If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me'', you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger; if your wish is farther to the thought; if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise -why, be that as it may, the more fool you , for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut tut! For goodness' sake! What the dickens! But me no buts! - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Quoting Shakespeare
If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me'', you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger; if your wish is farther to the thought; if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise -why, be that as it may, the more fool you , for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut tut! For goodness' sake! What the dickens! But me no buts! - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
ERADICATING CORRUPTION
Well, here we are then. A new year and everyone foolishly pretending
that in some cosmic fashion, the torch has been passed from the cruel
fates of the past to the benign fates of the future and that by some
curious chemistry, the fact that it is now 2017 things will change.
The new year has nothing to do with change. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that the calendar leap has any bearing on what tomorrow brings. It never has.
Corruption did not die last night and nor did black money do a Houdini and disappear. The problem that resonated in the words of the prime minister on Saturday was the inability in most of us to appreciate and acknowledge that simply scrapping currency notes is not the be all and end all of the cleansing.
Until the bureaucracy, the political firmament and the keepers of the law are recognised as the worst offenders of the deceit that has bathed us these 70 years, not even ten Modis can win the war. Even the private sector is not exempt.
Our political system is so skewered that the very idea of having politicians who are not venal and vain and loaded to the gills with ill-gotten gains is absurd. It goes with the territory. Plundering the exchequer after winning an election or being bought over for a price is integral to this game.
Our bureaucrats are largely corrupt and irrespective of their cadres making money on the sly is par for the course. Every damn gazetted officer's signature on every damn piece of paper is written with counterfeit ink. Every damn document in India's endless paper chase and her choke by red tape makes it nigh impossible to ever reach that point where we shall be freed of this bondage.
Lawyers, doctors, cops, bankers, Customs, media, railways, you name it, each one has its own blueprint for making money and if anyone stands up to them, he is quickly warned or led into a trap and removed from the chessboard.
We pay capitation fees to get our children into school. Even copybooks and uniforms are forcefed to students courtesy conspiracies between principals and manufacturers. No major purchase is made without kickback. State borders reek with the stench of daylight theft. Coolies (is that still politically correct?) can get us seats on a train. The prowling Bittu at the courthouse can guide us on to the fast track for a price. Bribe the plumber, the electrician, give the 'bakshish' or stand in line and hope they will serve you. One can give a thousand examples but how do you break down a mindset that sees nothing wrong in the 'give and take' option?
Even the armed forces have divorced themselves from Caesar's wife and are now no longer above reproach. At this very moment, a four star officer is on bail for possible skullduggery. This was once unthinkable.
Which political entity do you know who hasn't made millions after coming into power, settled his family, got the indolent and lazy relations into jobs, usurped land and exploited the system, used nepotism and influence to carve through justice?
Let's talk about the poor, too. Modi extols the virtue of poverty as if poverty and probity were twins. They are not. They are part of the murky package. The office boy runs the office, your government peon is a powerhouse in himself. The typist at the courthouse, the millions of Mr Fix Its, the hoodlums for hire, the terrorising by gangs functioning from 'addas' where police are afraid to go, the police sub inspector, the tehsildar, the Sarpanch, the Khap brigade, all of whom run fiefdoms, how will they ever change?
The cop at the airport who cheats the innocent traveler, the secretary to the VIP, the legions of underlings swinging surrogate authority like a machete, the hangers on, the lickspittles, the line of middlemen who form the chain to the 'open drawer' and the lack of receipt, the 'topping' of the cream for every transaction between citizen and government, even paying for an appointment, this is where the roots lie, Sir, in the day-to-day dealings where your land can be resold 'officially' under a patwa and the devil take the hind leg, where squatters can lay siege on your home, where builders can add on 'extras' and you can do nothing, where the lowest bidder is manipulated and quality flung to the winds, when the banking system is your enemy not your friend, where you take away so much that the only way out is to take in an equal amount and more.
If we keep dancing around the issues and we do not want to discuss exactly how easy it is to make us crawl to get our work done, surrender our esteem to obtain that affidavit, to have our innocence exploited, to be beaten into submission because we don't understand the codicils, the profound declamations count for nothing.
