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TOP BRASS

Young Chairman of the Coffee Board G V Krishna Rau has many plans up his sleeve like introducing Bio Technology in coffee cultivation to ensure that the Indian Coffee goes places. "Our focus would be to increase the export of value added coffees to realize enhanced export realization while developing differentiated coffee products to offer a variety of choice to the consumer", he disclosed.
According to Rau "our communication and promotion initiatives in the last few years have helped in positioning the strengths of our coffees appropriately before the international coffee fraternity due to which washed Robusta variety currently fetches a premium of over 350 US dollars per tonne."

In an interview to the "whispersinthecorridors.com" he said that Indian Robusta has also got the recognition as a vital component in a good cup of espresso, the fastest growing segment in key international markets. However, he said "in spite of these positive developments, we cannot afford to be complacent in our endeavor."

G V Krishna Rau foresaw some growth for decaffeinated and organic coffees in the Asian and Indian market adding "but I don't expect it to be a dominant segment." According to him on an average the Board spends about Rs.50 lakhs per annum for labour welfare measures.

1/Since the Coffee Board has slashed its staff, then how do you cope up with the research work?

About five years ago, Indian Arabica used to attract over 10 cents/lb discount at New York futures terminal. Today our Arabica is fetching on par prices. Indian Robustas are presently attracting highest premiums for both washed and unwashed types in the international terminal. This essentially means that our communication and promotion initiatives in the last few years have helped in positioning the strengths of our coffees appropriately before the international coffee fraternity. However, there is still ample scope to improve the quality of our coffees specially by augmenting the production of washed Robustas which currently fetches a premium of over 350 US dollars per tonne. Indian Robusta has also got the recognition as a vital component in a good cup of espresso, the fastest growing segment in key international markets. In spite of these positive developments, we cannot afford to be complacent in our endeavor. We need to make sustained efforts in producing, promoting and marketing good quality coffees to remain competitive vis a vis other producing origins

2/Which is best variety of coffee? Do you think that after a decade or two Decaffeinated coffee and Organic coffees will capture Asian and Indian market?
Arabica and Robusta are the two varieties of coffee commercially cultivated the world over including India. While Arabica is known for its flavour and aroma, the Robusta is known for its body and strength in the cup. In the international arena, While all Robustas are classified as a single category, Arabica is classified as Colombian milds, Brazilian milds and Other milds. Indian Arabica is grouped under Other milds.

With regard to varieties, it is very difficult to pin point a particular variety as the best coffee as the performance of a given variety depend on many parameters like elevation, aspect, soil profile, rain fall pattern, humidity and adoption of cultural practices under Indian conditions. Because of this, the Board recommends different varieties for different locations depending upon the suitability and adoptability of varieties in particular locations.
As far growth for decaffeinated and organic coffees in the Asian and Indian market is concerned, there will be some growth but I don't expect it to be a dominant segment.

3/ Does the Coffee Board carry out welfare activities for workers engaged in coffee plantations?
Coffee Board is implementing a labour welfare plan scheme which provides for (1) Grant of educational stipends to meritorious students i.e. children/ dependents of coffee plantations/processing workers (2) Grant of donations for medical aid and equipments to hospitals /primary health centers in coffee growing regions and (3) Financial assistance to improve infrastructure in educational institutions. On an average the Board spends about Rs.50 lakhs per annum for labour welfare measures.

4/ Coffee consumption is going up in India. In the wake of this how growth can be ensured so that domestic need was met while jacking up exports?
We have flagged the issue of enhancing the domestic coffee market as a priority in our XI Plan. The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has also recognized the fact that, only by increasing domestic coffee market in the producing countries,, the problem of supply demand mismatch can be addressed suitably. In the Indian context, enhanced domestic coffee consumption would not only help in insulating the grower realizations but also would generate employment opportunities. For example, every additional tonne of coffee consumed in the country would provide at least ten new jobs.

Our present coffee production is placed about three lakh tonnes (Post Blossom estimate for 2006-07). On account of limitations of further available area in the country suitable for coffee cultivation and also the limitations in increasing the current productivity levels beyond a certain point, our production projection for XI Plan terminal year would be around 3.35 lakh tonnes. Our projection for the domestic coffee consumption is 1.20 lakh tonnes (from the present level of 80,000 tonnes) by the terminal year of the XI Plan. This would mean that only about 2.15 lakh tonnes of Indian coffee is available for exports which is almost on par with the present level of exports. However, our focus on the export front would be to maximize value for coffee exports. In this regard, our focus would be to increase the export of value added coffees to realize enhanced export realization.

5/ In which new areas Indian Coffee Board is going to enter?
As far as new areas are concerned, our focus would be to develop differentiated coffee products to offer a variety of choice to the consumer. This would not only attract a wider section of consumers but also increase the visibility of coffee.

