14 % drop in coral growth seen in the Great Barrier Reef

Increased sea surface temperature and acidity of sea water are the most likely causes

The effects of global warming have shown up in a definite way in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

A paper in the latest issue of the Science journal notes unprecedented effects of increased CO{-2} on the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists found the rate at which corals were able to build skeletons dropped by 14 per cent during the p eriod of study — 1990 to 2005.

Coral reefs are considered as the rain forests of the ocean as they support great biodiversity. Any drop in growth of the reefs of the Great Barrier Reef is hence worrying.

Unprecedented

What makes the study significant is that scientists studied 328 colonies from 69 reefs, and the duration of study was 15 years. “…This study shows that the effects are probably large-scale in extent and that the observed changes are unprecedented within the past 400 years.”

The growth of coral reefs depends on their ability to build skeletons. Skeletons are built by calcification of calcium carbonate (CaCO{-3}). There are a few things that may affect the calcification process.

Though the scientists note that the precise “causes of decline” in calcification are not known, their study suggests that increased temperature stress and increased acidity of sea water are the most likely causes.

Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to sea surface temperature. Any changes beyond 1 degree C for extended periods of time affect the corals. Increase in sea surface temperature affects and destroys the symbiotic zooxanthellae algae that live on the corals. Any damage to the algae leads to a loss of the symbionts and a rapid whitening of the coral host (thus the term "bleaching").

Mass coral bleaching was not documented in the scientific literature before 1979. 1998 saw a large scale destruction of coral reefs all over the world.

Effect of salinity

Since the oceans act as sinks for carbon dioxide, increased uptake of CO{-2} by ocean water will make them acidic. Supersaturation of tropical sea water with calcium carbonate is crucial for reef calcification process. Hence acidic water will compromise supersaturation.

The pH of the ocean has decreased by 0.1 unit (become acidic) since the beginning of the industrial revolution. And this has affected the calcification process.The researchers studied the Porites corals using X-rays and a technique called gamma densitometry to measure annual growth and skeletal density.

Studying the skeletal density allowed them to calculate the amount of calcification annually. They found that the calcification rate rose 5.4 per cent between 1900 and 1970. It dropped by 14.2 per cent between 1990 and 2005. The drop was mainly due to a growth slowdown from 1.43 cm a year to 1.24 cm.

Long term effects

How the sea surface temperature and lower pH would affect the reefs and marine organisms in the long run cannot be accurately predicted since living organisms and ocean are dynamic.

“We may not see drastic changes in a short period. And how the increased temperature, acidity and reduced skeletal strength due to calcite erosion would affect marine life are not known,” said Dr. M. Wafar, Senior Scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa. “So this only calls for a more cautious approach.”

Coral reef recovery in Lakshadeep

The year 1998 saw a large scale destruction of coral reefs all over the world. This was due to increased sea surface temperature.

Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to water temperature. Any change beyond 1 degree C for extended periods of time affects the corals.

Coral bleaching

Ten years ago saw a layer of warm water spreading from the south into the tropical water. The warm water conditions persisted for as long as one month in certain places.

The mean maximum summer sea surface temperature increased by 2 degree C. “About 40-50 per cent of corals were lost in most of the reefs,” said Dr. M. Wafar, Senior Scientist at the National Oceanography Institute (NIO), Goa. “80-90 per cent of corals in Lakshadeep were destroyed.” Dr. Wafar has been involved in coral research for nearly 25 years.

Scientists from NIO have recovered coral reef in Kavaratti island, Lakshadeep through coral transplantation.

“The recovery has been quite good. In some places the live coral cover has increased by nearly 50 per cent,” said Dr. Wafar. “The government now wants us to undertake similar initiative in all the islands at Lakshadeep.”

Scientists will soon start growing corals for transplantation work at Agatti and Kadmat islands.

Coral transplantation

Pieces of corals broken naturally or otherwise are tied to slabs and put in shallow water and allowed to grow. The coral are put in reefs once they have grown well.

