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“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha02 i-OPENER

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WHAT IS A REMITTANCE?➤ Starting with the basic defini-tion, a “remittance” is the trans-fer of money to a person or place.In other words, a remittance is ba-sically the same as an interna-tional money transfer. Many re-mittances are sent from foreignworkers who moved abroad seek-ing economic opportunities, send-ing their money to their countryof origin

BENEFIT ➤ International remittances havebeen an important source of for-eign exchange for the Indian econ-omy for four decades, with esti-mates of inflows ranging between2-4% of gross domestic product.For 2018, that was 2.9% of India’s

2018 GDP. And the latest $79 billionfinancial bonanza, while playingan important role in India’s for-eign exchange management, willalso lower the growing noise overa ‘brain drain’.

HURDLES ➤ The future growth of remit-tances is vulnerable to lower oilprices, restrictive migration poli-cies, and an overall moderationof economic growth. “Remit-tances have a direct impact on al-leviating poverty for many house-holds, and the World Bank is wellpositioned to work with countriesto facilitate remittance flows,”said Michal Rutkowski, SeniorDirector of the Social Protectionand Jobs Global Practice at theWorld Bank.

What are remittances?Dramatic finishCricket World Cup 2019signs off with a cliffhanger

It was perhaps the wildest of crick-et ODI World Cup finals. And inthe end, literally, nothing couldseparate England and NewZealand. But it was England who

were crowned champions on account ofthe number of boundaries they hit —26 to New Zealand’s 17. While the methodof deciding the winner by the numberof boundaries scored might be contro-versial — for example, one can arguethat wickets taken should be valuedmore than sixes or fours — but that wasthe rule in this tournament.

True, the end result was heart-breaking for New Zealand — they lostout on a technicality — but England de-serve full credit. They played aggressivecricket throughout the World Cup andhad the depth in their team to cover allbases. Hopefully, this win will revivecricket’s popularity in the UK, wherethe game had originated.

IS INDIA READY FOR

70% of electricitygenerated fromdirty sources ➤ India’s EV policy aims to cutemissions, even though more than70% of electricity is generated fromdirty sources such as coal. Withthermal power as the mainstay,more will be needed to seamlesslycharge the batteries for electric ve-hicles, thereby denting the credi-bility of India’s emission-reduc-tion goals. That notwithstanding,the plan envisages 30% EVs on In-dia’s roads by 2030. With an exist-ing vehicular population of morethan 210 million and swelling, it’shard to see how this transforma-tion will happen in about a decade.

EV batteries are costly ➤ Once you dismiss this bungle asoversight, there is the question ofcreating a market for EVs. Eventhose who plan to make such vehi-cles are reluctant participants be-

cause of the high costs and lack ofprofit. There is every reason whyexisting standard lithium-ion bat-teries use expensive materials suchas cobalt, bumping up price. In ane-car, battery performance is whatmatters most, hence, cutting cor-ners on the battery is not an option.

India, a value-con-scious market➤ This is not to say carmakersfrom Toyota to General Motorsaren’t chasing electric dreams.They are, but mostly by targetingdeveloped countries with higherincomes and sophisticated infra-structure capabilities. India, is avalue-conscious market and thebulk of the vehicles on its roadsare entry-level ones where priceis everything.

What should be done ➤ If the government is serious aboutreducing emissions and encourag-ing cleaner vehicles, it needs to vast-ly improve public transport andshared mobility so that fewer com-muters opt for private vehicles. Itmust curb the ownership of vehiclesper household and make it prohibi-tively expensive to own more thanone vehicle. It should also incentiviseremote working where possible, cut

ting back on the need to travel.➤ India’s shift to EVs should bekickstarted by converting intra-city public transport to green, andby generating enough surplus pow-er through clean energy.

➤ Once it is able to deliver on thesebasics, it will be easier to convinceall stakeholders to convert.

Most discussions onelectric vehicles(EVs) focus onbenefits andsidestep seriousquestions.India’s nationalEV policylacks spark.In a countrythat is powerdeficit, thecurrent EVplan seems asham

Comparison withdeveloped countries ➤ Compare this with coun-tries like Britain, chasingsimilar outcomes. Britainseeks to halve fossil fuel ve-hicles by 2030, but has justabout 38 million vehicles onits roads, is power surplus,and by 2025, will eliminatecoal-fired power. All of whichlends some credence to itsgreen goals.

➤ India’s planned EV journey,on the other hand, has manydead ends. Instead of develop-ing EVs, automakers in Indiahave been busy recalibrating ve-hicles to meet the Bharat Stan-dard-VI (BS-VI) emission norms.By 2020, India will switch to BS-VI standards to cut vehicularemissions. These are in line withEuropean guidelines. Manu-facturers who have alreadypumped in money to meet thisdeadline have little incentive torev up on EVs, which needs bil-lions more in investment andthousands of engineering hours,despite no assured demand.

India is powerstarved

➤ GoI is hoping consumerswill overcome cost hurdlesthrough subsidies it offers.That may be so. But it’s notpossible to race past inade-quate infrastructure. ForEVs to run smoothly, Indiawill need assured excesspower supply that can be fedto charging stations through-out the country.

➤ Even tony metropolitanareas in Delhi’s hinterlandstruggle with outages. Out-side urban areas, power canbe scatty. And in vast swathesof rural India, electrificationmeans a supply line and anhour of power a day.

➤ Given the infrastructurebottlenecks, GoI will have tolimit EV use to within the ra-dius of charging stations,which would hardly be ac-ceptable to most buyers. Topenalise buyers for fossil fuelvehicles, while failing toguarantee power for electricvehicles, lacks wheels.

ELECTRICVEHICLES?

