Warrier's Collage January 12-15, 2023

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE January 12-15, 2023 Pooppoli : Festival of flowers in Wayanad https://youtu.be/S1L0uWA4HB0 From God's Own Country (Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady visited and shared his wonderful experience in S Battery) Prayer 🙏-Vishnusahasranamam https://youtu.be/ATflA6WOy0I There are some changes in the content, format and frequency of Collage for unavoidable reasons. Next issue of Collage will be on June 18, 2023. Good Morning 🌄 Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during the week ending Saturday January 21, 2023. Ayurarogyasaukhyam 🙏 and Best Wishes to all readers. https://notionpress.com/forwriters/see_all_badges/42854 Nice Day M G Warrier A Messages/Responses 1) C Gopalakrishnan Ex-RBI Painting Exhibition in Thrissur Message from C Gopalakrishnan Ex-RBI : Dear friends Recently I had the opportunity to attend the above Arts Camp near Thrissur. Many Famous Artists from all over India participated. I saw them in action - live painting. I too participated in the live painting. It was a memorable experience All the pictures painted in the Camp including mine will be exhibited at Govt.Fine Arts College Gallery , Thrissur during the period 13 to 15 this month. I invite all friends who are residing in and around Thrissur to visit the Exhibition. Timing is 10 am to 7 pm. Regards C.Gopalakrishnan 2) Sitendra Kumar Ref : Collage on Wednesday January 11, 2023 Dear Shri Warrier, What a wonderful collage. After reading the review by Dr Y V Reddy, I immediately placed the order for the book 'Breaking Barriers : The Story of a Dalit Chief Secretary ' on the site of Amazon. Normally I purchase e books for immediate and easy reading but since the Collage has highly spoken about it, I have purchased the paperback edition as no e book is available. There are so many good articles in the Collage but the one where the eminent foreigners have spoken glowingly about Hinduism has filled my heart with pride. Babusenan's column is always a delight to read especially this one about Russell whom his habit of smoking acting as a saviour. Shri Warrier's suggestion of making alcohol service optional and expensive should be seriously considered by Shri Scindia, Minister for Civil Aviation. Vathsala Jayaraman's articles are always thought provoking. She says an average American spends eight and a half hours a day in front of the screen. It means I have a company in Americans. I also do the same. Shall I feel flattered or consider myself a stupid. Without doubt I'm the latter and so I have started passing time with the old folks of which I'm a proud member for at least two hours a day. I thank the Collage again. Regards, Sitendra Kumar 3) V Babusenan About : Time Bank as a concept https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/time-bank-a-concept-worth-experimenting-with-48950/ I agree that the idea is prima facie attractive but I am afraid will suit homogeneous societies and welfare states. Our social set-up is unfortunately heading towards compartmentalisation. Plainly speaking, an old Hindu may not like to take the help of a Christian or Muslim youngster. Added to that is caste considerations which will further restrict the operation of the scheme. One of the presumed conditions is that the person should have genuine love. That is an extremely difficult condition as the present society of ours is largely propelled by selfish motives. The concept of time as a deposit does not go well with the concept of a bank deposit. In the latter case, a person makes money through his or her effort and deposits in a bank first on the assurance of interest and then on the assurance that the deposit will be repaid in case of his or her death to rightful nominees. The idea of interest can, of course, be taken care of, but not the refund part. This may act as a deterrent. On the whole, I find it difficult to sound positive. B Collage Essay Budget 2023-24 Suggestions from Dr T V Gopalakrishnan The budget is round the corner and the expectations and policies to aim for a $ 5 trillion economy have been the subject of discussions , debates among the public, academicians, and policy makers both at national and international levels. The budget 2023-24 assumes significance as the foundation for the Country’ s economic growth aimed at in the midst of geo political disturbances, lots of uncertainties caused by the domestic economic conditions with high inflation, fluctuating exchange rates , depleting foreign exchange reserves, not so encouraging current account and fiscal deficits ,domestic interest rates moving northwards and continuing covid 19 pandemic consequences and uncertainties in the area of oil prices , social disparities and mind boggling technological advancements found all around creating a sense of fear along with tremendous hope to perform better and deliver improved economic results. The FM's task is no doubt very tough, particularly this year's budget being the last before the next general election. All said, there are plenty of avenues to go for a soft budget with stress on innovative approach to augment resources having no adverse impact on inflation and enhancing effectiveness on Governance standards ensuring optimum use of all assets including human resources at the command of all PSUs and Banks , preventing leakages of envisaged revenues through corrupt practices and bringing in cultural change in the mindset of people all around to find pleasure and happiness in the development of the economy to enjoy a fulfilling life. Like the GST which is very well spread over the entire