The Brave Pedestrian

26 June, 2015, Mangalore: Nestle's Maggie Noodles isn't the only dangerous goods in the Indian market. Have you noticed that Hyundai cars catch fire ever so often – whether on the road or in parking? Is our government neglecting to safeguard the lives of Indian vehicle-owners by pampering multinational companies? Why is the Transport Commissioner of each state passing such cars – proven dangerous on Indian roads -- to be sold to unwary customers? In a scathing open letter to Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari sent on Monday, Mr Prakash Rao (98452 13305, pkrao51@hotmail.com), former managing director of Bhutan-based Tashi Group, says, "Recall of goods due to manufacturing defects is unheard of in India. Multinationals like Hyundai Motor India Ltd. are knowingly selling faulty products to Indian customers, putting our lives at risk. They believe that the Indian government does not take action to protect its citizens – and earlier governments ha...

1) Individual consumers need to consciously consume less of whatever it is that they consume. The government or NGOs should incentivate families to benchmark their current levels of consumption on various fronts, then reduce them. Consuming fewer air-miles each successive year should be high on our list of priorities, considering their huge addition to our individual carbon footprint. (As a cheap and effective alternative to flying, we may consider video-conferencing.) 2) Advertising aimed at making people buy more should be tapered off. Only adverts giving information should be allowed. 3) Roadside advertising hoardings should be reduced by 50%, and they should not be illuminated, as they use up precious energy for a relatively non-productive purpose. 4) Stop adding power generation capacities, whether thermal or otherwise. Freeze them at existing capacities and merely replace thermal capacities with wind-energy and solar generation capacities. 5) Stop registering new privat...