India got a ‘Kenya’ in remittances for 2018. We’re talking $78.069 billion(around `546 lakh crore) or equal to the nominal GDP of Kenya

I feel ShashiTharoor will be theright choice to

succeed Rahul Gandhias Congress president.He is well educated,very experiencedpolitical leader and aformer diplomat. He

can lead the Congress ably, giving itthe much needed direction through hiserudite knowledge, oratory and diplo-macy skills.ANSHU SINGH, class X, St GregoriosSchool, New Delhi

Sachin Pilot, thedeputy chiefminister of

Rajasthan, should takeover from RahulGandhi. Sachin isyoung, honest, hardworking and has a clearvision of what he wants for the futureof India. The son of late Rajesh Pilot, aCongress leader himself, Sachin will beable to steer the Congress party out oftroubled waters and help the Grand OldParty regain its lost glory and respect. NANDINI DESHWAL, class IX, The ShriramMillennium School, Noida

India is a country ofdiversity with mul-tiple cultures and

languages. This makesit difficult for peopleof different cultures tounderstand each other.Making Hindi compul-sory will not only unite

the people, but will help to increaseefficiency in communication. Besides,this will also help to increase theimportance of our national language. PRACHI JAIN, class VII, St Helen’s School,Howrah

ABRING PEOPLE CLOSER

It’s ban SACHIN RIGHT CHOICE

SHASHI THAROOR IDEAL

Motilal Vora,the formerCM of Madhya

Pradesh, is the bestcontender. He haseverything which Rahullacked and what a poli-tician needs — expe-rience, smartness,knowledge and leadership. He has seenIndia since the British Raj and is mostsuitable for the job. KRISH KOTECHA, class IX, Delhi PublicSchool, Rajkot

SPEAKOUT

EXPRESS YOURSELFFeel strongly about what youread? Please send us your viewsand opinions along with your picsat ttooiinniiee117755@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm. To postcomments/articles/photos online,register at www.toistudent.comand start a debate.

Q Who shouldsucceed Rahul

Gandhi as the newCongress president?

ALL FOR MOTILAL VOHRA

Sachin Pilot is themost eligiblecandidate for

Congress president.The deputy CM ofRajasthan, he is youngand vibrant. He servedin Manmohan Singh’sministry as a minister

of corporate offices. He was commis-sioned as an officer in the IndianTerritorial Army and is known asLieutenant Pilot. I think he will be ableto build a strong party with no corrup-tion to help in the progress of theIndian economy.MAYUK JAYASIMHA, class VI, GitanjaliDevshala, Hyderabad

SACHIN PILOT ELIGIBLE

Ambati Rayudu isan exceptionalplayer even

though his battingmay have not beengood in the IPL.Despite being at thetop in the stand-bylist, he wasn’t select-

ed for the World Cup, an event whichholds an exceptional place in any crick-eter's life. Ambati's retirement ismainly due to the BCCI’s rejection.SUNAINA UPPAL, class IX, DL DAV PublicSchool, New Delhi

Rayudu is atalented bats-man, but he

couldn't perform asexpected from a No. 4batsman. I would'vepreferred him asShikhar Dhawan'sreplacement for the WC, but the selec-tors went with Rishabh Pant as he is asouthpaw who can score runs aggres-sively when required. I'm disappointedthat Rayudu as a good sportsman gaveup so easily and quit over his rejection.MOKSH DALAL, class VIII, Smarten School,Najafgarh, New Delhi

I t’s never unfair toany player as everyplayer gets a

chance based on histalent and perform-ance. Rayudu wasdoing good andalmost had a con-firmed berth, but his

form declined just before the WC,making the selectors to go for analternative. We must stand by thedecision taken by Team India.RAVIKAR B REDDY, class VII, BharatiyaVidya Bhavan, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

ASTAND BY DECISION

The selectors havebeen unfair. Rayu-du is a good and

experienced cricketerand was named as astandby for the WorldCup. But despitenumerous injuries hewas not chosen. He is abig hitter and could stabilize the middleorder. Ignoring him wasn't a good idea.ANISH VEERAKUMAR, class IX, St Paul’sEnglish School, Bengaluru

ANOT A GOOD IDEA

It’s ban DISAPPOINTING MOVE

Though not aswell appreciatedas Virat Kohli or

MS Dhoni, Rayuduproved his potentialthrough his matchwinning centuries andinnings. He was treat-ed unfairly by theselectors for reasons best known tothem. I feel Rayudu has done a lot forhis team and received nothing inreturn for it.YASHIKA M PANDEY, class XII, CMRNational Public School, Bengaluru

Q Cricketer AmbatiRayudu retired

recently. Do you thinkselectors have been unfairto Rayudu?

UNFAIR TO RAYUDU

QUIT ONUS ON BCCI

I t’s unfortunatethat this talentedguy was not given

an opportunity toprove himself. There isalways pressure on theselectors to includeonly those players inthe team who are per-

forming continuously better than oth-ers. Rayudu was not able to satisfy theselectors, so he was dropped. This mayappear cruel and unfair, but we cannotignore the fact that due to this strate-gy, our Indian cricket team is numberone in the world.HARSH SINGHAL, class XII, Delhi PublicSchool, Hapur

RAYUDU NOT UP TO MARK

SOURCE: ET/BY ANJANA MENON. THE WRITER IS CEO, CONTENT PIXIES

About one in ninepeople globallyare supported byfunds sent homeby migrant workers: Around800 million in the world – orone in nine people– are recip-ients of these flows of moneysent by their family memberswho have migrated for work.

Remittances remain expen-sive to send: On average,globally, currency conversionsand fees amount to 7 per centof the total amounts sent.

Photo: Bloomberg

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Bloomberg

Photo: Bloomberg