Warrier's Collage on Wednesday February 15, 2023

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Wednesday February 15, 2023 Aiyyo https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/pm-modi-meets-comedian-aiyyo-shraddha-jain-his-first-reaction-was-10070351.html Good Morning Yesterday, I received this reply from Shri P M Warrier whom I knew only through his writings since 1980's. "Thanks. Especially for your best wishes for my 'ayurarogyasoukhyam'. I have long life all right ( I'm 94) but no arogyam, always plagued by old age ailments. I have landed at a nephew's house at Kottakkal. All the best. PM Warrier" I have some friends, now in their 80's and nineties, whom I have never met, and may or may not meet during the coming years. Last two or three years, we have tried to keep in touch with like-minded people through Collage and many have found the route useful. Nice Day M G Warrier A 1) C V Subbaraman I Talking of Inflation and the views of various "economists" . It is difficult how the prices would behave, giving uncertainty of climatic conditions and their impact on the farm output. In the preyear of parliamentary elections, with freebees taking centre stage, one cannot hazard to predict pricemovements. RBI is just announcing the MPC decision which is based on calculated experimentation, which does not apparently take into account the political realities and expectations of profligate spending by States and even by the Centre in the pre-election year. Meanwhile, a large section of the labour class in the organised sector only looks to the Consumer price indices and their effect on the dearness allowance increases! II "Learning from the Markets": All of us can learn from the markets (the stock markets, we mean) only if there is some measure of consistency and logical co-relations. What do we learn from a market, which moves in a highly volatile manner and often in an inconsistent way? We have witnessed instances where good corporate results notwithstanding, their shares have been beaten down, while even reduction in profits of some companies has been ignored by the operators as their shares have either not come down or have even gone up! If markets ignore performance but react wildly on sentiments or on some reports of "analysts" who are known to be professional short-sellers in order to hammer down prices of some companies with a view to making a "killing", do we learn some thing? The average investor sometimes suffers but by a stroke of luck can also make some money. But the noise made by some professional TV debaters is amusing: several of them claim that they have no investments in shares but seek to comment vehemently on the "inaction" of the regulators, the "losses" suffered by the investors, etc., etc., when they know (or do not know) that in most of the cases, the "losses" are notional because they are book losses and not real losses if the markets have nosedived, because one makes losses only when the shares are sold and deliveries made. Despite the announcements made by LIC of India that its investments in a particular group is less than 1% of its total investments, the analysts and political spokespersons continue to flood the TV channel debates with half-baked knowledge or no knowledge at all. They have a chosen mission, a premeditated narrative. In the process, they are likely to create more losses to the average investors. It is much more amusing that they demand an enquiry by a JPC comprising of individuals who have no expertise in the market movements! But who cares? Subbaraman III Future caste system is based on current profession of the people. A traditional brahmin may be a sevak (sudra) of today, there are many peons and menial workers having Iyer, Ayyangars, Mishras, Pandes, and the like surnames. Similarly other categories. Nothing to grudge. What does a name or surname mean? Nothing. These are mere labels to identify a person. They have no connotation. In the ancient times, names used to be given according to one's qualities, traits, etc. Examples are: Rama, Lakshmana, Ravana, Meghanaada, etc. Now a Dhanavati may be a beggar on the street or a Veeryaaan a timid person trembling in his shoes. A "mistry" (meaning carpenter) may be an Engineer and a "Purohit" running a barber saloon. Caste and caste names of the yore have lost their meaning. We move on........ Subbaraman 2) TNC Rangarajan I still matter https://youtu.be/pLV0r50peyw Patricia Fleming’s “I Still Matter” highlights the importance of embracing and honouring your inner beauty and living with pride and dignity. This poem is a reminder that you are never too old to make a difference and that you still matter regardless of your looks and age. Read by Simerjeet Singh Make someone’s day. Help a Senior Citizen today  Regards, TeamSJS I'M STILL HERE My looks are nothing special, My face reveals my age, My body shows some wear and tear, And my energy's not the same. Too often my memory fails me, And I lose things all the time. One minute I know what I plan to do, And the next it may just slip my mind. I try hard to avoid my mirror. There are things I would rather not see, And even those times when I just catch a glimpse, I can no longer recognize me. The things I used to do with ease Can now cause aches and pains, And the quality of the things I do Will never be quite the same. I always compare my older self To those younger versions of me, And I know I'm wasting too much time Missing who I used to be. But the thing that really makes me sad Is despite what people see, Underneath my tattered, worn out shell, I'm still the same old me. My heart can still feel endless love, And at times it still can ache. My heart can fill with so much joy, And then it can suddenly break. My soul can still feel sympathy And longs for forgiveness and peace, And there are times its light shines boldly through, And times when it longs for release. It's true, maybe now that I'm older, Feeling lonely may be status quo, But it also has made me more willing To forgive and let past conflicts go. So maybe to some I look ugly and old, A person who barely exists. I'm still quite aware of the beauty inside, And my value should not be dismissed. So although not as strong and no beauty, it's true, I'm still here and want so much to live, And I know that there's no one in this world quite like me, And no one who has more to give. 3) Twenty-first Century caste system : M G Warrier https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/twenty-first-century-caste-system-50451/ Excerpts : "If one takes the comparison to more details, meaning the multi-layered religions plus castes plus economic status-wise categorisation, the picture becomes more complex. Let’s restrict our discussion to India. Marriage is one of the occasions when the religion and caste becomes relevant in India. I am not quoting any specific case. But anyone can try this fact check. Try to remember twenty marriages during the last decade to which you were invited, read about in the media or heard about from friends or contacts. Analyse one by one using the following parameters : 1 From the available information find out to which category (1 to 4 explained above) either of the spouses belongs to. 2 Now, try and find out the category to which the partner belongs. 3 Try to remember, how many out of 20 were arranged marriages, and how many were love marriages. 4 If any of the 20 marriages ended up in a divorce as on date, did both the partners belong to the same category? No. I am not doing any research or conducting any survey. But the analysis will help you understand the deep-rooted caste system which is silently enveloping the present society." 4) Media Response : M G Warrier February 13, 2023 Restructuring Indian tax system* Your editorial "Closing the gaps" (February 13) could easily double up as an introduction to a background note for a national debate on restructuring Indian tax system. Both the treasury side and the opposition benches across legislative bodies in Centre and states need to sit back and do some homework to find some way out from the present stalemate. Present pattern is, even before discussion on central and state budgets begin, the opposition opposes new taxes and increase in the existing taxes, governments succumbing to pressure drops some new taxes and dilute rise in taxes and some mutual blames continue about low tax recovery. Opposition uses the end result for continuing the grievances about inadequate budget provisions in priority areas. A proactive opposition should participate in the budget debates, suggesting alternative tax avenues and taking their fight straight to the tax-evaders' portico. This is not to reduce the significance of broadening the tax base or improving the tax recovery efforts using incentives and disincentives. M G Warrier Mumbai *Not published in The Hindu Business Line on February 14, 2023. Posted @www.warriersblog.com B Current Affairs 1) Chasing inflation : Media Response February 14, 2023 Price rise and retail inflation This refers to the report "Retail inflation soars to 6.5% on pricy cereals"(The Hindu Business Line, February 14). The urgency for RBI to get better results in inflation control is understandable. But, to expect central and state governments to focus on price control during the first calendar quarter when central and state budgets are on the drawing board would be too much of optimism. And interpreting the relationship between prices and inflation at this point of time is a futile exercise. RBI has been struggling for sometime now with the inflation figures remaining on the wrong side of the accepted broad band of (4 +/- 2) percent. The wiser option for both GOI and RBI would be to remain open to accept the realities of the situation and revise the inflation target upwards. This will allow RBI to focus focus more on monetary policy measures rather than "doing homework" to explain reasons for not adhering to the target. The post-pandemic global scenario and the growth expectations within the country do not augur well for more stringent monetary policy measures to control inflation. M G Warrier Mumbai 2) Radio Day, 2023 (February 13, 