I sometimes wonder if Modi had a professional death wish in opening this Pandora's box. In doing so, he did not see the two scorpions on the floor. The complexities of our love for bumf and paperwork on the one hand and how it feeds corruption at every step because the counter clerk is king and don't you forget it.
India's babus will be the most difficult fortress for the Modi Juggernaut to breach.
And the other scorpion. The sanctity given to the 'chai pani' concept in the nation at every level, that is where it started from. To ask for that extra is a right, a 'hakk' and so deeply ingrained in us that it has led us all to accept corruption as intrinsic to the lubrication of the survival machine.
Together, these two scorpions will begin a pincer movement unless the flanks of this war are widened and widened swiftly. And they will go for the wheel of the Modi chariot. Like a swarm of locusts, there are so any of them…of us.
Truly, we have only just begun…it is going to be a long and bloody campaign.
The new year has nothing to do with change. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that the calendar leap has any bearing on what tomorrow brings. It never has.
Corruption did not die last night and nor did black money do a Houdini and disappear. The problem that resonated in the words of the prime minister on Saturday was the inability in most of us to appreciate and acknowledge that simply scrapping currency notes is not the be all and end all of the cleansing.
Until the bureaucracy, the political firmament and the keepers of the law are recognised as the worst offenders of the deceit that has bathed us these 70 years, not even ten Modis can win the war. Even the private sector is not exempt.
Our political system is so skewered that the very idea of having politicians who are not venal and vain and loaded to the gills with ill-gotten gains is absurd. It goes with the territory. Plundering the exchequer after winning an election or being bought over for a price is integral to this game.
Our bureaucrats are largely corrupt and irrespective of their cadres making money on the sly is par for the course. Every damn gazetted officer's signature on every damn piece of paper is written with counterfeit ink. Every damn document in India's endless paper chase and her choke by red tape makes it nigh impossible to ever reach that point where we shall be freed of this bondage.
Lawyers, doctors, cops, bankers, Customs, media, railways, you name it, each one has its own blueprint for making money and if anyone stands up to them, he is quickly warned or led into a trap and removed from the chessboard.
We pay capitation fees to get our children into school. Even copybooks and uniforms are forcefed to students courtesy conspiracies between principals and manufacturers. No major purchase is made without kickback. State borders reek with the stench of daylight theft. Coolies (is that still politically correct?) can get us seats on a train. The prowling Bittu at the courthouse can guide us on to the fast track for a price. Bribe the plumber, the electrician, give the 'bakshish' or stand in line and hope they will serve you. One can give a thousand examples but how do you break down a mindset that sees nothing wrong in the 'give and take' option?
Even the armed forces have divorced themselves from Caesar's wife and are now no longer above reproach. At this very moment, a four star officer is on bail for possible skullduggery. This was once unthinkable.
Which political entity do you know who hasn't made millions after coming into power, settled his family, got the indolent and lazy relations into jobs, usurped land and exploited the system, used nepotism and influence to carve through justice?
Let's talk about the poor, too. Modi extols the virtue of poverty as if poverty and probity were twins. They are not. They are part of the murky package. The office boy runs the office, your government peon is a powerhouse in himself. The typist at the courthouse, the millions of Mr Fix Its, the hoodlums for hire, the terrorising by gangs functioning from 'addas' where police are afraid to go, the police sub inspector, the tehsildar, the Sarpanch, the Khap brigade, all of whom run fiefdoms, how will they ever change?
The cop at the airport who cheats the innocent traveler, the secretary to the VIP, the legions of underlings swinging surrogate authority like a machete, the hangers on, the lickspittles, the line of middlemen who form the chain to the 'open drawer' and the lack of receipt, the 'topping' of the cream for every transaction between citizen and government, even paying for an appointment, this is where the roots lie, Sir, in the day-to-day dealings where your land can be resold 'officially' under a patwa and the devil take the hind leg, where squatters can lay siege on your home, where builders can add on 'extras' and you can do nothing, where the lowest bidder is manipulated and quality flung to the winds, when the banking system is your enemy not your friend, where you take away so much that the only way out is to take in an equal amount and more.
