“Promise is a Promise” – Guess who?

Yes your guess is right, this post is about Tata group chairman, Ratan Tata.

I always have highest regards for Ratan Tata, except for Nira Radia tapes!! J. 

       Its very rare and difficult to find corporate heads who is ethical, social conscious and not greedy. Year on Year the head of conglomerate’s salary sky rocketing and number of new new acquisitions, new ventures and so on… to name few Sun Net work, Adani group, ADAG ..etc.. All these corporates prosper in this society, through this society and from this society.  But in return what they give back?  No clue… or its hardly anything.

To the contrary, Tatas run Jamshedpur including water, not to speak of electricity et al. Please remember Jam nagar is not run by Reliance!! For that matter no city is adopted by any other corporates including Govt PSU’s.

Almost two years passed since terrorists held the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. One of the most heinous acts of terrorism in India. Total of 173 people martyred, hundreds injured, and crores of property destroyed. No sign of justice for the victims, no sign of punishment to the guilt.(Thanks to the largest Democracy in the world)

But one man has done what the politicians, the media and the law could not do – restore a semblance of dignity and hope to the victims.  Ratan Tata – a giant among men, an icon in the business world, and a great humanitarian. When his HR team brought forth a proposal on what the Tata Group could do to compensate the victims (an amazing list by itself), Ratan Tata asked – “Are you sure we are doing enough?”

    Enough Mr. Tata? You got to be kidding right? Please don’t compare Tata with Gandhiji, Gandhiji is no more a business man and Tata is not a social activist, you may call Tata as magnanimous philanthropist (Title given by me!!).  In a nation that treats its politicians and actors as Gods(Aishwarya Rai’s pregnancy news taking headlines), citizens as dust, and citizen rights as negligible as the fly in your khichidi.

The Tata group has done not just for its employees who were affected by the attack, but to even the “pav-bhaji” vendor across the street.

·        Manoj , was working at a roadside shop when the firing at Leopold Cafe injured him. He got Rs 5000 from the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust (set up within days of the 26/11 attack by the Tata Group) for six months, and then got a job as a waiter at the Taj President in Colaba, Mumbai. His children’s education is taken care of by the Trust. So is his wife’s higher education.

·           Diagnosed with terminal illness while being treated for injuries sustained by the taxi blast, Shyam, 36, was given Rs 10,000 for a year, and his entire medical bills are being paid by the Trust.

  This is not to say the Trust forgot employees of the Taj who died in the attack. The families of these 12 employees will get the last drawn salary as long as the spouse is alive. This is apart from the lump sum amount (in lakhs) paid to the family, free education for their children, and complete medical insurance. And there are many many I can list here….

 Ratan Tata and his company has touched the lives of every victim of this attack, and ensured their families  get to live a life of relative peace and security.

Among the corrupt leaders, and Greedy corporates Ratan TATA stands as a real Hero.

HUMANITY

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. 

      “Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.

      Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

      The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest a while.

      He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

      Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

      Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

      Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

      “Who was that man?” he asked.

      The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.

      “No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied.
 

      “I never saw him before in my life.”

      “Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”

      “I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”

      An example of true humanity.

Why the decline of the West is best for us

I came across this article by PROF. R.VAIDYANATHAN PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT , BANGALORE, Worth reading...enjoy reading.

Ten years ago, America had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now it has no Jobs, no Hope and no Cash. Or so the joke goes. 

Only, its no joke. The line is pretty close to reality in the US . The less said about Europe the better. Both the US and Europe are in decline. I was asked by a business channel in 2008 about recovery in the US . I mentioned 40 quarters and after that I was never invited for another discussion. 

Recently, another media person asked me the same question and I answered 80 quarters. He was shocked since he was told some sprouts of recovery had been seen in the American economy. 

It is important to recognise that the dominance of the West has been there only for last 200-and-odd years. According to Angus Maddisons pioneering OECD study, India and China had nearly 50 percent of global GDP as late as the 1820s. Hence India and China are not emerging or rising powers. They are retrieving their original position. 

In 1990, the share of the G-7 in world GDP (on a purchasing power parity basis) was 51 percent and that of emerging markets 36 percent. But in 2011, it is the reverse. So the dominant west is a myth.

Similarly, the crisis. It is a US-Europe crisis and not a global one. The two wars which were essentially European wars were made out to be world wars with one English leader commenting that we will fight the Germans to the last Indian. 

