Got (cloned) Milk?

After five years of study, the FDA tentatively concluded that milk and meat from cloned farm animals are okay. I think the bigger news is that consumers need not know if their meat or milk is from a cloned animal or not.

Ostensibly, it is not required because: (a) it is just one of the many "techniques" that industrialized farms already use (b) it improves the safety of the animals (c) it improves the "quality" of milk and meat (d) it is cloning, hence there is nothing different! (e) it is actually the meat and milk from the offsprings of cloned animals, not the initially cloned animals (f) it will reduce the cost of food production and therefore the price consumers pay... and more.

I am all for scientific advancements. But, I would like to know if what I eat and drink is from a cloned animal. Would you?

That aside, what scares me is if the next frontier is genetically modified animals, where the main objective is to enhance the yield of meat and milk from a single animal. Once again, this is being done in agriculture crops already. Yield enhancement in seeds and fruits is widely seen as beneficial. Many countries have escaped famine and poverty because of such techniques.

Should we allow this in the case of live stock? It's a tough call.

I think science crosses a line when we raise genetically modified "high-yield" varities of sheep, cattle, pigs, and chicken. I shudder to think how these animals will look like, let alone consume their products.

And before I do, I do want to be informed.

Lalu and the Indian Railways Turnaround Story

There is a lot written in the press lately about how Lalu engineered a dramatic financial turnaround and how MBA students are gathering to really understand what happened.

I think the the story is indeed impressive and worth a close study. After all, consider this:

• the Indian Railways is the world's largest employer. Almost every other statistic about the Indian Railways is equally staggering in scope.
• one of the key hurdles for the continued Indian GDP growth is infrastructure & transport
• the Indian Railways was on the verge of bankrupcy.

Just as much analysis has been done on how the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh engineered a balance of payments turnaround in 1991, this one is also worth some examination.

I do credit Lalu for his willingness to give his chain of command some responsibility, authority, and accountability. I have tremendous faith in the IAS cadres (still!) -- and I believe that they will do the right thing if they are given a chance. I think that is what happened here. (As a side note, I think IAS officers deserve a much need revision in salaries. There is a significant income disparity between the private and public sector that is unhealthy. We need to pay better if we want to retain and attract the best. But, let's save that conversation for another day).

For now, I am impressed with what the Indian Railways has achieved! Awesome! Great job!

Let's move on to other areas that need similar attention.

Let's see. Seaports? Highways? Airports?