If we keep dancing around the issues and we do not want to discuss exactly how easy it is to make us crawl to get our work done, surrender our esteem to obtain that affidavit, to have our innocence exploited, to be beaten into submission because we don't understand the codicils, the profound declamations count for nothing.
I sometimes wonder if Modi had a professional death wish in opening this Pandora's box. In doing so, he did not see the two scorpions on the floor. The complexities of our love for bumf and paperwork on the one hand and how it feeds corruption at every step because the counter clerk is king and don't you forget it.
India's babus will be the most difficult fortress for the Modi Juggernaut to breach.
And the other scorpion. The sanctity given to the 'chai pani' concept in the nation at every level, that is where it started from. To ask for that extra is a right, a 'hakk' and so deeply ingrained in us that it has led us all to accept corruption as intrinsic to the lubrication of the survival machine.
Together, these two scorpions will begin a pincer movement unless the flanks of this war are widened and widened swiftly. And they will go for the wheel of the Modi chariot. Like a swarm of locusts, there are so any of them…of us.
Truly, we have only just begun…it is going to be a long and bloody campaign.
Whisky Trivia - Interesting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🔺The world's most expensive bottle of Scotch whisky is Isabella’s Islay ($6.2 million).🔺The oldest Scotch whisky on the market is the Aisla T’Orten 107 years old, distilled in 1906. It costs $ 1.43 million🔺Glenfiddich is the world's best-selling single malt🔺Johnnie Walker Red Label is the world's best-selling Scotch🔺The Famous Grouse is the best-selling whisky in Scotland🔺Glenmorangie is the best-selling single malt in Scotland.🔺The world's fastest growing Scotch today is Black Dog. India is a major contributor to its sales.🔺The five most popular single malts globally are Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet, Glenmorangie Original, Aberlour and Laphroaig🔺Bruichladdich’s The Octomore is the most heavily peated whisky in the world (167ppm)🔺The three oldest single malts currently sold are Glenturret, Oban and Glenlivet🔺The oldest distillery in Scotland is Glenturret (1775), followed by Bowmore (1779)🔺With
each bottle of Laphroaig that you buy, you are entitled to a lifetime
lease of one sq foot of the distillery’s land, along with a personalized
certificate of ownership🔺Cadenhead’s
Whisky Shop on Canongate, has a unique selling point: customers can
have a bottle poured straight from a cask and labeled with their name.
When sealed it has a label with the ‘born on date’, as whisky stops
aging as soon as it leaves the wooden barrel, so each bottle is a unique
blend.🔺The
highest price paid at an auction for a bottle of Scotch was $631,850
for a 6-liter The Macallan “M” single malt, in a decanter by Lalique.
(The highest price paid at an auction for a standard sized Scotch was
$460,000 for a 64-year-old Macallan malt whisky)🔺Edradour is the smallest distillery in Scotland. The entire operation is run by just three people.🔺The
Glenmorangie distillery is one of the smallest in the Highlands and
employs just sixteen craftsmen, called ‘The Sixteen Men of Tain’🔺The most expensive country in which to buy Scotch, ironically, is the UK, where it is made.🔺In
the UK, its home country, the five most popular blended Scotch whiskies
are The Famous Grouse, William Grant’s, Bell’s, Teacher’s and J&B
Rare. Note: Johnnie Walker does not feature in the list of best-selling
blends in its home country.🔺A
closed bottle of Scotch can be kept for 100 years and still be good to
drink. After opening, a bottle of Scotch whisky will remain good for
five years.🔺The
Australian Wine Research Institute has introduced a measure called a
standard drink. In Australia, a standard drink contains 10 g (12.67 ml)
of alcohol, the amount that an average adult male can metabolize in one
hour.🔺Although
their proof differs, standard drinks of beer, wine and spirits contain
the same amount of alcohol – 0.6 ounces each. They’re all the same to a
breathalyzer.🔺18,000
litres of Scotch whisky worth over $800,000 were accidentally flushed
down the drain at Chivas Brothers’ Dumbarton bottling plant in 2013.🔺Experts advise you to drink single malt with just a dash of water. The water supposedly ‘releases the serpent’ from the whisky.🔺If
there is a serpent, there is also an angel. As it ages, 2-2.5 % of the
whisky maturing in a barrel is lost to evaporation every year.
