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Brand Amul to spread to America | Business Line

Brand Amul to spread to America | Business Line Online comments posted on December 31, 2013: It is comforting to find that there are brands like Amul which can take globalisation in their stride and are able to spread their wings to fly high in the global market. It is additionally pleasing to know that wherever Amul goes, the brand carries with it the spirit of cooperative movement in India. This is evident in the proposal to source milk from cooperative dairies in the US. Perhaps, success stories lke that of Amul will encourage our unorganised cottage and village industries facing extinction on account of the onslaught of ‘Mall’ culture to resurrect and fight back, to redeem their past glory. India needs thousand Amuls to make the nation’s rural population’s aspiration for a decent living a reality. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014! I wish to share the new year message I just received from E X Joseph in whom I have found my brother, teacher, friend, philosopher and guide from the early 1960's: Hopes and Dreams Battered, bruised, broken and beaten the Old Year passes on the tired baton to the new year’s, vibrant, tender hand fresh with dreams of a magic wand to wipe away  hypocrisy and filthy wealth to restore mankind’s  purity, innocence and health to change swords  of power into creative ploughs to drive away vultures and invite gentle doves to break fetters made through long centuries and to fill the human heart with ecstasies. Let us sing hurrah to the feet that dance to  eyes longing for love’s frolic and prance to  hearts that throb with melodious rhymes to  ears resounding with endless chimes to  arms that embrace with infinite passion to minds with freedom unenslaved by creeds in fashion to courageous souls wh...

INDIA IS NOT POOR, ITS PEOPLE ARE!

Moneylife, December 26, 2013 Letters India is not poor though its people are! This is with regard to “High top management compensation hints at ever-increasing inequality between the rich and the poor” by Nagesh Kini. This well-researched article puts together food for thought, if only the people, whose thoughts matter, are willing to think.  The rich and the powerful in India (politicians who manage government, corporates and religious bodies) have cornered most of the country’s resources and our dilemma is not comparable with the problems of developed countries like US. Revelations like those made by RBI deputy governor—about write-offs in favour of wealthy by banks and annual waiver of taxes payable by corporates (that could be several multiples of one trillion, if the figures during the past 10 years are added up)—will give a rough picture of how the rich are becoming richer. Maybe the government, or any national organisation, should compile this information and...

Cut salaries but not pensions, says U.S. judge - The Hindu

Cut salaries but not pensions, says U.S. judge - The Hindu Online comments: Will PFRDA commission a study to find out whether National Pension System will meet the objective of providing post-retirement security to the 88 per cent of India's workforce whose case was highlighted as the reason to introduce NPS(Ref: Facing the Future: Indian Pension Systems, Report of the team comprising experts from ING and IIM-B, 2007)? If not GOI should show the magnanimity to restore the Pension System it has denied to a section of its employees from 2004. Other reasons for the denial were 'saving costs', which will start happening 30 years later. States which were forced to introduce NPS have started backing out and those who are 'covered' by NPS in states like Karnataka are left without any avenue for retirement savings. In Kerala those who are covered by NPS are denied the opportunity to join General Providend Fund Scheme of the state government also. from:  ...

Beyond small mercies - The Hindu

Beyond small mercies - The Hindu Online comments posted on December 25, 2013: This refers to the article “Beyond small mercies”(December 25). The article throws much more light on the ground level realities of Indian Pension System outside the organised sectors than the 2007 report of the team comprising experts from ING and IIM-B, which studied Indian Pension Systems in the context of the introduction of New Pension Scheme(now rechristened as National Pension System)-Facing the future: Indian Pension Systems. Jean Dreze has crisply and clearly explained the drawbacks of the pension schemes now being implemented for the benefit of the widows and the elderly. One expects, the powers that be will do some follow up for remedial action on the following observations made by Dreze: ·         Pension schemes for widows and the elderly have five major flaws as things stand: narrow coverage, bureaucratic procedures, low pension amounts, irregular ...

Letters: The better option | Business Standard

Letters: The better option | Business Standard Business Standard Letters Dissecting AAP manifesto* This refers to the article “Can Kejriwal’s team deliver the moon to Dehiites?”(December 23). The honest and direct answer is ‘No, not possible in the given situation’. Then, why AAP should form a government in Delhi? Because, with 30 per cent votes polled, if 30 per cent promises in the Manifesto are fulfilled, still the entire Delhi population will be better off than during the previous regimes. Changes do not come that fast. If AAP has succeeded in making the outgoing CM to demand implementation of AAP Manifesto and promises support for efforts in that direction, one feels, AAP has won half the battle. Coming to details, Congress, of all political parties has lost its moral right to question delays in honouring commitments as the last 65 years did not see India through enforcement of important Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution. It...