6/ Where do you find the Indian coffee when compared to the global trade from other countries?
About five years ago, Indian Arabica used to attract over 10 cents/lb discount at New York futures terminal. Today our Arabica is fetching on par prices. Indian Robustas are presently attracting highest premiums for both washed and unwashed types in the international terminal. This essentially means that our communication and promotion initiatives in the last few years have helped in positioning the strengths of our coffees appropriately before the international coffee fraternity. However, there is still ample scope to improve the quality of our coffees specially by augmenting the production of washed Robustas which currently fetches a premium of over 350 US dollars per tonne. Indian Robusta has also got the recognition as a vital component in a good cup of espresso, the fastest growing segment in key international markets. In spite of these positive developments, we cannot afford to be complacent in our endeavor. We need to make sustained efforts in producing, promoting and marketing good quality coffees to remain competitive vis a vis other producing origins

7/ What innovative ideas have been adopted to arrest dwindling production of Arabica coffee?
For the past one decade or so, the Arabica production in the country have remained more or less stagnant at around one lakh tonnes. This is in spite of the fact that, total Arabica area in the country moved up from the level of 1.4 lakh hectare to 1.80 lakh hectare during the past 10 years. The reasons for this stagnation are (1) Large presence of senile Arabica blocks (about 60,000 hectares) which are past their economic age limits (2) Death of millions of Arabica plants in the past 4-5 years owing to Stem Borer menace - Roughly over 10,000 hectares of area have been replanted in the past 4 years which are yet to come to bearing (3) Impact of coffee crisis in the last 4 -5 years owing to which growers reduced farm inputs to reduce losses which negatively impacted the farm productivity (4) Very low productivity levels prevailing in the coffee farms in Non traditional areas like Andhra/ Orissa and North East Region and (5) Limitations in increasing productivity levels in Arabica farms under Indian conditions. The Coffee Board has recognized these issues and is proposing the following initiatives.

1. Put in place a suitable Replanting scheme with appropriate financial incentives backed with credit facility to motivate growers to convert senile Arabica blocks into productive blocks
2. Collaborative research efforts in the XI Plan to bring about synergy in the frontier areas like Bio technology to speed up developing superior plant materials with enhanced productivity and quality potential as well as tolerance to pests and diseases specially the stem borer and leaf rust.
3. Intensive drive to combat the Stem Borer with active participation of grower bodies.
Through above initiatives, it would be possible to stabilize Arabica coffee production in the country at around 1.5 lakh tonnes in the next 8-10 years.
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Empanelment of 1988 batch IAS in January !
Empanelment of 1988 batch IAS officers to the rank of Joint Secretary in the Government of India is expected to take place next month.

Arun Mishra to be JS Civil Aviation !
Arun Mishra is being tipped to be Joint Secretary Civil Aviation. He is 1986 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.

AI CMD Thulasidas gets extension
Air India CMD Vasudevan Thulasidas has been granted two months extension in tenure.Tenure of Thulasidas was to expire on Thursday.
He is 1972 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre.

Sarma to be new Chief Secretary of Assam
Prafulla Chandra Sarma is being appointed new Chief Secretary of Assam. He is 1975 batch IAS officer.

Cong MLAs in UP to contest on BSP ticket !
As many as seven, of the 16, Congress MLAs in UP are said to be contemplating to contest the next election on BSP ticket.

Bhattacharya is JS Drinking Water Supply
Amitava Bhattacharya has joined the Government of India as Joint Secretary Drinking Water Supply. He is 1980 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

PS posts to be filled up early next year
After the promotion of 1986 batch IAS officers to the rank of Joint Secretary a couple of ministers will have to find out new Private Secretaries by March.

Shiv Kumar to join Prasar Bharti
V Shiv Kumar is joining the Prasar Bharti as Director (Personnel). He is presently Director in the MTNL.

Top Ten of Vasundhara Raje Scindia
If you ask Top Ten favourites of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia answer will come -one to ten -Lalit Modi.

Joginder Singh to join Settlement Commission
DG (Vigilance ) in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Joginder Singh is joining the Settlement Commission.

Bhanu empanelled
M G V K Bhanu who is currently on deputation to the Andhra Pradesh Government has reportedly been empanelled to the rank of Joint Secretary in the Government of India during the last review meeting. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Posting of CCIT's next week
Posting of 1973 batch IRS officers as Chief Commissioners of Income-Tax is expected next week.

Hardayal Singh is out ?
Hardayal Singh is now unlikely to be appointed Income-Tax Ombudsman.

IPS changes in Madhya Pradesh
Hari Singh Yadav will now be SP of Morena.Yogesh Chaudhry has been moved as SP Guna.

Chaitanya Prasad to join GoI
Chaitanya Prasad is going on deputation to the Government of India. He is 1990 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

IRS (CE&C) postings
There is a report that K.K.Sharma has been posted as Commissioner at Nhava Sheva Port.B.K.Singh Commissioner (Appeals) Centra Excise Ahmedabad has been sent as Commissioner Mumbai . K.Shyamsunderam Commissioner (Appeals) Daman(UT)has been posted Commissioner (Adjudication) Mumbai.