Distillers refer to this as the ‘angel’s share’.🔺There is also a devil. The whisky absorbed by the wood of barrel during maturation is known as the 'devil's cut’.🔺Some
sources claim that the Irish whiskey distillers brought the Irish
custom of triple distillation with them to Scotland. Auchentoshan was
probably started by Irish settlers, led by the MacBeathas, starting this
custom. The source of the name Auchentoshan is Gaelic. It means 'corner
of the field'.🔺The
United States and Ireland spell it as 'whiskey'. A simple way to
remember the spelling: if it comes from a country without an ‘e’ in its
spelling, then it is spelt 'whisky'. (e.g., Scotland, Canada, Japan,
India, etc.)🔺Indian 'whisky' is technically flavoured rum, because it's essentially made from sugar !!!!!!!!!!Thursday, January 12, 2017
GIST OF LIFE
Sufi Master : : : Junnaid
* * * * *
One of the great Sufi Masters, Junnaid, was asked when he was dying... his chief disciple came close to him and asked, ″Master, you are leaving us. One question has always been in our minds but we could never gather courage enough to ask you. Who was your Master? This has been a great curiosity among your disciples because we have never heard you talk about your Master.″
Junnaid opened his eyes and said, ″It will be very difficult for me to answer because I have learned from almost everybody. The whole existence has been my Master. I have learned from every event that has happened in my life. And I am grateful to all that has happened, because out of all that learning I have arrived.″
Junnaid said, ″Just to satisfy your curiosity I will give you three instances. One: I was very thirsty and I was going towards the river carrying my begging bowl, the only possession I had. When I reached the river a dog rushed, jumped into the river, started drinking.
″I watched for a moment and threw away my begging bowl--because it is useless. A dog can do without it. I also jumped into the river, drank as much water as I wanted. My whole body was cool because I had jumped into the river. I sat in the river for a few moments, thanked the dog, touched his feet with deep reverence because he had taught me a lesson.
″I had dropped everything, all possessions, but there was a certain clinging to my begging bowl. It was a beautiful bowl, very beautifully carved, and I was always aware that somebody might steal it. Even in the night I used to put it under my head as a pillow so nobody could snatch it away. That was my last clinging--the dog helped. It was so clear: if a dog can manage without a begging bowl... I am a man, why can′t I manage? That dog was one of my Masters.
″Secondly,″ he said, ″I lost my way in a forest and by the time I reached the nearest village that I could find, it was midnight. Everybody was fast asleep. I wandered all over the town to see if I could find somebody awake to give me shelter for the night, until finally I found one man. I asked him, ′It seems only two persons are awake in the town, you and I. Can you give me shelter for the night?′
″The man said, ′I can see from your gown that you are a Sufi monk....′″
The word Sufi comes from suf; suf means wool, a woolen garment. The Sufis have used the woolen garment for centuries; hence they are called Sufis because of their garment. The man said, ″I can see you are a Sufi and I feel a little embarrassed to take you to my home. I am perfectly willing, but I must tell you who I am. I am a thief--would you like to be a guest of a thief?″
For a moment Junnaid hesitated. The thief said, ″Look, it is better I told you. You seem hesitant. The thief is willing but the mystic seems to be hesitant to enter into the house of a thief, as if the mystic is weaker than the thief. In fact, I should be afraid of you--you may change me, you may transform my whole life! Inviting you means danger, but I am not afraid. You are welcome. Come to my home. Eat, drink, go to sleep, and stay as long as you want, because I live alone and my earning is enough. I can manage for two persons. And it will be really beautiful to chit-chat with you of great things. But you seem to be hesitant.″
And Junnaid became aware that it was true. He asked to be forgiven. He touched the feet of the thief and he said, ″Yes, my rootedness in my own being is yet very weak. You are really a strong man and I would like to come to your home. And I would like to stay a little longer, not only for this night. I want to be stronger myself!″