In this economic scenario, countries like India are made to feel as if they are in a crisis. Since the West says theres a crisis, we swallow it hook, line and sinker. But it isnt so. At no point of time in the last 20 years has foreign investment direct and portfolio exceeded 10 percent of our domestic investment. Our growth is due to our domestic savings which is again predominately household savings. Our housewives require awards for our growth not any western fund manager. 

The crisis faced by the West is primarily because it has forgotten a six-letter word called saving which, again, is the result of forgetting another six letter word called family. The West has nationalised families over the last 60 years. Old age, ill health, single motherhood everything is the responsibility of the state. 

When family is a burden and children an encumbrance, society goes for a toss. Household savings have been negative in the US for long. The total debt to GDP ratio is as high as 400 percent in many countries, including UK . Not only that, the West is facing a severe demographic crisis. The population of Europe during the First World War was nearly 25 percent and today it is around 11 percent and expected to become 3 percent in another 20 years. Europe will disappear from the world map unless migrants from Africa and Asia take it over. 

The demographic crisis impacts the West in other ways. Social security goes for a toss since people are living longer and not many from below contribute to their pensions through taxes. So the nationalisation of families becomes a burden on the state. 

European work culture has become worse with even our own Tata complaining about the work ethic of British managers. In France and Italy , the weekend starts on Friday morning itself. The population has become lazy and state-dependent. In the UK , the situation is worse with drunkenness becoming a common problem. Parents do not have control over children and the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation in London said: There are all signs of arteriosclerosis of a culture and a civilisation grown old. Me has taken precedence over We and pleasure today over viability tomorrow. (The Times: 8 September ). 

Married couples make up less than half (45 percent) of all households in the US , say recent data from the Census Bureau. Also there is a huge growth in unmarried couples and single parent families (mostly poor, black women). Society has become dysfunctional or disorganised in the West. The government is trying to be organised. In India , society is organised and government disorganised. Because of disorganised society in the West the state has to take care of families. The market crash is essentially due to the adoption of a model where there is consumption with borrowings and no savings. How long will Asian savings be able to sustain the western spending binge? 

According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal (10 October 2011), nearly half of US households receive government benefits like food stamps, subsidised housing, cash welfare or Medicare or Medicaid (the federal-state health care programmes for the poor) or social security.

The US is also a stock market economy where half the households are investors and they have been hit hard by bank and corporate failures. Even now less than 5 percent of our household financial savings goes to the stock market. Same in China and Japan . 

Declining empires are dangerous. They will try to peddle their failed models to us and we will swallow it since colonial genes are very much present here. You will find more Indians heading global corporations since India is a very large market and one way to capture it is to make Indian sepoys work for it. 

A declining West is best for the rest and also for the West, which needs to rethink its failed models and rework its priorities. For the rest like us the fact that the West has failed will be accepted by us only after some western scholars tell us the same. Till then we will try to imitate them and create more dysfunctional families. 

We need to recognise that Big Government and Big Business are twin dangers for average citizens. India faces both and they are two asuras we need to guard against. The Leftists in the National Advisory Council want all families to be nationalised and governed by a Big State and reform marketers of the CII variety want Big Business to flourish under crony capitalism. 

Beware of the twin evils since both look upon India as a charity house or as a market and not as an ancient civilisation.

Formula One – Indian GP

             India successfully hosted first ever Indian GP. There are lots of debate ongoing about this F1.  The great Manishankar Iyer was talking in one of the news channel…this F1 was an insult to Gandhji…and so on.  His claim was like…we are still a developing nation, and many are starving and not getting 3 meal a day…so why this hifi sports for us.

             This reminds me the same old story…when Indian Space Research Organization was formed for the first time, Our Vikram Sarabhai (Father of ISRO) tried hard to convince parliament to approve the formation of ISRO, the similar kind of argument was put forth while the ISRO bill discussion in parliament.  For poor countries like India (in 1963 India was a poor country) space research is luxury and we are not self sufficient and so on.  Somehow Vikram sarabhai managed to win the confidence of parliament and formed ISRO.  Imagine, if that bill was rejected by parliament and we are not having ISRO today, then we could'nt  watch this many satellite channels, not possible to have this many mobile service providers at cheapest tariff in the world, no 2G, no 3G, and bla bla…  Today Pakistan is not able to do anything in space research in competion to India…..but we are competing with NASA.  Definitely the day will come when NASA will seek collaboration agreement with ISRO.