2023) https://m.economictimes.com/news/new-updates/world-radio-day-2023-history-significance-theme-and-some-interesting-facts-read-here/articleshow/97856416.cms RADIO DAY : Remembering the beginning How All India Radio got going* Harjap Singh Aujla WITH World Radio Day being celebrated today, it’s apt to recall the teething troubles of All India Radio’s (AIR) national hook-up. After several false starts by private radio enthusiasts during the late 1920s and early 1930s, the government decided to take broadcasting into its own hands; hence, AIR was born in 1936. Simultaneously, the construction of radio stations started in Calcutta, Bombay, New Delhi, Madras, Lahore and Peshawar. By the end of 1937, all radio stations became fully functional. The one in Calcutta was a Bengali and English-language station with some need-based Hindustani (a mixture of spoken Hindi and Urdu) content for residents of UP and Bihar who had settled in Bengal. The New Delhi station was for English and Hindustani languages, Lahore for Punjabi and Urdu, and Peshawar for Pashto and Urdu with some Balochi content. The common link between the stations was the news bulletin in English. The authorities decided to broadcast three bulletins in a day — at 8 am, 1.30 pm and 9 pm to coincide with breakfast, lunch and dinner times of the Brits. It became clear that the 9 pm 15-minute bulletin was technically feasible. Since all transmitters were using the medium-wave spectrum, the long-reach sky waves were absorbed by the sunlight during the daytime, but at night the unhindered sky waves could travel hundreds of miles. The signal of the New Delhi station could be satisfactorily picked up in Lahore and Lahore’s signal could be picked up in Peshawar. The sun set early in Calcutta and the signal from the Delhi station could be transmitted loud and clear in Calcutta too. Bombay could pick up the radio signal from New Delhi and Lahore and Madras could lift the broadcast from Bombay for relaying. Lunch-time news could not be picked up anywhere in India. So, the news content was telephoned and telegraphed from Delhi; the newswriters at the regional stations rewrote the news and the local readers read it individually. The morning news in winter could be picked up in Lahore and Peshawar from Delhi and relayed, but the Calcutta, Bombay and Madras stations used to write their own versions from telegrams and telephonic messages received from Delhi. These teething troubles continued up to 1940. Meanwhile, World War II started in 1939 and the British decided to dispatch long-range shortwave transmitters to major stations. The signal from India could be picked up in Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Brunei and several other countries. Telephone service was also useful for broadcasting news, but a word missed once could not be found again. This problem was solved when voice messages could be recorded on spool tapes. *Shared by Sitendra Kumar C Yoga for health https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/yoga-with-srishti/empowering-womens-health-through-a-yogic-lifestyle-50323/ Excerpts from the article "Empowering Women’s Health through a Yogic Lifestyle" : Srishti says : "As women, we often put ourselves last and forget to prioritize our health. But did you know that incorporating a yogic lifestyle can have a profound impact on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being? Whether you’re dealing with PCOS/PCOD, hormonal imbalances, arthritis, infertility, or mental health issues, yoga has something to offer." D Chader trek in Ladakh My grandson Vihaan (Reshmy's son) returned to Mumbai on Sunday after a successful completion of Chader trek in Ladakh/Leh. https://trekthehimalayas.com/chadar-trek/ E Relationships Remain connected, online! https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/remain-connected-online-49403/ F Leisure Company matters* DOSTO!!..The company with whom you sit, really matters!!…Sit for 10 mins with an alcoholic - you will feel life is very stress free! @Sit for 10 mins with sadhus & sanyasis - you will feel like gifting away everything to charity!! @Sit for 10 mins with a politician - you will feel all your studies are useless!! @Sit for 10 mins with a LIC agent - you will feel that it is better to die! @Sit for 10 mins with traders - you will feel your earnings are too meagre!! @Sit for 10 mins with scientists - you will feel the enormity of your ignorance!! @Sit for 10 mins with good teachers - you will feel like wanting to become a student again! @Sit for 10 mins with a farmer or a worker - you will feel you are not working hard enough!! @Sit for 10 mins with a soldier - you will feel your services & sacrifices are insignificant!! @Sit for 10 mins with a good friend - you will feel your life is heaven! ⬇️ This one is the best @Sit for 10 mins with your wife - you will feel you are the most useless person on earth. Company Matters!! Collage adds : And... @Sit with Warrier for 10 minutes and you will fall on the feet of Sudha Warrier for having tolerated the fellow for 50 years! *Shared by V S Rangasayee G Quotes on Prayers 🙏 https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/prayer-quotes