The thief said, ″Come on!″ He fed the Sufi, gave him something to drink, helped him to prepare for sleep and he said, ″Now I will go. I have to do my own thing. I will come back early in the morning.″ Early in the morning the thief came back. Junnaid asked, ″Have you been successful?″
The thief said, ″No, not today, but I will see tomorrow.″
And this happened continuously, for thirty days: every night the thief went out, and every morning he came back empty-handed. But he was never sad, never frustrated--no sign of failure on his face, always happy --and he would say, ″It doesn′t matter. I tried my best. I could not find anything today again, but tomorrow I will try. And, God willing, it can happen tomorrow if it has not happened today.″
After one month Junnaid left, and for years he tried to realize the ultimate, and it was always a failure. But each time he decided to drop the whole project he remembered the thief, his smiling face and his saying ″God willing, what has not happened today may happen tomorrow.″
Junnaid said, ″I remembered the thief as one of my greatest Masters. Without him I would not be what I am.
″And third,″ he said, ″I entered into a small village. A little boy was carrying a lit candle, obviously going to the small temple of the town to put the candle there for the night.″
And Junnaid asked, ″Can you tell me from where the light comes? You have lighted the candle yourself so you must have seen. What is the source of light?″
The boy laughed and he said, ″Wait!″ And he blew out the candle in front of Junnaid. And he said, ″You have seen the light go. Can you tell me where it has gone? If you can tell me where it has gone I will tell you from where it has come, because it has gone to the same place. It has returned to the source.″
And Junnaid said, ″I had met great philosophers but nobody had made such a beautiful statement: ′It has gone to its very source.′ Everything returns to its source finally. Moreover, the child made me aware of my own ignorance. I was trying to joke with the child, but the joke was on me. He showed me that asking foolish questions--′From where has the light come?′--is not intelligent. It comes from nowhere, from nothingness--and it goes back to nowhere, to nothingness.″
Junnaid said, ″I touched the feet of the child. The child was puzzled. He said, ′Why you are touching my feet?′ And I told him, ′You are my Master--you have shown me something. You have given me a great lesson, a great insight.′
″Since that time,″ Junnaid said, ″I have been meditating on nothingness and slowly, slowly I have entered into nothingness. And now the final moment has come when the candle will go out, the light will go out. And I know where I am going--to the same source.
″I remember that child with gratefulness. I can still see him standing before me, blowing out the candle.″
No situation is without a lesson, no situation at all.
All situations are pregnant, but you have to discover; it may not be available on the surface.
You have to be watchful, you have to look at all the aspects of the situation.
* * * * *
Sunday, November 20, 2016
DEMONETIZATION
End this Unrelenting Attack on People
The withdrawal of 500 and 1000 rupee notes is unfolding as a war on the common people instead of a war on black money.The media has been focusing on the long queues of people outside banks, ATMs and post offices waiting to exchange the withdrawn notes for fresh notes up to a paltry amount of Rs 4,000 (now Rs 4,500). But this is only one feature of the problems faced by the people.
What is worse is the monetary shock leading to the loss of livelihoods and incomes for crores of workers, farmers, fishermen, small traders, shopkeepers and all those who are dependent on cash transactions.
The picture, 12 days after the prime minister’s announcement on November 8, is of an economic standstill. The rural economy has ground to a halt with incalculable consequences for agricultural production and consumption demand.
Farmers are unable to get payments for the crops they have harvested. Where rabi sowing operations have started, they have no money to pay for seeds and fertilisers. There is no money to pay agricultural workers. Vegetables brought to the markets are not being taken by traders and are left to rot. So also is the fish in the fish markets.
