs
Rehari License Fee
Tehbazari Tax
Slaughter House Fee
Cattle Pound Fees
Birth & Death Certificate Fee
Copying Fee
Tree Cutting Fee
Library Membership
Ground Tax
Vehicle License Fee
Death & Birth Reg./ Late Fee
Forest /Garden Income
Dog License Fee 
Animal Tax (Cattle Pound)
Trade License Fee
Tax on advertisement other than advertisement published in the newspaper.


NON-CONVENTIONAL MUNICIPAL REVENUE SOURCES

Vacant Land Tax
Service Taxes
Surcharge on Land Registration Duty
Water Supply Donations
Water Supply Connection Charges
Water Benefit Tax
Water Betterment Charges
Sewerage Donations
Sewerage Connection Charges
Sewerage Benefit Tax
Sewerage Betterment Charges
Bulk Garbage Collection Charges
Betterment Charges
External Betterment Charges
Open Space Contribution
Impact fee
Transferable Development Right
Premium FSI
Sub-division charges
Planning Permission Betterment
Road Cutting Charges
Street Tax
Frontage Tax
Cess on Infrastructure
Motor Vehicle Tax/Surcharge
Tax on Petrol and Diesel
Business License Fee
Hoarding Charges,
Advertisement Placement Fees,
Cable TV Fee,
TV Advertisement Charges
Royalty on Auctions


INNOVATIVE /UNIQUE MUNICIPAL REVENUE SOURCES

General Obligation Bond/ Municipal Bond
Awarding of development rights,
Town planning schemes (TPS)
Plot/layout readjustment
Additional FSI/FAR
Goodwill auctions
Bank linkages (for Urban Poor)
Capital-based property tax system
Land banking
Transferable development rights (TDR)
Special Education tax
Pilgrim
Octroi
Special and General Sanitation
Shows
Toll on Vehicles,
Timber
Terminal
Menial Domestic Servants
Artisans
Entertainment Tax

SOME OF THE UNIQUE REVENUE STREAMS (THROUGH FEES/ CHARGES) OF MUNICIPALITIES ACROSS MAJOR STATES IN INDIA

Registration Fee
Mutation Fee
Market Fee 
Trade License Fee
Compounding Fee
Slaughter House Fee
License Fee
Betterment / Development Fee
Fire Brigade
Public Health
Swimming Bath Fee,
Stock Registration
Cattle Pound Fee
Teh Bazari Fee
Pilgrim
Scavenging
Prevention of Food Adulteration Fee
Dangerous and Offensive Trade License Fee
Animal Registration Fee
Compounding Fee
Warrant Fee
Bus Stand Fee
Copying Fee
Cart Stand Fee,
Encroachment Fee
Fees from burning ghats
Birth and Death Registration Fee


Sources:

Apr 15, 2012

Top 100 books of Housing




More coming....

Note: These Books are randomly chosen from an online digital database and has been arranged / composed randomly as well. These ranking are solely as per general judgment of blog author based on visual graphic appeal of book and title catchwords and these ranking does not represent any ranking in literary,  technical or any other sense.  This is only an effort to provide interested users and book lovers, a collection of relevant books and literature at one consolidated place for their ready reference. Further details of individual books are linked to the images. This note is in addition to the disclaimer section of this blog.