“We started the pilot exercise in Nov-Dec 2005. We used 100 coral tips, most of them belonging to fast growing coral genera.

“In 2 years’ time the growth was up to 25 cm in the best of the cases,” Dr. Wafar said.

In all 4 fast growing coral species and 4-5 slow growing species were grown and transplanted in the coral reefs in Kavaratti in 2008.

“We grew fast and slow growing coral species to offset a bias in the natural species composition,” he said. “We will do the same now as well.” Since reefs support many fishes, increased coral coverage has a direct positive impact on fish population.

The CAT scenario

The results of the Common Admission Test (CAT) are out. Management seat aspirants across the country — 2,46,546 who sat for this important examination on November 16 — found that the results this year were easy to access. Previously, candidates could check their percentiles only online and had to wait for call letters from the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to be delivered by post. This time around, the IIMs seem to have pulled up their socks, beefed up the bandwidth and provided an integrated web site, making the process simple, quick and easy, almost at the click of a mouse.

The web site worked with clockwork precision, and candidates were saved the otherwise tedious, anxiety-ridden process of browsing through different IIM web sites and going through multiple servers crashing through the day.

With nearly 4,500 getting call letters, one significant part of this two-stage battle is over. CAT 2008 is only the first stage of the admission process to the much-coveted Postgraduate Programme in Management on offer at the seven IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Shillong.

The next step

For the few who made it, the path ahead is steep, long and arduous; with barely 2,000 seats on offer, the competition will be tough. Ajay Arora of the Triumphant Institute of Management Education (T.I.M.E.), Bangalore, said that the number of candidates called for group discussion (GD) and personal interviews (PI) has seen an increase. “This can be attributed to the fact that the next level of the quota for Other Backward Classes will kick in from this year. With this, the number of seats will naturally see an increase,” he said. For instance, the number of seats on offer at IIM, Bangalore, has gone up from 250 in 2007 to 275 in 2008. Furthermore, IIM, Bangalore, in November, announced that it had decided to increase its intake for its Postgraduate Programme in Management (PGP) by 75, increasing its total capacity to 345.

Mr. Arora had a piece of advice for candidates who received calls for the GD and PI stage, scheduled from the second week of February. “They should start preparing for the GD and PI in earnest. Though the CAT results are being announced around 10 days late this year, the IIMs are not going to change the GD and PI dates. GD and PI will be held during early February and this leaves students with only three weeks’ time to prepare.”

Differing criteria

Experts point out that cut-offs are not common for all IIMs. Neither is themodus operandi used to short-list students for the second stage.

For instance, 100-percentiler Lakshmisha S.K. was surprised that he did not receive a call from IIM, Kozhikode.

Same is the case with Ameya Mhatre, who shares the perfect score, but did not get a call from IIM, Shillong. What more can an institute want from a candidate who has scored a perfect 100?

“Maybe, it has to do with the fact that my engineering marks aren’t top-notch. I do not know,” Mhatre says.

The amendment to LIC Act

On December 23, 2008, the government introduced in Parliament a Bill for amending the Insurance Act, to raise the capital of the Life Insurance Corporation from Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 100 crore. On the face of it, the intention behind the proposed amendment may appear to be good. Unfortunately, it is not so.

Needless exercise

It is a recognised fact that a life insurance company does not require any capital. There were, and still are, many life insurance companies known as Mutuals. Standard Life of the U.K. (which operated in India even before 1900 and is now again in India in partnership with Housing Development Finance Company) was a mutual company till June 30, 2006. In India itself, Bombay Mutual, before nationalisation of insurance, was a well known example. The mutual companies have no capital — only working capital, during initial years. Policyholders are the owners of these companies and the entire profit, after tax, goes to them.

