The lovely tale of Liquor
during Lockdown and before
At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and
vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing —
a longing not just of brain, belly, or loins but finally of the heart.
Cornelius Platinga
​
The use of alcohol in India for drinking purposes dates back to somewhere between 3000 and 2000 BC. An alcoholic beverage called Sura which was distilled from the rice was popular at that time in India for common men to unwind at the end of a stressful day. . Yet the first mention of Alcohol appears in Rig Veda (1700BC). It mentions intoxicants like soma and prahamana. Although the soma plant might not exist today, it was famous for delivering a euphoric high. It was also recorded in the Samhita, the medical compendium of Sushruta that he who drinks soma will not age and will be impervious to fire, poison, or weapon attack. The sweet juice of Soma was also said to help establish a connection with the gods. Such was the popularity of alcohol. Initially used for medicinal purposes, with time it evolved and became the beverage that brought life to social gatherings, and eventually consuming alcohol has become a habit for many.
With such a rich history of not just humans but also of the gods,
what is a worldwide pandemic to stop anybody from drinking?
. . .
​
According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, an average Indian drinks approximately 5.7 liters of alcohol every year. In a population of casual and excessive drinkers, with the shutters of liquor stores down, it must have been extremely difficult for “certain” people to survive lockdown. In the first two phases of lockdown, the desperation had quadrupled prices of alcohol in the Grey Market of India. Also, According to Google Trends, online searches for “how to make alcohol at home” peaked in India during the fourth week of March, which was the same when the lockdown was announced. As a consequence, a few people died drinking home-brewed liquor. People committed suicide due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Owing to the worsening situation and to reboot the economy, some states decided to open licensed liquor stores in the third phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown in India. This decision was the worst best decision the state governments could take. The kilometer-long queues in front of liquor stores were evidence that a pandemic can turn your life upside down yet your relationship with alcohol cannot move an inch.
The love in the hearts of those who are addicted was explicit. We might have seen addiction, we might have witnessed desperation but what happened in the month of May was madness, not just in terms of the way people pounced but also in the way the government earned. According to a report by Hindustan Times, on the first day of the third phase of Lockdown, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh recorded a sale of over Rs 100 Crore from liquor. On the second day of the reopening of Liquor stores, Karnataka reported sales of 197 crores in a single day which was the largest ever. Eventually, the prices of Liquor were hiked to 100% to discourage people from drinking.
. . .
​
There was a special corona fee that was imposed in Delhi by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A 70% corona fee was imposed in Delhi, yet the sales did not drop. The entire situation was a disaster for the law enforcement officers, social distancing was easily abandoned and a basic code of conduct was happily violated. Despite the chaos created, the states continued to collect revenues. Home delivery of alcohol was allowed in Maharashtra and e-tokens were sold in Delhi.
​
Demand for liquor is inelastic which means that
the sale of alcohol is not much responsive to change in prices.
In general, since alcohol policy is a state subject in India, revenue from Liquor is a cash cow for state governments. In 2018 and 2019, four states collectively collected about 20,000 crores in taxes from the sale of liquor. As much as the state earns from the sale of Liquor it is undoubtedly, a threat to the Economy. Consumption of alcohol has dire health consequences. When a person consumes an alcoholic beverage, there is a rise in BAC because of which there is a gradual and progressive loss of driving ability because of an increase in reaction time, overconfidence, degraded muscle coordination, impaired concentration, and decreased auditory and visual acuity. This is known as drunken driving. (V. M. Anantha Eashwar, 2020) Drunken driving is the third biggest cause of road accidents and over speeding in India. Road accidents are not it; alcoholism causes sleep problems, heart, and liver issues. Also, it is not about an individual’s life, it ruins the lives of all people concerned.
Addiction also causes economic loss. In 2000, Vivek Benegal and his team assessed 113 patients admitted to a special de-addiction service for alcohol dependence. They found that
the average individual earned a mean of ₹1,661 but
spent ₹1,938 per month on alcohol, incurring high debt.
They also found that 95% did not work for about 14 days in a month. They concluded that it led to a loss of ₹13,823 per person per year in terms of foregone productivity. A more recent study, Health Impact and Economic Burden of Alcohol Consumption in India, led by Gaurav Jyani, concluded that alcohol-attributable deaths would lead to a loss of 258 million life-years between 2011 and 2050. The study placed the economic burden on the health system at $48.11 billion, and the societal burden (including health costs, productivity loss, and so on) at $1,867 billion. “This amounts to an average loss of 1.45% of the gross domestic product (GDP) per year to the Indian economy,” the study said. (Mint, 2020)
Setho ka Gaon
With each passing day, the ‘curtain of separation’ weighs down on the women of Afghanistan, paving the way for tyranny to thrive.
