SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs): The Time for New Focus

                                                                                                          -Sajan Rai

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the historic decision on a comprehensive far-reaching and people-centred, a set of universal goals committed to achieve in its three dimensions-Economic, Social and Environment, with a deadline for attainment of 2030.  The SDGs will be the guidelines for UN member states to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years and it aims to “end poverty in all its form everywhere” by 2030. The declaration of SDGs adoption was made at seventieth UN General Assembly after several drafts over years by an intergovernmental Open Working Group (OWG) that comprised representatives of seventy countries.

The Global Goals or SDGs will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieve by 2015. The sustainable development agendas was finalized by the UN’s 193 member states during the Rio +20 summit at the United Nation Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janerio in June 2012 (Rio +20).

As cited by Danielle Renwick (2015); UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon says the SDGs are based on six essential elements: “dignity, people, prosperity, our planet, justice, and partnership.” The 17 proposed SDGs, targets and indicators have broad and ambitious sweep of the goals. These includes-ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, ending hunger,  achieving gender equality, ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, and ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

The eight MDGs- reduce poverty and hunger, achieve universal education, promote gender equality, reduce child and maternal deaths, combat HIV, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability,  develop global partnerships – failed to consider the root causes of poverty and made no afford on gender inequality as well as the holistic nature of development. The MDGs did not focus on human rights, natural resources, and specifically on economic development. Initially MDGs were documented to be applied to all countries but it was focused on poor countries financed from wealthy nations. Sarah Hearn, New York University’s (NYU) Centre on International Cooperation remarked, “The MDGs were about resource transfer from rich countries. The SDGs are universal—they’re supposed to apply to all countries and try to overcome the 'West lecturing the rest' dynamic”. Every country is expected to work towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

Analysts have expected the SDGs are to be costly-more costly than MDGs. Some analysts say it’d cost as much as $4.5 trillion per year in investments and to aid to meet the SDGs. Likewise,  a 2014 UN report estimated $7 trillion annually for infrastructure investments. Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish economist and director of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre attributes $200 billion of $900 billion in aid spent between 2000 and 2014 to the MDGs; he says the SDGs could direct as much as $700 billion in aid over next fifteen years.

The designs of the post-2015 development agenda, the SDGs goals have attracted widespread criticism. A handful of member states including UK and Japan feel that an agenda consisting of 17 goals is too unwieldy to implement. Speaking in New York in 2014, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he worried there were too many goals to implement effectively. “There’s a real danger they will end up sitting on a bookshelf, gathering dust,” he said. He wants 12 goals at the most, preferably 10.

Amina Mohammed, the UN secretary general’s special adviser said it was hard fighting to get the number of goals down to 17, and it would be better if they can further reduce.

Lomborg argues that some of the SDGs targets-ending malnutrition, malaria, and tuberculosis, are “implausibly optimistic and inefficient.” He said it will result better if they invest only on 19 targets.

Jeffrey Sachs, one of the proponents of the goals and the UN secretary general’s special adviser supported that the post-2015 development planning goal serve to mobilize support and resources, create ‘peer pressure’ for political leaders to work to end extreme poverty, and other global issues that can be solved. “Global goals help to galvanize a global effort,” writes sachs.

“World leaders have an unprecedented opportunity this year to shift the world onto a path of inclusive, sustainable and resilient development,” Writes Helen Clark, UNDP Administration.

Exemption of Customs Duty and Sales Tax on Books

According to the existing law, the policy on imported books demand 20% customs duty and 5% sale tax as per the Bhutan Trade Classification Bhutan Sales Tax Schedule and Customs tariff. Generally, the new books fetch high price in the international and global markets leading to increase in the gross investment in dealers’ accounts. If the tariff remains unchanged or increases then the only limited dealers will shut down soon, particularly in the tiny nation like Bhutan where there are fewer readers. Therefore, the exemption of Customs Duty and Sales Tax on Books not only encourage entrepreneurship across the country but also help children, readers’ access to wide variety of books of any kind of genre.  Therefore, this is a noble initiative!

Customs duty is exempted on Indian origin: if the trends remain unchanged, in coming days the country’s book stores will have only Indian origin books. Reading has no boundaries.

The existing law says the book import operational level is managed on risk assessment basis due to large volume imports and lack of space. No detailed verifications are done as the books are considered as low risk products. Books come with no risk, I say. If the truth be searched it is found in the books that are risky (political word).

The Dream Come True for book dealers is when the notification from Ministry of Finance, RGoB, Tashichhodzong, on 24^th July 2015 issued:

‘In order to encourage all Bhutanese to read, especially in the context of the National Reading Year 2015, and in keeping with the authority vested under Part I, Chapter 2 Section 3.2 and Part II, Chapter 3 Section 5.2 of the Sales Tax, Customs and  Excise Act of  Bhutan 2000, the Ministry of Finance is pleased to exempt al books imported during 2015 from the levy of customs duty and sales tax’.