1987 batch IPS is IG in TamilNadu
1987 batch IPS officers Mssrs G Uma Ganapathy Sastry,P V Philip and R C Kudawala have been promoted to the rank of IG in TamilNadu. Mssrs Vijay Kumar,C S Babu and Karan Singha have also been given IG rank.Meanwhile I K Rajendran has been posted as Director Vigilance .

FORUM
Same breed of officers in every service

Officers in every service are inducted from the same examination and allocated services according to ranks. Therefore the same breed of officers is there in every service. To taint a service because of a few officers is unfortunate. Incidents such as these about IRS are not because of any special category of officers in these services but because they are easy catches. Institutionalised corruption is a common knowledge in states, administration and police. The only thing is that they are not being caught probably because the investigative agencies are being either manned by them or they have control over them. Let the investigations be done of officers from all services.

Rita

All cadres have black sheeps
Well said Sunny. However, he may remember that it was an IAS officer from the MT cadre who was recently caught with crores being the middleman for a real estate deal. The fact is that all cadres have black sheeps. Corruption in India is not restricted to any one segment or service. If corruption is to be fought the society at large would have to come forth.

Jhattas

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Laloo hails acquittal judgement …. says hogaya doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani,
Look at his lifestyle and you'll wonder Laloo ki doodh ki kahani Court ne kaise maani!!!

Laloo covered up the shortfall in his income by saying that he earned money by selling milk!!! Even if he sold 'doodh' that was water with just one drop of milk still he could not make the money to support the lifestyle he and his family lives!!!! In fact Court should adopt the American IRS mode…… get a list of his expenses and ask him to explain the expenditure…….predict that in HC or SC Laloo ho jaye ga paani paani!!!

Listen to Raja de Loony's logic…….. justifies favouring Dhillon lal,
No wonders Punjab ka itna boora hai haal!!!

Logic is something alien to Amrinder aka Raja de Loony!!!! On being questioned that how could Dhillon take up projects worth Rs. 3000 crores with only pittance in his kitty!!! Raja de Loony says that the same way Badal made millions form a paltry beginning!!! So then if he's made it legal for Dhillon why is he investigating Badal???? Is Badal Amrinder's yardstick???? Andher nagri chaupat Raja de Loony or Crazy, all that he does is guzzle Bloody Mary's/Patiala pegs of Scotch/ Diet Cokes and hogs pizzas and is very lazy!!!!

After the lower Court's verdict Manu had gone in a cavalcade to seek Hooda's ashirwaad,
Seems Hooda feels that Manu has License to Kill as he is his buddy's aulad!!!

Otherwise Hooda would have kept the Sharmas at bay!!!! He not only made Papa Sharma a Minister but was seen as the doting Tau for Manu!!! After the HC verdict Hooda is wary of any questions on this issue……. he changes the topic with Political aplomb!!!! And now the Court should go after the Policemen who tried to botch up the case!!!! Otherwise Justice would have just partially been done!!! And Sabrina should have avoided celebrating the judgement with Champagne….. getting Justice is not sweet revenge!!!! Its not a time to celebrate it's a time to be thankful!!!!

Advani ji have you heard of ' aa bull mujhe maar' ???
Ache nahi hai Advani ji ke liye aasaar!!!

First he spoke on his being PM in waiting and got brickbats….. then he spoke of Vajpayee not being in favour of him becoming PM and Vajpayee did not even dignify this with a response…… and now Manmohan took him on in Parliament!!!! Advani needs to step back and reformulate his strategy!!!! Strategy should be to first cook the meal before extending an invitation to the crows!!!!

Shouldn't TATA rethink the Singur deal,
Should be foreboding when the locals call this deal a steal!!!

Have the Commie sweetened the Offer to such an extent that TATA's cannot even take a re-look at the Project location??? Communists do not bother about Public Opinion, this is alien to them. But, TATAs should bother about Public Opinion!!! TATAs would be wrong to think that their situation is flackless!!!

Bharat Kumar

CORPORATE

Arnold to be Secretary of TRAI
Rajesh Kumar Arnold, an officer of 1975 batch ITS, is all set to join as Secretary, TRAI .The relieving orders from the Department of Telecom were sent to BSNL Corporate Office on Monday. Arnold is CGM AP Telecom Circle.

Nationalized banks to have Addl EDs
Nationalized banks will soon be having Additional EDs. Talks to this effect are going on in the Ministry and orders in this regard may come out any day.

Sharan is ED HMTs tractor business
Prakash Sharan has taken over as the new Executive Director of HMT's tractor business.

Raniwalla appointed VP
Johar Raniwalla has been appointed Vice-President of Astrazeneca Pharma India.