Arth
.png)
EMISSION TRADING SYSTEM
Mehul Sehgal
From investment banks and stock trading to Climate banks and Carbon emissions trading
European Union in an ambit to make Europe the world’s 1st ‘climate neutral continent’ launched European union’s green new deal which comprises of Climate bank, sustainable corporate governance, green public investment emissions Trading system. European Union launched its Emissions trading system in 2005 to cut down the carbon emissions from the continent. It was set as a ‘cap and trade’ approach where limits on overall emissions was set for various industries, within this companies could but buy or sell emissions allowances within this limit. To check the working of EU ETS, check out the videos below
The EU Emissions Trading System explained
How does the emission trading scheme work?
The EU ETS is phase oriented model .The 1st trading phase (2005-2007),it was a phase of ‘learning by doing’,in the 2nd phase (2008-2012) the number of allowances were reduced by 6.5%.In the 3rd phase (2013-2020) introduced an EU-wide cap on emissions which is set to be lowered bt 1.7% p.a.,aiming at reducing emissions by 20% compared to 1990.The 4th phase will ensure reductions of 43% emissions by 2030.
In the wake of the emissions trading system,the European Union recorded the world's most efficient renewable-environmental friendly set-up to reduce the carbon emissions and footprints. The EU continues to lead the transition towards a low carbon economy.
The EU leads the transition to a lower carbon economy...
Improvements in energy intensity through Carbon emissions trading system continues to play the largest role: in 2040, the EU is expected to consume roughly the same amount of energy as it did in 1975, despite its level of GDP being more than three times bigger. A shift to a lower carbon fuel mix also plays an important role in driving efficiency gains by reducing coal consumption, as renewables account for an increasing share of power generation.
Coming back to India, emerges as the largest growth market for global energy.
India’s footprint in global energy markets are set to increase materially with India emerging as the largest growth market for global energy. In India, Coal continues to remain the main source of energy supporting India’s economy, accounting for 45% of the increase in energy demand.
The rise in India’s energy demand is supported by continued robust economic growth, partially offset by quicker declines in energy intensity. In the current scenario, the pace of Indian industrialization is slow relative to the past 25 years. But if India’s sustained, strong economic growth is accompanied by an increasing shift to industrial activity, this could pose upside risks to energy demand
At this point when tactical measures like temporarily suspending construction works or an odd-even scheme are being taken up. What India needs is more long term strategic initiatives like Gujarat EPTS that offers people lucrative incentives to voluntarily curb air pollution.
India has realised the potential of an emissions trading system. In September 2019, NeML’s EPTS was initiated, it was developed for Gujarat pollution control board.it functions on an’ open market model’ where in monitoring and the emissions trade takes place through GPCB’s EPTS e-market platform.
It is the world's 1st model that covers several areas apart from the carbon emissions, it aims to bring down the levels of SO2 and NOX, keeping in view India’s climate conditions it also addresses the problem of Solid particulate air pollution.
EPTS achieved 29% drop in the suspended particulate matter generation by Surat textile plants in about 2 months, as reported by the first evaluation report, energy policy institute University of Chicago (EPIC) INDIA. The same report also reported an increase in the profits for textile industries in Surat by an average of Rs.8.6 lakhs per year.
The report can also be analysed and supported through the DICE model-the simplest of the Integrated Assessment models that should a corollary between climate change and productivity, as the air pollution falls, workers capacity to work increases and in turn increases the profitability.
A World Bank study reported that India lost more than 8.5% of GDP in 2019 due to the cost of increase in welfare and lost labour productivity due to air pollution. At Current GDP size of $3 trillion, this loss equals to more than $ 250 billion, this can also be supported by the dice model
Problems and the way forward.
Paris agreement set the measures for Climate Change.The efforts made under Paris Agreement focus on 3 main areas: First, Keeping average surface temperature increase to well below 2oC above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5oC.Second, increasing countries’ ability to adapt to adverse climate impacts and foster resilience. Third, make finance flow consistent with low emissions and climate resilience development.
There have been biases in policy formulations by the Governments, who were allowed to frame their own policies and set targets to achieve 2oC mark; the limits set by individual countries gave some unnerving observations. Emissions Trading System (ETS) implemented by European Union and China addressed climate change on varied parameters, the emissions limit of China was twice the limits set under European Union ETS, no wonder why China seems to have already achieved its emission goals. UNFCCC reported that nearly all countries’ projected emissions by 2030 do not meet natural mitigation pledges submitted under Paris Agreement as part of the nationally determined contributions.
Countries are trying to control in-house carbon emissions but a major question that lies ahead is it to reduce CO2 emissions in own country and keep increasing the import of CO2 from other countries. All that it boils down to is that until collective measures come from all countries to cut their CO2 emissions and make use of energy efficient eco-friendly renewable sources of energy. The CPCL’s recommendations of inclusion of Carbon Tax on Imports of Co2 provides the way forward. An independent recommendation also aimed at inclusivity of Importers to participate in ETS if they wish to export to a country or say European Union for instance.
​