              Coming back to the topic, aren’t we too much bored with cricket?  Why don’t we pay attention to other sports like F1?  Of course this is costly sports, but we are also a developing nation and we are equally competent in technology to the West, then why not?  This is the only sports where technology plays predominant role.  No wonder, in future we may have Indian only podium finish in F1 (Great dream!!)  Jai Ho!!

Inflation....Continued

     The present crisis of inflation is not due to the lack supply, the food grain production in India has reached a record 241 Million Tones compared to 218 MT in 09-10. 

In fact, the fuel price hike has contributed to food price hike to reasonable extent.

Inflation affects the purchasing power of people adversely. Especially food price inflation affects the poor and the low income groups harder than the higher income groups.

To control the rising food price, Our Central bank (RBI) is trying to control money supply in the economy by raising repo rates, at which it lends to other banks, and reverse repo rates, at which it borrows from other banks.

This has increased the interest rate in commercial banks. High bank rate discourages investment and encourages savings, thereby reducing aggregate demand.

However, the increase in the interest rate has not done much to control food price. On the contrary, costlier loan has hampered the growth rates of GDP and industrial output in the current fiscal’s first and Second quarter. According to the RBI, while industrial growth rate decelerated, agricultural growth rate accelerated in this period.

Yet the food price index soared upward.

The increasing interest rates will reduce demand only in the housing and car markets. 

This will make home/car buyers to simply postpone their buying decision, and hence the GDP will be impacted… not on the soaring food prices? 

Inflation ... an overview(Caution)

The rate of rise of inflation is very scary...

  The prices of milk, sugar and ghee have gone up considerably. That too especially during festival days You would have felt the pinch. Life has not been very easy this year due to the rising inflation. On mahalaya ammavasya day, 1 banana leaf was 5 Rupees, I can recollect, that 10 years back I had bought 1 banana leaf for 10 paise. The rate of raise of inflation is sky rocketing than real estate prices.

   The Reserve Bank of India has been raising key rates to tame inflation. The wholesale price index (WPI), consumer price index (CPI) or food inflation are different facets of this simple economic indicator known as inflation.

Inflation reflects the value of money. 

For example, if tomatoes were priced at 30 per kilo last year, and this year it is at 32, the inflation comes to about 6.66%. It may sound reasonable. But it is on a high base of 30 per kg.

Impact on common man..(Salaried)

  In overall the demand for basic necessities like food is inelastic to any price rise. Hence, if food prices go up, it would eat into cash reserve or monthly savings for the budgeted families, as you cannot cut down on such needs beyond a point.

Inflation and Investments

Always consider inflation into account while making investment decisions and calculating returns.

On investments, you have to compute the real rate of return to assess the impact of inflation. Fixed deposits, PPF or NSC bonds assure safe returns but are not capable of beating inflation.
Inflation simply erodes the value of our investment.

Let us assume you invested 1,000 in a one-year fixed deposit at a rate of 7%.
The value of the deposit would be 1,070 after a year. But if inflation is 8% during the year, then the value of 1,000 will reduce by 80.
The net value of your money will be 990 only. So the net gain, after considering the loss of value due to inflation, is actually negative. Whenever you invest in an instrument, compute the future value after accounting for inflation of 8-10% to get accurate results.

Note:  Consider inflation for any retirement plans especially non-pensioners (Like me!!).

OMEGA - 3

What is Omega -3?

             Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids: They are necessary for human health but the body can' t make them -- you have to get them through food. Omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function, as well as normal growth and development. They have also become popular because they may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function. In fact, infants who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids from their mothers during pregnancy are at risk for developing vision and nerve problems. 

Symptoms of Omega-3 deficiency: 

1.      Fatigue

2.      Poor memory

3.      Dry skin,

4.      Heart problems,

5.      Mood swings

6.      Depression 

How to get it?

        It's difficult for vegans (vegetarians who eat no foods derived from animals, including eggs and milk) to get adequate omega-3 fatty acids from their diets, since the two essential omega-3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are most available in fish oil. Vegetarian sources of omega-3s provide only ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), a precursor form that the body cannot convert efficiently to the DHA and EPA it needs. Other essential nutrients in short supply in a vegan or vegetarian diet are vitamin B12 and zinc. Eliminating meat from your diet also means that you're lacking the food source of the most readily absorbed heme iron (vegans and vegetarians need twice the intake of iron as non-vegetarians).