Can Kejriwal's team deliver the moon to Delhiites? | Business Standard

Can Kejriwal's team deliver the moon to Delhiites? | Business Standard Online comments/response dated December 23, 2013: This refers to the article “Can Kejriwal’s team deliver the moon to Dehiites?”(December 23). The honest and direct answer is ‘No, not possible in the given situation’. Then, why AAP should form a government in Delhi? Because, with 30 per cent votes polled, if 30 per cent promises in the Manifesto are fulfilled, still the entire Delhi population will be better off than during the previous regimes. Changes do not come that fast. If AAP has succeeded in making the outgoing CM to demand implementation of AAP Manifesto and promises support for efforts in that direction, one feels, AAP has won half the battle. Coming to details, Congress, of all political parties has lost its moral right to question delays in honouring commitments as the last 65 years did not see India through enforcement of important Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Consti...

Financial Sector Reforms: Dr Raghuram Rajan

Financial Sector Reforms* The economy is stabilizing, but there is no room for complacency. Some part of improvement in the CAD has happened due to suppressing gold imports. Not all the measures to reduce fiscal deficit are of high quality. We have considerable work to do still. At the same time the country faces elections next year. A stable government post elections, while likely, cannot be taken for granted. This implies that all parties have to work together today to ensure that any government that emerges post-election has the time to come to terms with the challenges of managing the Indian economy. Otherwise, markets and rating agencies may not be willing to cut the new government any slack. More generally, it would be overly complacent and possibly dangerous for parties to postpone necessary legislation with the idea that they will pass bills post-election. Post-election politics may become even more challenging, whoever assumes power. Similarly, any slowdown in putting large...

Raghuram does a Rajan | Business Standard

Raghuram does a Rajan | Business Standard Online comments: M G WARRIER How soon, we will get out of the ‘dependence’ on individuals like Kejriwal and Rajan, will decide how fast the Indian Growth Story will get back on the right track. The messages these eminent persons give are loud and clear. Now, it is for “WE THE PEOPLE” (Ref: Preamble of the Indian Constitution) to accept or reject these messages. Aam aadmi, as his tribe has a head-count of tens of millions, can no more depend on leaders to ask questions and answer for them. S/he has to fight for his/her rights, without forgetting responsibilities and duties. A promise in an election manifesto or a stated objective in a Monetary Policy Statement, important though they are, cannot show results, if majority of the people expect leaders to fight for their rights. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

Subir Gokarn: All that glitters... | Business Standard

Subir Gokarn: All that glitters... | Business Standard Online comments: M G WARRIER The inherent fear to touch or talk about the huge domestic stock of gold in India gets interwoven even in such a well-articulated and well-researched article by a person like Subir Gokarn. The fear of gold was captured by K U B Rao in his report on Gold Management repeased in January, 2013 in the following words: “Indians’ obsession for large investment in physical gold is the outcome of the confluence of numerous and divergent factors. Given the complexities involved in the lure for gold in India, a holistic strategy that deploys a combination of demand reduction measures, supply management measures and measures to increase monetisation of idle gold stocks needs to be put in place. Creation of an alternative asset class that may provide returns comparable to return on investment in physical gold with similar flexibility is important. A necessary pre-condition for reducing the excessive demand for th...

Gettysburg speech by Abraham Lincoln

GETTYSBURG SPEECH BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN (One version downloaded from a website) Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the livin...

APPLY BRAIN BRAKES...

The following report appeared in the Hindu Business Line and other newspapers/Websites on December 17, 2013: M G WARRIER Apply brain brakes to earn social respect! New York, Dec 16 (IANS) Is there any in-built self-control device for people who don't know when and where to stop while talking to a colleague or chatting with a friend on social media? Well, there is - in your brain. Neuroscientists at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (UTHealth) and the University of California, San Diego, have successfully demonstrated a technique to enhance a form of self-control through a novel form of brain stimulation. "Our daily life is full of occasions when one must inhibit responses. For example, one must stop speaking when it's inappropriate to the social context and stop oneself from reaching for extra candy," said Nitin Tandon, the study's senior author and associate professor in The Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at the ...

AAP KA SANDESH

Business Standard, December 16, 2013 Letters AAP-rise* This refers to the article “Scaling up the AAP”(December 14/15). The message sent out by AAP from Delhi is being deciphered by different people in different ways. Naturally, the responses have been diverse. From Rahul Gandhi who said ‘Congress has to learn a lot from AAP’, to N R Narayana Murthy who said ‘What Arvind(Kejriwal) has done is that he has redefined what is possible’ and added that he would still ‘Bat for Nilekani’ the politically and financially wise who responded to the AAP challenge did not leave the aam aadmi wiser by their responses. But their quick comments are, nevertheless, indicative of the churning Indian Political System is undergoing, post-AAP uprise. The Indian Aam Aadmi has asserted his right to make his voice heard, thanks to the conduit provided by AAP. Let us not compel AAP to show the results they apparently promised. Now, it is the turn of the common man(Famously referred to as “WE T...