Viewers believe this is a noble initiative from the desk of Finance Minister, Lyanpo Namgay Dorji; however the constitution doesn’t go with us. It is unconstitutional, and the exemption of taxes without due parliamentary process is a direct violation of the Constitutional provision, the opposition remarked.

Nevertheless, the provision also states that ‘on satisfaction and in the public interest, the ministry of finance may exempt a person from the payment of sales tax or custom duty.

Bhutan needs more books, more brains and more heads. If any country is in need of intellects, manpower, or nation builders for today or for the future, it is the books that produce such and such people. Books continue to teach for ages, decades, centuries, or more, and till very end.

The Dream Come True for the readers and dealers will be if the country, constitutional provision, or policies exempt the customs duty on books for some more times.

And my only grievance here is the country should no more ban books regarding the histories of the nation or others.

Listen no more to inane argument from government or media, listen to the wisdom of writers. They believe man is incomplete without reading.

 _sajan

  The Electric Car: A policy Trail

The first two electric car models-the Nissan LEAF and Mahindra Reva introduced by Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchen Tshering Tobgay has brought new scope-development in the country. The entry of a clean-car, eco friendly in the country targeting to reduce the import of fossil fuel and striking the environmental problems are a noble initiative but the decision, disregards the rule of law-violating and inappropriate conflict of the interest.Kingdom of Bhutan signed a deal with auto giant Nissan to showcase for electric cars, relying on the abundant supplies of clean electricity from hydropower last year. The deal was announced when the chief of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn visit to Thimphu. Believing the deal would help Bhutan be the environmental role model, Ghosn encouraged and expected hundred to thousand EVs be sold in the country, talking to The Japan Times. Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay elaborated EVs would help meet Bhutan’s zero emissions target by 2020 during the conference with Ghosn.

Let’s see...

The positive feedbacks from the first users of electric car in the country are that they appreciated the government’s push for the country to adopt electric vehicles and its tax exemption on electric car imports. They were happy that they do not have to pay for fuel, emission tests and maintenance. However, the first complain; no government support for developing charging infrastructure and land for building charging stations was enough issue!

BBS, Jun 9 2014

The National Council said the government’s decision to allow the import of second hand electric cars is in contradiction to the idea of conserving environment. The Gasa member Sangay Khandu posted on facebook: “The Prime Minister, Head of Government driving a Nissan Tesla electric car (probably not procured by Government & very expensive) and the Government procuring 30-40 used Nissan leaf electric cars against existing laws and rules of the land maybe seen as probable cause for conflict of interest.”National Council members appreciated the idea of promoting electric cars, however they said it could be a problem in the future finding spare parts and Bhutan might become a dumping ground for other countries. Furthermore, they expressed the government should have tabled this issue for discussion before the decision was made. I ask. Electric car? What makes Bhutanese buy electric car when we are already neat and clean, when we have abundant clean energy supply? What is the policy, rationale behind this? Is it for the politicians we are buying or for the country that we need to protect?

 Let’s follow next… ACC shocker for govt. electric vehicle policy, kuensel issue of May 4, 2015:
The report discloses how the government decision of approving second hand electric car has violated the existing laws. According to annual report 2014, ACC stated the government decision approving import of second hand EVs has violated the provision of the Constitution and the Rules and Procedures for Imports from Third Countries, 2001. The report however states, “The review could not establish direct conflict between the private interests of the Prime Minister and the Government’s actions on import of EVs in the country” (kuensel 4^th may 2015).
Raising the same concerns, the commission’s report states, “Receiving EV gifts from NISSAN Motor Co. Ltd. (Japan) and Tesla Company (USA) has violated the provisions of the Gift Rules, 2009’.There is serious issue about gift giving. It was stated that it is important to consider why business firms want to gift EVs to the prime minister or a minister. I ask, EVs is more like social burden than noble initiative, isn’t so?  Another controversy here…
 Another striking question appeared on Kuensel issue may 6, 2015: Are E-cars really environment-friendly? Highlighting on carbon emission, the kuensel concluded, ‘conventional cars (maruti Altos) are more beneficial to the environment in terms of carbon emission, hypothetically. And another line; diverting even a small amount of electricity export for domestic consumption would come at a cost of carbon emission in India. And pollution has no boundaries. To streamline, the report was suspecting that the Electric Cars are environmentally not friendly and economically not comparable to Maruti Altos. On the contrary, an electric car user and an Environmental professional and Engineer, blogger Chhimi blogged, ‘There was this piece in Kuensel that really disturbed me saying that Electric Cars in Bhutan are not even environmentally Friendly, forget being economical. I believe it is totally flawed on wrong assumptions. Bhutan is one of the first places on earth that have the most advantage of using electric cars’.
 Analysis of political controversy is beyond my limited brain. Let’s follow next… Kuensel issue 5^th June 2015:‘An appeal letter sent by a group of taxi drivers, who are driving electric cars, was discussed in the National Assembly. The appeal letter says the vehicles are falling short of guarantee. They were told an electric car would run about 140 kilometers on full charge. However, they say it runs only to about 50-80 kilometres’.
 ‘The first’ complain; charging stations not in place and fear of poor mileage on e-taxi have come true. The controversy doesn’t end with electric cars, or EVs in the country. There are repeated cases that the government is being accused of favoritisms about e-cars. The opposition party called it as the case of corruption but nothing happened.  The country’s highest anti corruption body, the ACC, suspects a case of conflict of interest. The report covered the appeal made to PM by the group of taxi driver who felt cheated.
 Now the people built up the mindset of the EVs policy are not only of environmentally friendly, it also ignited and surrounded in controversy, fortunately or unfortunately. I say, there is big difference between going against the EVs policy and not liking the EVs policy. Some people are politicizing, some jumping on the bandwagon, some are against, and rest confused and never heard of, or aware about it. This is Bhutan and knowing nothing on political procedures and policy changes is not the news! There are plenty of reasons why and how the EVs policy conjured up a controversy. Bhutan should go sustainable if it can. Electric car, EVs policy is best alternative base on plenty supply of electricity if no controversy conjures up. Nothing comes without negative. On the other round I say, ecological damages for the economic development of the country should be compromised. Bhutan needs more foods, more roads, and infrastructural growth than addressing environmental problems, which we don’t have today.Despite many issues and a controversy on e-cars in the country I support EVs policy and the noble objectives born with the policy. However, I bring here the question discussed in kuensel forum:Why so urgent to buy electric cars by government?  Thank you.Rai, Sajan