Vegans and others whose diets don't include fish can substitute Neuromins DHA, a product which is extracted from carefully grown microalgae (vegans can break the gelatin capsule to get the oil). Taking 400 to 600 mg a day of Neuromins DHA and relying on dietary sources of ALA is probably the best vegan strategy for getting omega-3s. A daily handful of walnuts or one to two tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseed per day provide ALA. I hope we will soon see products made from algae that provide both EPA and DHA. Also vegans and vegetarians can supplement with at least 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B-12 daily or take 1,000 mcg once a week.

To get enough iron without eating meat, cook in iron pots and eat such iron- rich foods as blackstrap molasses, cocoa, and leafy greens. You can boost your absorption of iron-rich foods by eating foods high in vitamin C at the same meal. And since many animal-based foods that provide zinc are shunned, vegans and vegetarians should take 8 to 15 mg of supplemental zinc per day.

 

Flax Seeds

 

Walnuts

Other vegetarian food sources provide ALA, the indirect form of Omega 3 fatty acids are... 

1.      One tablespoon of flax oil per day seems to provide enough ALA for conversion to daily therapeutic amounts of EPA and DHA.

2.      Hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are also good sources of ALA.

3.      Brazil nuts, wheat germ, wheat germ oil, soybean oil and canola oil also contain significant amounts.

Play Fool

        

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He

was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the

economy.

His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in

the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You

may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but

your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold

or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the

village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of

gold or silver? 

He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village

elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in

the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is

more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the

village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the

village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village

elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He

asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He

laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school.

This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold

or silver."

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and

yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked

the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked.

In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the

box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the

mathematician' s son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will

stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is:

Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and

our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it.

That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means

allowing others to win in one arena of the game,

while we win in the other arena of the game. 

We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

Renewable energy in Germany an outlook

1. Germany continues to export electricity despite closing seven nuclear reactors. The renewable energy expansion in Germany is driving down power prices...its reverse in India   :-(

2.  In  2010, Germany produced nearly 12 TWh  of electricity, which is 2% of national electricity.

3.  By 2013, it is expected to add 7,000 MW of wind and solar generating capacity. This exceeds the projections for 2012. This massive expansion  is Good news for us...isn't it?
 

4. The installed solar base(18 GW as on May'2011)  in Germany is growing rapidly... mainly to due to feed-in Tariff (FiT) support from government.
 

5. The FiT costs 1 billion euros per month to subsidize new solar installations and the cost is spread across all rate-payers....Where India stands?...any guess?
 

6. The German government has set a target of 66 GW of installed solar PV capacity by 2030.
 

7. The Finsterwalde Solar Park is  the world’s largest photovoltaic plant with 80.7 MW (as of November 2010)
 

8. 6.6%  of energy comes from Solar out of total renewable energy production in Germany.
 

PS: Compiled a big one, but due to readability and time, presenting in bullet points.

Renewable Energy may beat the expectation

 7 Reasons for the Renewable Energy may beat the expectation



1.  Emergence of new economies (Out side G8):

Renewable energy will lead developing nations out of energy poverty. So it stands to reason that in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and India, renewable energy will find a growing market. One look at a solar insolation map shows how vast and untapped large-scale solar is as a global energy source.

2.Grid Parity and New Technology(Smart Grid):

We won’t have to wait until 2035 to find grid parity, considering it’s already here in some select areas. Pricing will truly be the transformative force that redefines the world’s energy mix. Once we’re at true grid parity, it will become a matter of retiring existing fossil fuel plants.

3. Nuclear Menace:

The Fukushima nuclear crisis may go down as the single natural event that’s had the greatest impact on our energy future. The political fallout from the tsunami-stricken plant has moved two of the industry’s biggest supports — Germany and Japan — to re-evaluate their energy policy without the use of nuclear power. As a result, both nations have positioned themselves as leaders in renewable integration into their current mix. Siemens,  Germany decided to  pull out of the nuclear industry. In India too people started protesting against Nuclear plants, the upcoming kudangulam plant work is stopped due to the concerns raised by local public- Thanks to Fukushima.


4. Retiring Coal Plants and Statutory regulations:

In the U.S., environmental concerns are likely to force the closure of some of the most inefficient coal plants. Solar and wind are likely to compete or partner with natural gas as the replacement source once the older coal plants go off-line.