All the small enterprises, from brick-kilns to factories, which have to pay cash wages to workers have stopped working or are not making full payments for wages. They were allowed to withdraw only Rs 25,000 per week. This has been increased to Rs 50,000 a week but it is still insufficient in most cases as wage payments amount to Rs 2 to 3 lakhs per week.
As per the RBI directive, district and primary co-operative banks which cater to millions of farmers are not allowed to exchange notes. This has paralysed the banking operations causing hardships to farmers and the rural population. This has had a particularly adverse effect in Kerala which has a wide network of primary cooperative banks.
For the lakhs of people working in markets and running shops in both urban and rural areas, for transport workers and casual labourers, their incomes have dried up. They cannot buy rations or other essential commodities. The scale of human suffering for the working people is magnified with the inability to pay for treatment in private hospitals or buy medicines.
The informal economy which predominates in India is widely dependent on cash transactions. When 86 percent of the money circulation is withdrawn (500 and 1000 rupee notes), the brunt has fallen on the unorganised sector workers, the agricultural workers, the farmers and the urban and rural poor.
PM is only making a cruel joke of the sufferings of the people by declaring that the “Poor are sleeping well while the restless rich are searching for sleeping pills”. The demonetisation episode has glaringly exposed the reactionary class outlook of the government. The savage attack on the livelihood of the working people is termed as a temporary inconvenience. The way the whole exercise has been conducted has revealed the utter inefficiency and bungling by the government. There were no preparations to ensure adequate supply of the new currency notes. The ATMs were not calibrated for the new size of the notes. The finance minister has himself admitted that it will take weeks to recalibrate the ATMs.
The prime minister and the government are trying to portray the demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes as a big step to unearth black money. By this, they spread the fallacious idea that black money is the hoarding of huge amounts of cash in currency notes. The bulk of the black money is converted into real estate, gold, jewellery and foreign currency kept abroad. Black money exists as a parallel economy. It is generated by economic activities which are either illegal or undertaken in excess of what is legally permitted. The incomes generated from these activities are not declared to evade taxes. For instance, in the real estate sector, most of the transactions undertaken are not fully declared to evade taxes and many are benami properties. Another source of generation of black money is the under-invoicing or over-invoicing of exports and imports and much of this money is stashed abroad. Hawala transactions take place to transfer the black money and to “white-wash” it.
The government has done nothing to plug the loopholes which generate the flow of black money in the economy. It has not taken any action against the big business houses which have evaded taxes or defaulted on the loans they have taken to the tune of thousands of crores from the nationalised banks.
The claim that this is a step to fight corruption is a hollow one. As long as the nexus between big business-ruling politicians and bureaucrats is not broken, corruption will thrive. The new 2000 rupee note will only facilitate bribes being paid.
The real intention of the cancellation of the 500 and 1000 rupee notes is something else. It is meant to divert attention from the abject failure of the government to bring back the illegal money stashed abroad and the election promise to create millions of jobs. It is also intended to disarm the opposition parties in the run-up to the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where their use of monetary resources is sought to be crippled. The chicanery of the move is brought out by the fact that despite the claim of absolute secrecy surrounding the demonetisation, in Kolkata, on the eve of the announcement, the BJP state unit deposited Rs 3 crore in 1000 and 500 rupee notes in four installments into its bank account.
Till alternative supply of currency is fully available, the use of the 500 and 1000 rupee notes are to be allowed for all transactions till December 30.
The withdrawal of 500 and 1000 rupee notes is unfolding as a war on the common people instead of a war on black money.The media has been focusing on the long queues of people outside banks, ATMs and post offices waiting to exchange the withdrawn notes for fresh notes up to a paltry amount of Rs 4,000 (now Rs 4,500). But this is only one feature of the problems faced by the people.
What is worse is the monetary shock leading to the loss of livelihoods and incomes for crores of workers, farmers, fishermen, small traders, shopkeepers and all those who are dependent on cash transactions.
The picture, 12 days after the prime minister’s announcement on November 8, is of an economic standstill. The rural economy has ground to a halt with incalculable consequences for agricultural production and consumption demand.