The Rs. 5 crore provided by the government at the time of formation of LIC was more in the nature of working capital than real capital. Today, the Controlled Fund of LIC exceeds Rs. 7 lakh crore, with a solvency margin reserve of more than Rs. 30,000 crore. This reserve, built up by transfers from surplus (profit) after tax, is akin to general reserve and, therefore, for all purposes, equivalent to capital, but with one difference. Ninetyfive per cent of this capital belongs to policyholders.

With policyholders thus providing almost 95 per cent of the capital, LIC is virtually a mutual company. In this context, an addition of Rs. 95 crore to capital is a drop in the ocean and serves no purpose, except perhaps to facilitate passing of a part of the business to the private sector, Indian and foreign.

Can a minority shareholder unilaterally alter the capital structure of a company? This question has to be first answered before the bill, in its present form, is taken up for discussion in Parliament.

As per the LIC Act, the Central government is not eligible for more than five per cent of the valuation of surplus emerging each year. This was in line with the standard set up by Oriental Assurance Company before nationalisation. In the case of private insurers, as per the Insurance Act, the shareholders are eligible for 100 per cent of the surplus emerging from without profit policies and 10 per cent of the surplus emerging from with profit policies. The unit linked policies come under the without profit category. With these policies constituting more than 95 per cent of the portfolio of private insurers, almost 98 per cent of surplus goes to shareholders in the case of private insurance companies.

Policyholders to suffer

If the proposed amendment to the LIC Act goes through, the shareholders’ share of profits of LIC will immediately jump from five per cent to 10 per cent and then gradually increase, during the next ten years, to more than 40 per cent. That is, within the next ten years, even assuming only a modest growth rate, the shareholders of LIC would get more than Rs. 15,000 crore a year, or Rs. 1,250 crore a month, as compared to the present level of Rs. 1,000 crore a year. This, at the cost of policyholders.

These figures would explain the objective behind the proposed amendment.

Such a move to siphon off the profits of LIC will result in enrichment of private pockets, drastically reduce the levels of bonus to policyholders, render the corporation uncompetitive and eventually weaken it beyond recognition. Simultaneously, the demand to withdraw government guarantee to LIC has been resurrected. The government can be allowed to withdraw the guarantee but, on one condition. Convert the LIC into a mutual company and make the policyholders, who have contributed 95 per cent of the capital, the owners.

The amendment to the Insurance Act made in 1999 has conferred on us a distinction. After this amendment, India is perhaps the only country not to allow formation of mutual insurance companies. But, this position can be easily rectified through a minor amendment to the Act. In this context, it is worth mentioning the view held by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). According to this body (not binding on member states), an insurance company can be either a joint stock or a mutual company.

For giving up its control of LIC, the government may be compensated through payment of a fixed sum, say Rs. 1,000 crore a year, for the next 20 years. One may feel that the quantum of compensation is high. But, the price of freedom always is.

If such a scheme is implemented, it would result in immediate increase in the levels of bonus to policyholders, making LIC a much stronger organisation.

In 1993, a national survey was got conducted by the Malhotra Committee, spanning cities, towns and villages. The survey showed that LIC’s emblem was readily recognised by more than 99 per cent of the persons covered by the survey. The LIC is not just a national institution. It is a symbol of national integration and its emblem is treated as a symbol of security. It is the duty of every right thinking Indian to stand up against any attempt to dilute this status.

Satyam board in talks with banks

‘All efforts to ensure payment of salaries on time’

HYDERABAD: The new Board of Directors of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. said here on Saturday that it has begun discussions with banks and financial institutions to address the issue of liquidity of the beleaguered company.

Meeting for the second time in six days, the board noted that last week had seen definite improvements on collections. This was expected to be a major priority for the business leaders in the company and the board in the ensuing weeks.

The board, whose strength was increased by the Centre from three to six on Thursday, conveyed a strong note of reassurance to the 53,000-strong work force and also expressed confidence that its key customers would remain with the company. It also discussed the scheduling of payments to its vendors.

The board kindled hope among the employees when it declared that it was making all efforts to ensure payment of salaries on time. It was in touch with key customers and so far had not heard of deliveries being affected.