5. Military Leading the Way:

The American military has always been an incubator of technology. Now, the U.S. military is seeing solar, wind, ocean and biofuel technology as key components of the nation’s security.  Innovation on U.S. bases and the battlefield alike could eventually be sold to other nations that also seek energy security, thus spawning growth that would reverberate into the commercial market over a period of time.

6. Building Standards and New construction guidelines:

Often the debate is about the cost of adding solar energy to existing systems. But what if the energy system was integrated into the design from the beginning? What if you didn’t need to calculate how much it would cost to add solar panels to your roof because all roofs already incorporated solar and this was a mandate for all new construction? Oftentimes, integration means that the costs of the solar embedded into the roof or the walls is offset by savings in construction materials. Renewable energy standards built into a policy structure would make new construction more energy efficient and more cost-effective long-term. Hawaii already mandates solar hot water on all new homes built in the state.

7. Lessons from Crisis and Growth:

It’s an unfortunate reality that change happens through crisis. The Chernobyl disaster is credited with sparking the Green movement in Germany. Public backing of renewables has certainly been bolstered by oil spills from Exxon Valdez to BP. We’re seeing hotter weather, bigger storms and more extreme droughts in many areas, and climate change is growing in acceptance across the globe, if not in the United States. Whether it’s a man-made occurrence or a natural disaster, these events often tick the needle closer to renewable sources of energy and farther from fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

Birth Day Celebrations

I have different view on the birthday celebrations.  In the first place, why are we celebrating birthdays? Is it a mark of any achievement? The answer is ‘Certainly not’ in most of the cases. Why do we cut cakes? What is the message behind?  Why not something else?  I have asked this to many people, but did not get proper justification.  Even Atheists celebrate birthdays by inviting friends and cutting cakes.  What happened to their sixth sense?  Why have they not questioned this?  Why only using sixth sense to question all religious belief?

In India, our ancestors used celebrate birthdays in a meaning full way. Normally they do some special pujas and offer prayers like doing Homa and other stuff.  The special Homa is performed to thank God for gifting this life and to take resolution to be good to all in the world.  Also there used to be some sort of charity done on the day of birth to the needy.  Slowly this concept is diluted and after the British invasion and westernization of our culture, we forgot our own values and adopted the cake cutting formula. 

Now a days, the birthday parties are very costly affair, one has to shell out more money and throw a lavish party to show off your status and life style.  Where are we heading….? Due to societal compulsions, many are forced to do all these, though they are not inclined to this way of celebrations.  To me the Birthdays are like any other day….just it’s a reminder call that we are getting older and few days are left in store for achieving our life goals.

Need for physical activity

I still remember, when I was small, we used to walk quite a lot and never used to hire Auto/Taxi for commuting from home to bus stand or any other place, but as a kid I always used to demand for hiring at least a manual rickshaw…never succeeded.  Today you cant see any manual rickshaws in city.  We are so addicted to comfort, that we started abusing our health by not doing any physical activity for the sake of luxury.  Our homes are fully equipped with all sorts of appliances and machines for anything and everything to ease our work at home.

         In modern days to do exercise and keep up fitness, we are going to Gym by paying expensive membership, because our affordability increased!!!  Our elders, just before one or two generations, structured their life in a way to help the body and maintain fitness. We simply complain lack of time and take excuses for not doing exercise. Here are few ways to restructure our way of life for better and healthy life.

1. Stop or Reduce using elevators, just climb up by stairs, be it home or office.
2. Avoid ordering home delivery of provisions through phone, try going and buying from shop, this will give you more choice for selection.
3. Start using cycle for short distances, instead of bike or car.
4. Commute to office by using public transport to the possible extent, this will make you walk for shorter distances.
5. Walk while you talk over mobile (what an idea sirji?)
6. Go on foot for nearby places.
7. Practice deep breathing while walking.

If we can practice all or some of these, it will help to maintain good health and immediate results can be witnessed, like reduction in Blood Pressure, head ache, Blood Sugar, back pain….and so on.

 Indirectly these practices will help our environment too.  Our electricity bills will come down, monthly fuel expenses will be reduced, hence increase in financial wealth.

Some of the Benefits of Exercise

1. Physical activity "burns" calories. When we burn more calories than we take in, we automatically reduce weight. No balloon belly…..

