WELCOME

1st Abdul Kalam Conference: INDIA 2020 UPDATE

“Sustainable Human Development”

IITM, Chennai, India

July 11-14, 2019

“How can India reach the top HDI while keeping the ecological footprint sustainable?”

Call for participation in Working Groups

SUMMARY OF QUESTIONS TO WORKING GROUP PARTICIPANTS

 

Six items are listed as Working Group titles and then amplified below. Each is set out to invite debate at first, refine, and then move on to useful, positive recommended plans of action.

 

 

 

1.     Rural Energy Self-reliance

Over seventy percent of India live in villages, most of which have undeveloped infrastructure. Availability and affordability of heating and transportation fuel, and electricity, are primary obstacles to development and participation in citizenship. A systematic, well-considered program to achieve rural energy self-reliance would slash India’s massive fossil fuel import bill, slash carbon emissions, and boost retained disposable income in the villages, thus opening up a huge market as well. This is the most important Generational Challenge of this time.

2.     Renewing Mother Earth

Rapid development that advances the Human Development Index, is needed. How can this be done while minimizing damage to the environment? But is that even the right question? An improvement in living standards by orders of magnitude, while trying to **minimize ecological impact** appears to be a recipe for disaster.  Perhaps the right question is to ask if the massive development can be done, starting with a relatively "clean sheet of paper" (very little development now, little or totally outdated infrastructure, etc) and do things very differently? For instance, take the rising panic about Global Warming. All the regulations about which nations and communities argue, are having little discernible effect, as the sea levels rise, extreme weather events cause disaster, and tensions turn into conflict.

The larger question is how we are going to stop and reverse Climate Change to the desired extent, now and in the future. Today, Carbon Credits or Carbon Emission Unit (CEU) are awarded by the IPCC to entities who can prove that they have saved emission of greenhouse gases. Each CEU recognizes 1 ton of CO2 prevented from being emitted into the atmosphere. The certification process is arduous, long and expensive. It includes detailed quantitative proof using certified instruments and processes before the IPCC accepts the number of tons of CO2 emission saved. If this process could be brought within reach of everyone, without swamping the IPCC with requests, a large step will have been taken towards reaching a sustainable economy, and stopping Climate Change. We point to India’s rapid advances in enabling mobile-phone and Aadhar-based banking, retail transactions and government interactions and suggest that this provides a unique opportunity pilot retail, micro-level Carbon Credits. For instance, a homeowner or school-teacher can accumulate Carbon Credits gradually by measuring and tracking the performance of their solar-powered, biogas and other qualifying systems.

 

3.     Reaching New Resources:

Former colleagues relate how Dr. Abdul Kalam would ask technical leaders to come up with wish-lists for the next 20 years, and send them back chiding them for thinking incrementally and encouraging them to boldly think up and list order-of-magnitude dreams. Naturally he gravitated to the “Advanced Concepts” community worldwide as a proponent of such ideas as Space Solar Power. Visionaries point to the massive resources available in the Near Solar System compared to the tiny resources on Earth, and seek advances into a “Space Economy”. Electric power from Space is seen as the most accessible resource, whose pursuit can set up the infrastructure needed to go beyond, to the Near Earth Objects, Moon and beyond. While much of this comes across as impractical to those facing the daily challenges of grassroots implementation, the very process of charting solution paths to such immense challenges, and the people who do them, should be brought together with the Implementors to define our problems – and possible avenues of solution, with much greater clarity. This was no doubt a big part of Dr. Kalam’s own dream, besides the obvious one of enhancing global collaboration by focusing on problems of interest to all of us.

 

4.     Technology for Equality, Security, Justice and Fairness:

Worldwide, it is a common desire to make dispute resolution swifter, fairer and more accurate in detail, at an affordable cost. Very few people budget for catastrophic legal bills – or the immense delays in getting problems solved. Perceived impunity encourages fraud, bullying and unethical conduct. This is at the core of advancing the real Human Development Index. Surely the evolving technological map provides new opportunities that can lead to policy decisions. A knowledgeable and positive-focused discussion could inform the wide spectrum of interested people (all of us are interested!) while driving solution approaches. To the extent possible this discussion must be aware of international and other cultural differences. It is postulated that this is also the key enabler to bring about revolutionary improvement in education at all levels, particularly in India (deter unethical practices and provide strong support for ethical, law-abiding, conscientious and enlightened policies and conduct; provide and support a level playing field).

 

5.     Global Alliance For Wellness and Healthcare

Today there are astonishing differences across national boundaries, in healthcare and wellness. Ultimately, when a child is ill, that is everyone’s concern: whey anyone is ill, that should be everyone’s concern. Experience suggests that when things get really bad, people all over the world appear to look towards military/emergency management agency practices, which are in fact fairly uniform in training and practices. Why not build on this common sense and improve routine and urgent healthcare for all? The proposed Working Group will take a “clean-sheet” approach on how a worldwide healthcare and wellness system might be implemented, setting aside national/political/cultural differences.

6.     Human Indicators versus Ecological Footprint

Perhaps the net result of all our efforts will be a rise in the Human Development Index as defined today. Today’s definition is open to debate and dissent. For instance, a nation that has better Purchasing Power Parity for its currency than the official Exchange Rate, should have a significantly higher HDI. But the purpose in redefining, if redefinition is useful, will be not to achieve bragging rights, but as a wiser guide to development. Something must change, as India aspires to an HDI of 0.9 from today’s 0.6, while keeping average ecological footprint below the sustainable world average of 2.1.  We believe this is possible even with present definitions, but a change in definitions will guide progress in a better direction.

 

 

The above constitute a quick set of thoughts and words, set out to have a starting document. All are invited to improve on this with their knowledge, experience and caring interest.

 

The 1^st Abdul Kalam Conference will start a biennial tradition to generate practical and exemplary solutions to large societal challenges. India must rise in human development index (HDI) from today’s 0.6, to the 0.9 of a developed nation, while avoiding the terrible cost in ecological footprint (10 hectares of resources per person for developed nations versus India’s 0.8, and the sustainable limit of 2.5). A look back at 1989 shows India’s amazing rise towards the dream of a “developed” India by 2020. Six Working Groups will come together at this first conference, inspired by this record, to sharpen the plans to tackle the massive challenges ahead. The first group titled Human Indicators versus Ecological Footprint, will integrate the efforts of the other five groups:

Rural Energy Self-Reliance, Renewing Mother Earth, Reaching New Resources, Technology for Security, Freedom, Equality, Justice and Fairness, and Global Alliance For Wellness and Healthcare.

 

We are seeking thought and action leaders in all these groups. The conference will be hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, with the Taksha Foundation as the US partner. The groups will synergize researchers, practitioners, educators, planners, business leaders and administrators, from India, the United States, and other nations.