“The board reaffirmed its confidence in its associates [employees] and their ability to continue delivering high quality work, as per the stated Service Level Agreements.” It was in conversation with customers, who, in turn, had expressed their continued support, which was a very encouraging sign.

The directors — Deepak Parekh, Kiran Karnik, C. Achuthan, T.N. Manoharan, Tarun Das and S.B. Mainak — issued a statement after deliberating for over six hours on the challenges confronting the company at Satyam Infocity. They constituted an Audit Committee with Mr. Manoharan as its chairman and Mr. Achuthan and Mr. Mainak as members.

Internal auditors

M/s Brahmayya & Co., chartered accountants of Chennai, were appointed the internal auditors of the company with immediate effect and Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., legal advisors to the board.

The board continued its search for a Chief Executive Officer and a Chief Financial Officer. Until these appointments were made, it would meet on a weekly basis to address the ongoing issues. While Saturday’s meeting of the board was chaired by Mr. Parekh, every meeting would be chaired by one of the directors by rotation till a full-fledged chairman was appointed by the Centre in line with the directions of the Company Law Board.

America's youngest Indian CEO

At 39 years, Francisco D'Souza, the India-origin chief executive of software firm Cognizant Technology Solutions, is one of the youngest CEOs in America, running an American public company that is worth at least $500 million.

The latest among a slew of honours for this young business honcho is a mention in business magazine Forbes' updated list of '21 youngest CEOs at USA's biggest companies.'

'Francisco D'Souza, 39, heads what is now the largest public company run by a 40-or-under CEO, though his $5.7-billion Cognizant Technology Solutions is dwarfed by the $16.9-billion Yahoo!.' Forbes said. 'D'Souza has been an officer at Cognizant for 11 years now, chief executive since 2007, and chief operating officer since 2003, when he was a mere 33.'

All the chief executives named in the list are in the age group of 34 to 40 years. 'They are the youngest people running the biggest companies in America. As they have gotten this far already, keep an eye on them in the future,' Forbes said in an accompanying report.

D'Souza took over from Lakshmi Narayanan, who became vice-chairman of the board. At the time, D'Souza was also inducted into the board.

In an interview he gave before he became CEO, he shared his views on how businesses become and remain profitable. "Cognizant choose the customer-centric, relationship-driven model right from our founding and we have built upon it. The outcome of this model is that we service a limited number of customers and provide increasing value as we grow those relationships. The fact that we serve our customers deeply is reflected in the ratio of relationship managers and client partner to be higher than our sales professionals," he said.

D'Souza is a person of Indian origin, born in Nairobi, Kenya. Since his father was a diplomat with the Indian Foreign Services, he has lived in and travelled to many different countries. He has an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University and was a 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. He also won theEconomic Times Entrepreneur Award in 2005.

At Cognizant, which he joined in its early days, D'Souza oversees much of the operations and business development of the company. He has earned a total compensation of $ 1,777,883.00, according to Forbes.

Forbes also noted that the most experienced and seasoned old CEOs have to make hard-nosed decisions and endure intense scrutiny during tough times.

'Young CEOs may find themselves under an even brighter spotlight, thanks to their supposed inexperience. But at least they have plenty of time ahead of them to correct any errors -- and possibly move on to even bigger things,' it added.

Once he's out, society will embrace Raju

Raju need not fear ostracism once he's out - society will embrace him.

A friend in Washington told me that Indians working in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund began to swagger around with a new bounce to the step and a gleam in the eye when the Rs 64-crore (Rs 640-million) Bofors scandal broke.

'We are in the big league now' they gloated. 'Not your chota-mota stuff!' The Rs 7,136-crore (Rs 71.36 billion) Satyam [Get Quote] fraud must have them bursting with pride.

Size is a national obsession. Indians have stashed away more than anyone else -- a noble $1,456 billion -- in Swiss banks. We thrive on superlatives. Even Jawaharlal Nehru rejoiced in the Suratgarh farm being "the biggest farm in Asia".