2. Activities involving physical effort (even climbing the stairs instead of using the elevator) strengthen muscles and bones and increase the body's endurance during periods of sustained activity. Think of taking part in city marathon next time….. J

3. Movements involving stretching of various body parts promote muscle and joint flexibility, and help the body feel relaxed. They also reduce the risks of muscle and joint injuries (e.g. pulled muscles, sprains).

4. Sustained physical activity (between 15-30 minutes) such as brisk walking, running in place and dance, improve the functioning of the lungs and heart, stimulate the blood circulation and increase the body's endurance during periods of sustained activity. No Huff and buff…

5. Physical exercise enhances overall bodily functioning and strengthens immunity against illness. Bye to daily pills….

6. Regular fitness activities improve the quality of life, bring increased strength and stamina, reduce tension and anxiety, promote healthy sleep and relax the body and the mind. No more shouting at home & Office….

                          

Let us start from today…..better late than never….

Bull, Bear and Stcok market....what is Common?

           

Today Indian stock market tumbled due to slow industrial growth during July’2011. Indian Industry Production (IIP) number for July’2011 is 3.5% against an expectation of 6.1%. Now the trend is following steep downward, hence the panic among investors.

If market is falling, then it is called bearish or bear market.  On the otherside, for a rally, its termed as bullish or bull market.  I used to wonder, why these two animals are associated with stock market trends?  Why not our king of forest Lion, Tiger or so? as usual I did googling…. This is the greatest ever invention…. all are addicted to it…Thanks to Google Inc. Here come the reasons…..

No one's quite sure how the two animals came to symbolize the market, but there are a few theories floating around. According to Motley Fool, a bear market earned its name because bears tend to swat at things with their paws in a downward motion (as in "the market's going down"). A bull market, on the other hand, got its name because bulls swing their horns upward when they strike (as in "the market's going up").

Another theory proposes that the animals' personalities are behind the symbolism. Bears move with caution, while bulls are bold and like to charge ahead. So a "bearish" investor thinks the market will go down, while a "bullish" investor thinks it's headed up.

Certainly no one can argue that both animals are intimidating and best avoided. Maybe they're meant to serve as a warning to investors: Unless you know what you're doing, you could be headed for pain.

 The fighting styles of both animals may have a major impact on the names. When a bull fights it swipes its horns up; when a bear fights it swipes down on its opponents with its paws. When the market is going up, it is similar to a bull swiping up with its horns. When the market is going down it is similar to a bear swinging its paws down. I hope this gives reasonable explanation. You can see the statues of these two animals as symbolic representation of market trends in front of Frankfurt stock exchange.

Less known Engineering wonder – Pykara power station

         

     Pykara power station is among the oldest hydro power station located 5350 feet above sea level.  The pykara power station is commissioned in 1932 and still is in operation,  imagine its durability…successfully nearing completion of 8 decades of power generation and marching into 9^th .   The total installed capacity is about 70 MW. 

C.P Ramaswamy Aiyar, former advocate general of Madras Presedancy, was instrumental in forcing the then British regime in India during 1920-1930’s for the implementation of this project.

 

For more information about “C.P:” please visit the URL:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Ramaswami_Iyer

   Finally the British India government agreed for this project and formed a team of engineers under H. G. Howard from Electricity department of Madras presidency. The team under able leadership of H. G. Howard executed this project beyond the expectation and still stands tall as an engineering wonder. You can see a statue of H. G. Howard in the entrance of power station, who was chief architect of this marvel.

       Pykara power station is one of the main area for punishment transfers in Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. The word punishment is added mainly due to the fact that, normally no one would opt to work in this particular location  for its remote locality and lack of other facilities. Hence engineers will get forced transfer to this location for different reasons. 

       This power station was declared as a heritage site in 1997 by Government of India. The reservoir and power station on the Pykara river is located in Nilgiris district and 40 Km from Ooty in Tamil Nadu province. (Southern part of India).  During 2002-05, a renovation and modernization programme was carried out at a cost of about Rs. 21 crore.

       Plan your next vacation to this beautiful place and enjoy the hilly terrain with majestic pykara falls along with the 8 decade old power station which is still in operation to the full capacity.

