Articles by Surendar Singh

The draft Development of Enterprises and Services Hub Bill, 2022 refl ects signifi cant policy ambivalence and contributes to legal ambiguities for business fi rms. It is not only incoherent with other fl agship schemes of the Government of India but also is oblivious to the evolving global trade realities, thus exposing the potential risks of policy-induced distortion(s).

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent worldwide lockdown(s) have adversely affected the functioning of global supply chains. The restrictions on navigation of vessels across the global supply chains resulted in acute shortages of the containers, subsequently escalating ocean freight rates. High freight rates have severely affected India’s exports competitiveness in the global markets. The crisis has exposed the lacklustre approach of the government in dealing with container shortages, leading to skyrocketing freight rates.

in Punjab Surendar Singh This paper highlights some important issues pertaining to groundwater irrigation in Punjab, (i) Over-exploitation of ground water in Punjab has made the groundwater balance precarious; the annual drawdown in many regions far exceeds the replenishment; (ii) The 1988 deluge provided only temporary relief by augmenting the net groundwater balance, the gap between draft and recharge continues to be very high, indicating enormous pressure on the irrigation system of the state; (iii) In many regions of the state, the availability of groundwater for irrigation is the direct consequence of canal irrigation, much of the draft in the state is being carried out with the help of electric operated shallow tubewells getting power at subsidised rates; (iv) Increase in double-cropped area, irrigation intensity and area sown to paddy appear to have impinged upon the groundwater resource in Punjab; and (v) The widening gap between recharge and draft components of groundwater balance and consequent depletion of the resource would have serious technological, economic and social implications.

Operation Flood II Programme Surendar Singh R K Sharma This study highlights some important implications of the choice of areas of operation for implementing the Operation Flood II programme.