Safe Water Production At Issue

United Nations Predicts
Scarcity By 2025
If Trends Continue


COMMENTARY
Raising the water alarm

By Ernesto Ordoñez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
08/17/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- “Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink!” This was the lament of a person stranded on an ocean with no land in sight, and facing the grim prospect of death. Today, it is the lament of many people in far-flung barrios who, while having access to water, still do not have the prospect of drinking safe water. They, also, face sickness and possible death.

But water is not just for drinking; it is also the lifeblood of agriculture. Without water, we will be without food. Water is needed for many other uses, such as industrial, municipal, and environmental protection purposes. Today, we are on the brink of a water crisis which, if not addressed immediately, may threaten the very survival of our nation.

Water crisis

According to a United Nations study, “By 2025, if current trends persist, as much as two-thirds of the world’s population will be living with a serious scarcity of water.”

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Port Productivity Lessons Shared

Chinese Connection:
Sri Lankan dockers drive productivity after Chinese lesson

Via
Lanka Business Online


August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port has sent dock worker union leaders to study practices in a modern Chinese port and has now won their support for better work norms, a top official said.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said relations between port management and workers was now better than last year when a nine-day labour go-slow in July caused losses to the port as well as its customers. "We have now developed better relations inside the port between management and trade unions," he told a recent shipping conference.

"We are now educating trade union leaders on modern port practices and operations. We recently sent a team to see a modern port in China to acquaint themselves about its operations and compare their ideas with practical reality."

When the labour union leaders and workers returned, they themselves suggested improvements in port productivity, Wickramasuriya said.

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Robots, Productivity & Students

Robotech Competition Brings Out Creative Streak In Students
By Aemy Azlena
Bruneidirect.com

Kuala Belait - The 5th Robotech Competition 2007 was jointly organised by the Science, Technology and Environment Partnership (STEP) Centre, Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd and the Engineering Science Department of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

The Robotech competition 2007 is a two-day event, which started yesterday at the Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah College where more than 30 schools from all over Brunei took part in the competition.

In its aim to diversify the economy by encouraging development in Robotic Technology, the competition was aimed at assisting in the development of the industry as a tool to raise productivity and efficiency.

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Auto Worker Efficiencies Compared

UAW: Union labor is more efficient

Study data are bargaining chip

August 1, 2007
BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Detroit's automakers say they hope to close what they see as a competitivegap between their workforce and that of foreign rivals, who typically don'tuse union labor.

UAW leaders have compiled data from the Harbour Report, a respected annualstudy of manufacturing efficiency, that they contend show union labor ismore efficient than nonunion labor at auto assembly plants where direct comparisonscan be made.

Union insiders told the Free Press that information likely will be usedto make the point at the bargaining table with General Motors Corp., FordMotor Co. and Chrysler that union workers already save the companies billionseach year and provide great value in return for their pay and benefits.

"I'm sure they'll be using the figures to accentuate their side of thebargaining," said Chris (Tiny) Sherwood, president of UAW Local 652 at GM'sLansing Grand River plant, which makes Cadillac cars and SUVs.

His factory was rated by Harbour as the most productive midsize premiumcrossover plant in North America in 2006 -- beating the nonunion Honda plantin Alliston, Ontario, which makes the Acura MDX and five other models.

Ron Harbour, president of the Troy-based company that conducts the study,said the UAW and Canadian Auto Workers have made remarkable strides in NorthAmerican assembly plants.

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Aging Georgian Population Noted

World Bank gives wake-up call


“Age is an opportunity no less than youth itself” – with this encouraging words, Mukesh Chawla started the presentation of a new World Bank report called From Red to Gray: The Third Transition” of Aging Populations in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. At the World Bank’s office in Tbilisi Mukesh Chawla, World Bank Lead Economist and co-author of the report dwelled on the major conclusions of the study and the policy implications for the region, including for Georgia.

The book raises an important issue of demographic transition and its various social and economic repercussions. According to the report, many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have slowly growing or shrinking populations. As a result they will soon have populations that are among the oldest in the world. While other countries such as Japan and some Western European states have gone or are currently going through this process, the problem with Eastern Europe and the former USSR is that the incomes in these countries are still very low and the impact can be more hard-hitting.

Talking about the book with GT, Mukesh Chawla said: “ The book argues that if we increase productivity, we can mitigate any adverse impact of demographic transition. The book argues that if lifelong learning improves and we have systems in place where people live healthier, and if there is an emphasis placed on good care and sensible health policy is put into place, we can minimize the impact of long-term health expenditures in the future.”

Now more about the content of the report as summarized by World Bank press service.

According to the report, in 2025, more than one in five Bulgarians will be more than 65 years old—up from 13 percent in 1990. Ukraine’s population will shrink by a fifth between 2000 and 2025. And the Average Slovene will be 47.4 years old in 2025—among the oldest in the world. The Population of Georgia may decline by 17%, while the number of people over 65 years old may increase from 13% to 18 % by 2025.

These demographic trends underline the need to ensure that the region’s recent economic success results in sustained increases in productivity and improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of pension and health care systems.

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IFC Support In India To Enhance Productivity

IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will invest up to $20 million in Kanoria Chemicals and Industries Limited, to help the company expand the capacity of its caustic soda plant in Uttar Pradesh in India . The expansion of the Renukoot plant’s capacity from 90,000 to 130,000 tons per year by March 2008 will be based on more efficient, environmentally-friendly membrane cell technology, which consumes less energy per ton of output.

Kanoria will also expand the capacity of its downstream chlorine derivative production units, which will help improve the company’s margins. By providing long-term funding to Kanoria, IFC is addressing a midsize player’s critical need among 31 chlor-alkali producers in India . The loan will equip the company to grow dynamically and acquire economies of scale in a competitive and cyclical capital-intensive industry.

The Indian chemical industry, valued at about $30 billion in 2005, is projected to grow to about $60 billion by 2010. The industry accounts for nearly 13 percent of India ’s exports. With 6000 players in agrochemicals, chlor-alkali, fertilizers, man-made fibers, paints, and petrochemicals, today, the highly-fragmented industry is attracting global players and creating new challenges. “With IFC’s support, we hope to improve our efficiency and competitiveness,” explained R.V. Kanoria, Chairman and Managing Director of Kanoria Chemicals. “Associating with IFC will also enable us to leverage its global knowledge and expertise, and continue to adopt environmentally-friendly technologies and processes,” he added.

Lance Crist, Manager of IFC’s Chemicals Division, said, “Working with Indian companies to restructure and expand their businesses to become globally competitive is a key component of IFC’s strategy in the region. With this investment, IFC will help expand the capacity of caustic soda in an environmentally-friendly manner in Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest regions of the country.”

Via moneycontrol.com

Italy Confronts Productivity Issues

Italy’s pampered state sector braces for reform
(Reuters)


ROME - Change is afoot in Italy’s public sector and most of those it would affect, from civil servants to teachers to traffic wardens, don’t like the prospect one bit.

Italy is notorious for its north-south wealth divide, but there is another, less immediately obvious division: between those who work for a private enterprise -- often themselves -- and those who work for the state.

Ask the former what they think of the latter and you will often hear words like lazy, privileged, inefficient. Data from the international World Values Survey shows public confidence in the state sector in Italy is among the lowest in Europe.

Romano Prodi’s government clearly doesn’t dismiss such judgments because it has pledged to reform the sector by introducing concepts like service, productivity, assessment and promotion based on merit rather than length of service.

The case for reform is compelling. In the last five years public sector wages have risen by almost 15 percent more than in the private sector, with no link to productivity.

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