population, the Direct Tax if not eliminated altogether should at least cover 10% of the population justifying the efforts and expenditure to collect the taxes. The need for some policy measures to augment resources without any adverse consequences on inflation, exchange rates, economic growth , employment is paramount and from this angle some random thoughts for possible consideration can be more inter-alia in the area of Direct taxes as spelt below. Rationalisation of the Security Transaction Tax ( which is absolutely non inflationary in character) in such a way that it prompts to avoid speculative tendencies among investors and at the same time encourages foreign institutional investments, can perhaps be a possible approach .There can be different types of Security Transaction Tax for Individuals and Institutions and with in these groups there can be dynamic rates for purchases and sales under different ranges of cut off amounts to optimise revenues and minimise speculations. The need to raise public participation in the capital market is a prerequisite to contain undue volatility seen of late in the market and this needs to be factored into while rationalising and incentivising the STTs. By and large retail investors objective of investment in equity market is for periodical flow of cash by way of dividends , build up of a little wealth to depend upon in their old age in the absence of adequate social security and also to be part of the economic development through shareholding in dependable and well run corporates. The need for review of exemption of agricultural income from tax and taxation of allied activities of agriculture is overdue. Many economic activities take shelter under agriculture and allied activities to avoid taxes of various kinds. Generation of inequality of wealth and income, black money, and distortions in the build up of data emanating from agriculture and all allied activities and non agricultural activities need special attention and scrutiny to fix tax evasion particularly by those having close association with political parties, influential contacts and the wherewithal to smartly avoid taxes mixing agricultural income with other incomes possibly coming under tax net. While pure agriculture activities carried by small and marginal farmers deserve a very sympathetic approach and tax exemption, evasion of payment of taxes by rich farmers even with corporate backing, having several sources of income and varieties of activities cannot be allowed to take shelter under Agriculture to enjoy tax benefits. The issue may be politically sensitive but time has come to sensitise the rich farmers and all others and impress upon the people on the need to enhance the status of agriculture and bring it on par with other industries and do justice to all categories of income earners , tax payers from the point of view of fair distribution of wealth and levy of taxes. Participation of the majority of the population in national development through tax payment is also a necessity to take the country forward. Mushroom growth of farmland clubs in and around major metropolitan and urban centres has been a trend these days enabling wealth creation without getting detected perhaps and adding values to GDP possibly. It seems to be a grey area and real estate transactions involving farm lands abets corruption , black money and facilitates evasion of taxes . All real estate deals deserve a special watch and deal using technology , aadhar card, making supervision and documentation fool proof from corruption of any kind and evasion of tax. A proper tie up of banks, Registrar of properties, purchasers and sellers with the aid of technology and legal experts can do wonders to help the economy free from many of the ills. The ease of doing business in real estate deals for individuals particularly in respect of ancestral properties involving legal heirs is practically absent. Corruption is unfortunately legalised and institutionalised and despite these, people suffer and they remain totally dissatisfied. This is definitely avoidable by some intelligent and technology linked solution. While digitalisation has picked up very well and payment and settlement systems have made rapid progress among the people, the simultaneous increase observed in currency circulation is definitely a cause for worry from the point of view of containing inflation, eradicating corruption, generation of black money, financing of terrorism and evasion of taxes. Budget season is perhaps the most appropriate time for the Government and RBI to track the increase in currency circulation and arrive at the segments of the population showing interest in currency transactions in preference to digital transactions and to assess as to how they possess currency, why they hold currency,, how and where exactly the currency possession increases especially when digitalisation of currency transactions is made easy, convenient, , safe and traceable. Poor segment of the population seems to have switched over to digitalised payments and are found to be comfortable and happy without physical currency is an achievement to be really proud of for both the Government and RBI. Though the performance of Public sector banks and some of the public Sector units engaged in different kinds of manufacturing and other varieties of economic activities, is claimed to have considerably improved, but to what extent the non performing assets and non performing human resources remain unnoticed or escape scrutiny from the Regulators if any ,needs to be seriously reviewed and remedial steps taken to enhance their performance, contribution to the GDP and involvement