A policeman claimed during the nineties' spate of kidnappings in Calcutta he could identify the kidnappers from the ransom demanded.

A crore (Rs 10 million) meant impressive Delhi criminals; a few lakhs suggested dehati gangs in Bihar; a measly thousand or two indicated local street-corner toughs. "Boys who extort Durga Puja chanda" he said contemptuously.

A double-column newspaper heading reflected another aspect of the complex.

'Grandpa Dawood celebrates in Pak' reported with no hint of criticism that 'champagne corks popped' and 'hundreds of kilos of pedas' were distributed in Karachi, Dubai and Mumbai to celebrate the birth of India's most wanted fugitive's grandson.

I shouldn't imagine any Mumbaiker refused either the bubbly or sweets. For that matter, Delhi and Mumbai society hostesses would probably scratch out each other's eyes for the honour of lionising Ibrahim Dawood at their parties if he ever appears in India.

Similarly, the poor might flock to gaze on Charles Sobhraj; the rich will fall over each other to shake his hand. As someone said of Britain's royal family, our heroes are famous for being famous.

Fame is the spur, never mind for what, bearing out Wilde's aphorism that 'the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about'.

The frequency with which the phrase 'world famous' is used implies we live not for ourselves but for the world. Even in remote towns Indians frankly confess to absurd doings like eating dahi while turning somersaults in the air to make the hallowed Guinness Book of Records.

A R Rahman put it nicely when he said, "Indians are crazy about Oscars". Slumdog Millionaire would be far more enjoyable if the Oscar judges enjoy it.

Indira Gandhi was uncharacteristically out of tune with this mood when she wanted tax evaders to be ostracised. She must have known that people admire and envy a leading member of a prominent industrial family who pays no tax.

Sir Biren Mookerjee was thought to be inept when the tax people threatened to seize some of the grounds of his Calcutta mansion.

Mrs Gandhi wasn't the only premier with a blind spot. V P Singh's prescription to force corrupt Indians to migrate showed he had no idea that half the population would happily call itself corrupt to escape foreign exchange and travel restrictions.

'India's Enron' has done India proud. It doesn't lead the fraud pecking order with WorldCom (Rs 43,650 crore or Rs 436.5 billion) or Xerox (Rs 29,100 crore or Rs 291 billion) but the real Enron lags behind with only Rs 2,866 crore (Rs 28.66 billion) missing.

Our Byrraju Ramalinga Raju has also beaten the flamboyant daredevil of the derivatives who gambled away the world's oldest merchant bank. Nick Leeson's fun and games cost Rs 346 crore (Rs 3.46 billion) less than Raju's creative accounting.

The pujas and representations by his friends confirm Raju need fear neither ostracism nor forced emigration once he's out. Society will clasp him to its bosom.

Reports say he chatted 'for several hours' with fellow Andhra jailmate, Kosaraju Venkateshwara Rao, former chairman of Hyderabad's Krushi Bank, who allegedly duped depositors of nearly Rs 32 crore (Rs 320 million) and fled to Bangkok.

What did they talk about? Raju may have said that Rs 32 crore was peanuts. "Even Global Trust went under for Rs 812 crore (Rs 8.12 billion)!" Also, that 8,300 Krushi depositors were nothing to write home about since Satyam's 53,000 employees and their dependents probably account for 424,000 jobs.

Rao wondered why Raju, with offices from Toronto to Calgary and Parsippany in New Jersey to Santa Clara in California, hadn't run, like three Satyam colleagues.

'The government runs faster' Raju replied. Bangkok is a hop, step and jump away, but India established diplomatic relations with Costa Rica and sent an ambassador to get Dharma Teja.

Foreign isn't safe. Look at poor Akshay Vishal in America! "Besides, how will anyone know one has refused VIP treatment (even if it wasn't offered), turned spiritual and reads Buddhist books if the Indian media doesn't have access?