Farmers are unable to get payments for the crops they have harvested. Where rabi sowing operations have started, they have no money to pay for seeds and fertilisers. There is no money to pay agricultural workers. Vegetables brought to the markets are not being taken by traders and are left to rot. So also is the fish in the fish markets.
All the small enterprises, from brick-kilns to factories, which have to pay cash wages to workers have stopped working or are not making full payments for wages. They were allowed to withdraw only Rs 25,000 per week. This has been increased to Rs 50,000 a week but it is still insufficient in most cases as wage payments amount to Rs 2 to 3 lakhs per week.
As per the RBI directive, district and primary co-operative banks which cater to millions of farmers are not allowed to exchange notes. This has paralysed the banking operations causing hardships to farmers and the rural population. This has had a particularly adverse effect in Kerala which has a wide network of primary cooperative banks.
For the lakhs of people working in markets and running shops in both urban and rural areas, for transport workers and casual labourers, their incomes have dried up. They cannot buy rations or other essential commodities. The scale of human suffering for the working people is magnified with the inability to pay for treatment in private hospitals or buy medicines.
The informal economy which predominates in India is widely dependent on cash transactions. When 86 percent of the money circulation is withdrawn (500 and 1000 rupee notes), the brunt has fallen on the unorganised sector workers, the agricultural workers, the farmers and the urban and rural poor.
PM is only making a cruel joke of the sufferings of the people by declaring that the “Poor are sleeping well while the restless rich are searching for sleeping pills”. The demonetisation episode has glaringly exposed the reactionary class outlook of the government. The savage attack on the livelihood of the working people is termed as a temporary inconvenience. The way the whole exercise has been conducted has revealed the utter inefficiency and bungling by the government. There were no preparations to ensure adequate supply of the new currency notes. The ATMs were not calibrated for the new size of the notes. The finance minister has himself admitted that it will take weeks to recalibrate the ATMs.
The prime minister and the government are trying to portray the demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes as a big step to unearth black money. By this, they spread the fallacious idea that black money is the hoarding of huge amounts of cash in currency notes. The bulk of the black money is converted into real estate, gold, jewellery and foreign currency kept abroad. Black money exists as a parallel economy. It is generated by economic activities which are either illegal or undertaken in excess of what is legally permitted. The incomes generated from these activities are not declared to evade taxes. For instance, in the real estate sector, most of the transactions undertaken are not fully declared to evade taxes and many are benami properties. Another source of generation of black money is the under-invoicing or over-invoicing of exports and imports and much of this money is stashed abroad. Hawala transactions take place to transfer the black money and to “white-wash” it.
The government has done nothing to plug the loopholes which generate the flow of black money in the economy. It has not taken any action against the big business houses which have evaded taxes or defaulted on the loans they have taken to the tune of thousands of crores from the nationalised banks.
The claim that this is a step to fight corruption is a hollow one. As long as the nexus between big business-ruling politicians and bureaucrats is not broken, corruption will thrive. The new 2000 rupee note will only facilitate bribes being paid.
The real intention of the cancellation of the 500 and 1000 rupee notes is something else. It is meant to divert attention from the abject failure of the government to bring back the illegal money stashed abroad and the election promise to create millions of jobs. It is also intended to disarm the opposition parties in the run-up to the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where their use of monetary resources is sought to be crippled. The chicanery of the move is brought out by the fact that despite the claim of absolute secrecy surrounding the demonetisation, in Kolkata, on the eve of the announcement, the BJP state unit deposited Rs 3 crore in 1000 and 500 rupee notes in four installments into its bank account.
Till alternative supply of currency is fully available, the use of the 500 and 1000 rupee notes are to be allowed for all transactions till December 30.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
NEED TO OVER COME SOMEDAY !!!!!!!!!!!!
Capitalism as a system, operates spontaneously, drive force is to
extract maximum profit, by any means, to satisfy the instincts of greed
and possession.
Sound footstep of United States of Soviet Russia and subsequently of the East European Counties and other socialist countries once forced capitalism to restrain their greed from expropriation i.e. by loot and plunder to appropriation i.e. making profit by keeping alive the subject at least in the sustainable form.