in making the living comfortable and dependable for the masses. A small example from my personal experience in this context is not out of context. The Gas Authority of India Ltd has installed pipelines and meters to provide piped gas connection to thousands of houses a few years back investing huge resources including man power, but the connection has not been provided so far for reasons best known to GAIL only. How many of such undertakings keep wasting its resources without any return to themselves, to the exchequer , to the economy and the needy public is a serious matter to be looked into and converted into performing assets for the benefit of all stakeholders. Overall improvements in Governance Standards by insisting for feedback and suggestions from public in general and professionals from all walks of life in particular can definitely go a long way in preventing / minimising corruption and changing the very complexion of the economy with improved all round performance in registering good growth, enhanced tax compliance without force and changing the very culture to have ethics, and transparency in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of each and every citizen interested in the welfare of the society and development of the nation. The National Budget is one of the best possible instruments to lead and motivate the people to culturally change and realise all the dreams of a true Welfare nation. T.V.Gopalakrishnan Senior Citizen (Views are personal) Media Response : M G Warrier On Supremacy Interesting debate This refers to the snippet "Constitution, not Parliament, supreme" (The Hindu Business Line, January 13). P Chidambaram and Jagdeep Dhankar are honourable lawyers in their own right. Lawyers have their own way of presenting facts and arguments selectively. Though we need not dispute their right to look at the legality of individual statutes or judgements from their own perspectives, common man is interested in the finality of supremacy of a statue or the legislature which is empowered to make and amend laws including the Constitution. Let's wait and watch the progress of this debate initiated by the Vice President and now being joined by a former central minister. M G Warrier Mumbai January 12, 2023 Income tax reforms* This refers to the report "Banks to report every penny paid as interest to depositor" (The Hindu Business Line, January 12). This is a welcome move and may not cause any extra concern for depositors or much additional work for banks. Hopefully, the IT department may also come up with measures to plug leakages in accounting taxable income from other sources like interest income from deposits with non-banks and cooperatives. The threshold for tax exemption for interest income of non-pensioner senior citizens deserves a review for upward revision. One is not so sure about the reasons for keeping the calculation of taxable income at lower levels so complicated with multiple exemptions and deductions. They benefit tax consultants more. M G Warrier Mumbai *Published on January 13, 2023 : https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-editor/article66370696.ece C Collage Profile : Lal Bahadur Shastri https://madrascourier.com/biography/lal-bahadur-shastri-the-unsung-prime-minister-of-india/ Media Response : M G Warrier Change of guard at Amul https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-editor/article66362139.ece D Panchapagesan's Column Balance Sheet of Life There will be no Balance sheet of Life If we have a Heart pure and Clear like The waters of a Spring………….. O, My God … This is my prayer praying…… A Selfless heart that does not brood over failures, A Magnanimous heart that takes delight in giving, A Compassionate heart that goes out to those who suffer, A Forgiving heart that never keeps a grudge, A Grateful heart that never forgets an act of Kindness, A Heart that is meek and Humble, eager to love without Expecting any return, A Noble and Courageous heart that meets ingratitude Without bitterness, and forgetfulness without complaint… Make My balance sheet NIL MERGING WITH YOU…… 👌🌹❤️‍🩹 V T Panchapagesan Response from Vathsala Jayaraman BALANCE SHEET OF LIFE …………. Our Birth is our Opening Balance! Our Death is our Closing Balance! Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities Our Creative Ideas are our Assets. Heart is our Current Asset Soul is our Fixed Asset Brain is our Fixed Deposit Thinking is our Current Account. Achievements are our Capital Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade Friends are our General Reserves Values & Behavior are our Goodwill. Patience is our Interest Earned. Love is our Dividend. Children are our Bonus Issues. Education is Brands / Patents Knowledge is our Investment Experience is our Premium Account The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately. The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award. Some very Good and Very bad things... The most destructive habit.......................Worry The greatest Joy................................Giving The greatest loss...................... Loss of self-respect The most satisfying work................ Helping others The ugliest personality trait............. Selfishness The most endangered species......... Dedicated leaders Our greatest natural resource................Our youth The greatest 'shot in the arm'.................Encouragement The greatest problem to overcome................Fear The most effective sleeping pill.............Peace of mind The most crippling failure disease.............Excuses The most powerful force in life..................Love The most dangerous act........................... A gossip The world's most incredible computer.........The brain The worst thing to be without.................. Hope The deadliest weapon.............................The tongue The two most power-filled words.................'I Can't The greatest asset................................Faith The most worthless emotion.................Self- pity The most beautiful attire.............................SMILE! The most prized possession...........................Integrity The most powerful channel of communication.....Prayer The most contagious spirit.....................Enthusiasm Life ends; when you stop Dreaming, Hope ends; when you stop Believing, Love ends; when you stop Caring, And Friendship ends; when you stop Sharing...!!! Even when all the facts and figures are given accurately, we find it extremely difficult to tally the balance sheet. After some how getting through the Higher Accountancy Exam of CAIIB, we have totally forgotten about Balance Sheet and the associated technical terms. In some Depts at least we had some opportunity to analyse the Balance Sheets of other banks and refresh our memory. Fortunately or unfortunately there are too many unknown variables in the life's Balance Sheet and the terms are too relative as to determine the line of demarcation between the good and bad or to differentiate between the perfect and imperfect. We are lucky to have an Accountancy Expert who can take care of the Balance Sheet of all. You are required to do only two things. 1 SIMPLY DO YOUR DUTY WITHOUT HARMING OTHERS( Mandatory) 2. SURRENDER TO THE MASTER ( optional) You need not even pass the simple journal entries. Everything will be taken care of. The invisible yet-can be felt-sound Balance Sheet of yours will be there with all the unknown variables duly filled in, to be recognised by you and all the others. How lucky we are to harvest the produce with minimum efforts! Vathsala Jayaraman https://www.facebook.com/100000018054178/posts/pfbid02KmuVKFMjwVuYyMxn62bnV2P1dSFPggqagTenFX3KDkR9U7FGFVM7gWqypPGtPRLml/?mibextid=Nif5oz Dr Charan Singh https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1613649760044425229?t=-n3hOaWO3kXtAMOLPyaWeQ&s=08 Unity in Diversity - 495 राज भुइअंग प्रसंग जैसे हहि अब कछु मरमु जनाइआ अनिक कटक जैसे भूलि परे अब कहते कहनु न आइआ Like mistaken view of rope vs snake or bracelets vs gold, some understanding is emerging after examining deeply (Same God in all creation) Ravidas, Sorath, 658, SGGS E Current Affairs PAN as SIN https://epaper.business-standard.com/bs_new/index.php?rt=main/mainpage#1 To The Editor Business Standard Letters June 17, 2017 Universal Identity Number This refers to the report "Aadhaar must for opening bank accounts, transactions of Rs 50,000 and above". The piece meal introduction of additional requirements for carrying out normal financial transactions make citizens averse to innovations and helps middlemen make an easy buck for providing 'services' which in the normal course should come free. Aadhaar, from the time the idea of "Universal Identity" has suffered from absence of a 'project approach' in implementation. Politicians, Professionals, GOI, media and social activists have contributed in equal measure in confounding the confusion that was the twin-brother of Aadhaar. At least at this stage, GOI should professionalize further processes in implementation of Aadhaar and restore its credibility in the minds of citizens. All purpose single identity number for each individual is a still better idea for future. That will solve number portability issues and minimize the irritants like problems arising from spelling changes in names, addresses etc caused by outsourced service providers who manage compilation and processing of data. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram F Babusenan's Column A Weird Tale "It happened long ago, but my flesh creeps even now when the thought of it crosses my mind. As the senior representative of a reputed American pharmaceutical company, my operational area was quite large, a big chunk of the east. In that capacity, I was one day in a big hotel in Kanakapura(not the real city) Imagine me sitting at a corner table in its vast dining hall famous for certain queer oriental delicacies, non-vegetarian of course. The dining hall was full, but my mind was elsewhere thinking about the arrangements for the next day's program to be inaugurated by the prime minister. Suddenly there was a stir.There were clappings and the music changed to one of top hilarity. I looked up and saw people standing and clapping and there appeared the head waiter in glittering uniform holding a big silver tray in his hands. Seeing my surprise, the person sitting near me said : "Their speciality has arrived. (He said some name which I do not remember now) Those fellows clapping are millionaires holding coupons. Very costly stuff. It is, however, not a regular occurrence. That is why the hall is full tonight." Returning to my room, I thought of going to sleep. My preparation for sleep included an item which I never missed. Wherever I might be, I saw to it that the first thing I see in the morning on waking up was the photo of my hero, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. So, I took out from the bag my Neta's framed photo and hung it on the wall in such a manner that my eyes would fall on it first when I opened them. I could not sleep well that night. Thoughts of the next day's function haunted me. It was in a way crucial in my career. If I failed in the work entrusted to me by my head office, I had no choice but to to leave the job. Had my hero been alive, I would have joined him as our Captain Lakshmi. Fully