A glimpse of Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Kt. at Trichinopoly   Microhydro: Clean Power from Water

 

Gadgets

                                                                    

      Everyday we are introduced with new technology and new products.  I still remember the happy moment when I bought my first mobile Nokia 2600 and 512 Mb USB flash memory, in fact I was dreaming to own these for a long time.  But today things have changed drastically and I have updated my dream list with the latest additions. This list is growing big, bigger everyday.  Here is the Un-frozen list. (This will never be frozen…bound to grow)

1. I-Pad
2. Amazon Kindle or Nook (I am fed up with paper backs )
3. DSLR camera (Inspiration from PC Sriram)
4. I-phone or Galaxy
5. X-Box with motion sensor
6. Digital photo frame (To showcase my proficiency with item no. 3)
7. LED TV with built in USB port
8. 1 TB Hard drive USB powered
9. …………..(to be filled)

I always dream on possessing all these and enjoy in air.  Some time I question myself, why don’t I buy these? Do I not deserve for?   After a brief pause….will realize the reality….that you need not be deserving to possess any gadget…have to be rich enough to buy…. Simple wealth is sufficient to own.   

All these gadgets will bring happiness only in dream, add on problems will not come in dreams.  In real life it may not be all that exciting! You may end up spending all your free time with these gadgets and your human interaction will come down.  You may not spend time with your near and dear. 

(Like this I will console myself ).

                                       Hope you will agree with me!

Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Pearl Display  Barnes & Noble NOOK Color eBook Tablet Apple iPad 2 MC769LL/A Tablet (16GB, Wifi, Black) NEWEST MODEL

Wife's are richer than Husband's in India

Yesterday PMO released the wealth details of some of the cabinet members.  There is one thing  common among all the ministers, you know what?  all ministers wife's are richer than the ministers. How come this is possible? what is the logic behind this? these are the few basic questions striking my mind.  If you ask these sensible questions...no wonder you may be served with breach of privilege  notice!!! :-)

http://pmindia.nic.in/rti.htm (the site is not at all user friendly...India is one of the leaders for software minds..but poor PMO could not get any good one)

Our rulers/leaders are expert in finding loop holes to their convenience, so that you can not take any legal action against them...they will have any amount of wealth...most of them disproportionate, any number of wives..but there are only followers taking them as precedence, no fighters against these odds.

These rich ministers are in public service, and fully dedicated for the poor public's of  India. you know...they talk in full length about austerity...but majority of the ministers got multiple cars,  SUVs, kilograms of Gold, shares in companies....etc...etc.     

Where are we heading?  India 2020 will  still be a dream? if not, we will make it India 2040...and will keep changing...because we are not changing :-(.

Note: Very few exceptions are there in the list. (I mean poor ministers)

Indian Government and PoliticsIndian Comedy Tour

Debut and Retirement on Same day @ 38 Years

                                                            THE WALL

      Retirement was announced before  Debut....isnt it strange?  That too debut at the age of 38 years and after having 15 years of international experience.

I hope by now you would have guessed about whom this post is?  yes you are right this post is about great "The Wall".  But Rahul Dravid himself told he is indifferent about this tag attached to him... time and again it was proved he is the "The Wall" for Indian cricket.  Many a time I was irritated in watching him...for the slow pace the runs were scored...but you know one thing...thats an art, its not all that easy to stay at crease..when at the other end people are doing march past.... :-) (Indian players are good in that)

I like Dravid very much more than others for his style of stroke playing and determination towards his game...awesome. In his only T20 international appearance, the 3 consecutive sixes were punching reply to his critics....for criticizing him that " He is not fit for shorter version of the game".

Poor guy not knowing to play politics...was taken for granted always. He has been asked to open the innings,  and was asked to keep the wickets, he did all as a team player and was flexible. But being former captain and senior member of the team, he was not at all consulted before his inclusion  in ODI and T20 squad for the ongoing England tour.  Do you think...the same will be the case with other seniors...definitely not.  He timed his resignation from captaincy wrongly...and it was not wise move and not doing any good to his career.

He deserves much more recognition than what he has got today.  He will be the good inspiration for the budding cricketers.

The lesson from his career is "Being competent is not enough, have to be smart"!!

Batting and fielding averages

 

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	157	273	32	12775	270	53.00	30090	42.45	35	60	1602	19	207	0
ODIs	339	313	40	10765	153	39.43	15124	71.17	12	82	941	42	196	14
T20Is	1	1	0	31	31	31.00	21	147.61	0	0	0	3	0	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	157	5	120	39	1	1/18	1/18	39.00	1.95	120.0	0	0	0
ODIs	339	8	186	170	4	2/43	2/43	42.50	5.48	46.5	0	0	0