Well, today capitalism asserts once again with drive of garnering huge profit through expropriation.
But, devoid of nurturing the subject exposes them to the greatest problem i.e huge productions vis-a-vis fast squeezing market strength, out of paucity of able buyers.
To come out from this impasse, the present capitalist states, that way most of the countries, are lowering their interest rates of money lending from their central banks to make their produced products cheaper in order to occupy the others market. The cruel policy of "Beggars my neighbour."
By this, at the end, only the countries having good capital strength will sustain and others become the mere appendage of the rich countries, in the form of disguise colonialism.
Today, only a minuscule number of state powers are traversing through a reverse trajectory.
At this juncture, onus lies on the populace at large, of all strata, being engaged in some form and others in some crafts, jobless youths and other sections of have-nots, small producers, farmers, owners of small land holdings and others to take cudgel in their hands vociferously in order to create a globe for all.
Let vast populace sings and murmurs "We need to overcome and we shall overcome to save our human civilization."
Sound footstep of United States of Soviet Russia and subsequently of the East European Counties and other socialist countries once forced capitalism to restrain their greed from expropriation i.e. by loot and plunder to appropriation i.e. making profit by keeping alive the subject at least in the sustainable form.
Well, today capitalism asserts once again with drive of garnering huge profit through expropriation.
But, devoid of nurturing the subject exposes them to the greatest problem i.e huge productions vis-a-vis fast squeezing market strength, out of paucity of able buyers.
To come out from this impasse, the present capitalist states, that way most of the countries, are lowering their interest rates of money lending from their central banks to make their produced products cheaper in order to occupy the others market. The cruel policy of "Beggars my neighbour."
By this, at the end, only the countries having good capital strength will sustain and others become the mere appendage of the rich countries, in the form of disguise colonialism.
Today, only a minuscule number of state powers are traversing through a reverse trajectory.
At this juncture, onus lies on the populace at large, of all strata, being engaged in some form and others in some crafts, jobless youths and other sections of have-nots, small producers, farmers, owners of small land holdings and others to take cudgel in their hands vociferously in order to create a globe for all.
Let vast populace sings and murmurs "We need to overcome and we shall overcome to save our human civilization."
Friday, August 12, 2016
SECRET OF LIFE
There are 20 Amino Acids in our body which are the basic building blocks of life. Amino Acids attach to each other and form different kinds of proteins which are found in millions in our body. These proteins and certain chemicals combine to form living cells. Living cells make up tissues which form organs. A configuration of organs makes up living creatures.
And it is DNA (De-oxy-ribonucleic Acid), a complex molecule which carries genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms.It is the molecular blueprint which tells the Amino Acids how to line up and form proteins; at what time and in what shape.It acts as a recipe for a living thing and carries all the chemical programming which can lead to the formation of an ant, a tree or a human being.
DNA lives in the nucleus of a living cell whereas the amino acids are based outside the nucleus in the cytoplasm(the fluid outside the nucleus and inside the cell membrane). Inside the nucleus of a living cell the DNA is coiled up. It is here that special chemicals make partial copies of DNA code called RNA, much shorter in size, which are then transported outside the nucleus to the cytoplasm where these are sucked up by ribosomes which are tiny protein building machines.
The ribosome reads the RNA code, sucks relevant amino acids out of its surroundings, and then churns out proteins as per the specifications contained in the RNA code. The protein thus formed then performs a number of functions like for example formation of a new living cell. Hence DNA, the molecular blueprint creates RNA-RNA creates proteins and proteins create life. And the entire process is based in Chemistry.
DNA molecules are made up of Nucleotides which in turn comprise Nitrogenous bases,Sugar and Phosphate. The Nitrogenous bases are namely,Adenine,Thyamine,Guanine and Cytocine. Adenine always bonds with Thyamine(AT) and Guanine always locks up with Cuanine (GC) through Hydrogen atoms.
it appears that life is just a product of chemicals in a particular order i.e. Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen and Phosphorus and nothing more?
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