awake during the small hours of the night when the entire city was asleep, my thoughts turned to my leader and I looked at his photo on the wall. I got a queer feeling that the photo was slowly going down. Then I heard a soft whirring sound. I got out of the bed and watched. To my utter consternation I found that the bed was very slowly moving up and the top of the bed was equally slowly moving down. And then, at a point they closed together with a thud. Had I been asleep, that marked my end! Fear did not paralyse me. Before they came to claim my body, I must escape and inform the civilized world.I was on the 7th floor. I got out through a window close to the drain pipe and, clinging on to the latter, I slowly descended without making any noise. My presence of mind surprised me. The moment my feet touched the ground, I ran towards the nearest police station in my sleeping gown. The thorough raid that followed helped to clear two mysteries : the mystery behind the man-missing issue that was until then a major headache of police and the mystery of the special delicacy of the hotel where I stayed. " "Why do you disturb our peace of mind with such a bizarre story?" My esteemed readers may ask. The fact is I could not help it. I am ashamed to say that cannibalism has raised its ugly hood in Kerala, my state. That horrendous series of occurrences that happened in a cozy village has shaken my sub-conscious mind in such a manner that a weird story that I read long ago in a Malayalam weekly has thrust itself into my mind.The above story is based on that. One has to be careful when one deals with such bizarre tales. It would need a Botticelli to transform the nudity of Venus into a magnificent work of art. It would need a Bram Stoker to convert the weird tale of the Prince of Dracula into an eminently readable novel. I am fully aware of this fact and also that , not possessing even a modicum of their capabilities, I should not have made this attempt. Forgive me, ladies and gentlemen, I could not but do that. G Vathsala Jayaraman's Column A Father's letter to his son - applies to daughters too!! A Wise Father's Letter to His Son. Very Useful to all of us..... Beautiful letter written by a father to his son Following is a letter to his son from a renowned Hong Kong TV broadcaster/Child Psychologist. The words are actually applicable to all of us, young or old,children or parents.! This applies to daughters too. All parents can use this in their teachings to their children. Dear son , I am writing this to you because of 3 reasons 1. Life, fortune and mishaps are unpredictable; nobody knows how long he lives. Some words are better said early. 2. I am your father, and if I don't tell you these, no one else will. 3. What is written is my own personal bitter experiences that perhaps could save you a lot of unnecessary heartaches. Remember the following as you go through life 1. Do not bear grudge towards those who are not good to you. No one has the responsibility of treating you well, except your mother and I. To those who are good to you, you have to treasure it and be thankful, and ALSO you have to be cautious, because, everyone has a motive for every move. When a person is good to you, it does not mean he really likes you. You have to be careful, don't hastily regard him as a real friend. 2. No one is indispensable, nothing in the world that you must possess. Once you understand this idea, it would be easier for you to go through life when people around you don't want you anymore, or when you lose what/who you love most. 3.Life is short. When you waste your life today, tomorrow you would find that life is leaving you. The earlier you treasure your life, the better you enjoy life. 4.Love is but a transient feeling, and this feeling would fade with time and with one's mood. If your so called loved one leaves you, be patient, time will wash away your aches and sadness. Don't over exaggerate the beauty and sweetness of love, and don't over exaggerate the sadness of falling out of love. 5.A lot of successful people did not receive a good education, that does not mean that you can be successful by not studying hard! Whatever knowledge you gain is your weapon in life. One can go from rags to riches, but one has to start from some rags! 6.I do not expect you to financially support me when I am old, neither would I financially support your whole life. My responsibility as a supporter ends when you are grown up. After that, you decide whether you want to travel in a public transport or in your limousine, whether rich or poor. 7.You honor your words, but don't expect others to be so. You can be good to people, but don't expect people to be good to you. If you don't understand this, you would end up with unnecessary troubles. 8. I have bought lotteries for umpteen years, but I never strike any prize. That shows if you want to be rich, you have to work hard! There is no free lunch! 9. No matter how much time I have with you, let's treasure the time we have together. We do not know if we would meet again in our next life. Regards, Your Dad Vathsala Jayaraman H Obituary Dr A D Damodaran, Scientist https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2023/jan/13/former-csir-director-dr-ad-damodaran-passes-away-at-87-2537550.html പ്രമുഖ ശാസ്ത്രജ്ഞന്‍ ഡോ.എ.ഡി.ദാമോദരന്‍ അന്തരിച്ചു - https://www.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/eminent-scientist-a-d-damodaran-passes-away-1.8216889 II https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30161141.ece Article about EMS Namboothiripad : Memories recorded by Drs Malathy & Damodaran

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