GREEN YOUTH CAMPAIGN Passang Dorji. Edition: Sajan Rai

Drug abuse is not a resolution it is stress intensifier.

                                        …..to my Teacher

“This is not a story like in a book:
Perhaps, the most honest heart speaking on”

Fire-like an undaunted wisdom sprang up in the air
Burning inhuman debris, toppling the evil and the beast –
Bit by bit, wind by wind, soul by soul, human by human:
An effusion of love swayed over every earthy thing
This time, you embarrassed the moon the most.
And the world was so happy; she turned thousand somersaults at your feet.
Demystified the most betrayed grievances and human affront:
This time, you bestow the crown of poverty to mysteries.
The gleaming Spring brings her shimmering petals to revive your virtue-
The ruthless autumn-forest-leaves sprang up like the banners.

When all the unkindness went lame and blind
The universe drunk with an aroma of equity; deaf to the hoot
Dances till the feet wearied and tears.
No another man beneath the azure skies-
The worth of Wordsworth’s daffodils and Keats’ autumn-
Milton’s paradise, and Shelley’s skylark,
Almost to the Lord Byron’s ‘lady of the land’.
And the world gazed out you, like highway man came riding, riding, and riding!

You cannot go with the sunset
I am travelling by you
You are the breast for the cloudy human
At the hours, you are the most sought-after actor of the world.                              

                                                                                                                                    _Sajan                                                                                                                                                                               

What shall I write on the next page? (2013)

I used to rest:

Breathing the perfume of the finest lady-

Her dewy lips on my lips

Poisoning kisses on my eyes-

Nothing seems beautiful than she is-

And she embarrassed the moon the most.

The warmth psychology from her hypnotizing hips

Burnt my hand when I touched it-

That was the time I knew:

 The earth was the most beautiful place to live in.

I wrote with ashes

The mocking rain washed away

I wrote on the sand on the beach

The drunken river swallowed in

I wrote on the leaves

The power-hunger caterpillars ate it-

Would have spared my heart!

You came with no reason

You went with the seasons

You came when I was spring-blossomed

You went when I was winter-barren

I was not spring externalist.

The cut was deepest ever

Uprooted my heart- cold hut

I tried to drink you with wine

My drunken heart wail for you louder

I tried to finish you like the smoke from my cigarette

But you seem like the clouds;

Externalist of my heart

I ask for you to the moon every night

Like you, moon changes with the mood of the night

I ask for you to the sun every dawn

Like you, its shines vary with the caste of the day.

I never urge to fight with the truth:

The truth of our departure

Nothing seems vengeful than my silence

Silence is my weapon.

My diary has no page

Nor do my pens

No tomorrow, no classes or periods

All my sentences are paralyzed

If I have to write, write on the diary of my heart

What shall I write on the next page?

                                                                        -Sajan

Lullaby to the stranger...

when my lips dance over your ears;
Your soul shall swallow my abandoned voice:
The unrest melody shall swing you over the heaven and the earth endlessly.
You shall survive like the star- all night,
Where thousand of array of bevy shall read you
then you make the history re-write.
Upon crossing the hills, and steam billowed through me
I shall return with some grains for next day.
You shall fall into my eyes..fall deeper into that abyss-
It is your home...
And you shall sleep endlessly, until the world awakes you.

 
                                                                         - Sajan.