Friday, September 21, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
#National: How NPA of Merged Bank is Better than Individual Banks NPAs
Yesterday,
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced merger of three public sector banks -
Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. You can read about it
here: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/government-announces-merger-of-bank-of-baroda-dena-bank-vijaya-bank
Some
people failed to understand how NPA situation will improve due to the merger. I
can explain it as follows:
All
banks have NPAs but at different level. Average NPA% of the new (merged) bank
would be much healthier to make it competitive. They said on TV last evening
that it will be around 5 point something. Current NPA% of Dena Bank is as high
as 22%. So benefit is due to "averaging". Not too difficult to
understand, right?
Secondly,
as Mr. Jaitley said, the criteria used was: two healthy and strong banks would
be merged with a third weak bank so that the merged entity can digest this
third small one without hiccups. In current case, this was Dena Bank. This is
called good strategic planning.
People
should be surprised, how Government of India is thinking of better strategies
than Private companies and best consulting firms can think of! This is called
governance with a difference!
-
Rahul Tiwary
Saturday, September 15, 2018
#National: The Human Development Index (HDI) of India - Latest Data
The
Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic or index of life
expectancy, education and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank
countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores higher HDI
when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the GDP per
capita is higher. The HDI is used to measure the countries' development by the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP). [1]
India
being a developing country has been ranked among the lowest among all the
countries. But if we look at the past statistics and trend, good news is that
India's HDI has been improving every year in the past years:
Year:
HDI [2]
------------
2012:
0.600
2013:
0.618
2015:
0.627
2016:
0.636
2017:
0.640
Recently,
latest HDI data has been released. India has climbed one spot to 130 in the
latest human development index released by the UNDP. India's HDI value for 2017
is 0.640.
It
is worth noticing that within South Asia, India's human development index (HDI)
value is above the average of 0.638 for the region. [3]
We
still have a long way to go.
- Rahul
References:
Friday, September 14, 2018
#Moment: The Kid
While
returning from office, as I started on the footover bridge, I noticed that a
small kid and its grandfather were just getting to sit down on the top most of
the stair-case. It seemed they were going to sit on the topmost stair of the
footover bridge and watch people go by and also the vehicles go under the
bridge. It might be their favourite past time at this hour. But in that moment I
also noticed that the kid was looking at me.
When
I reached the top of the staircase and tried to pass by, the kid who appeared to be a baby
girl, got up and started looking up at me as if she was expecting me to pull
her up in my arms! Perhaps I reminded her of someone she was fond of. Her grandfather also realized what she was trying to do and
immediately started telling her “bye bye”. Mechanically the baby raised her arm
and started waving “bye bye” to me which I reciprocated by smiling back at her
and waving her “bye bye”.
As
I went away, I noticed how touched I was by the pure innocence of the kid and
how eagerly I wanted to be able to hug the baby...
-
Rahul
Monday, September 3, 2018
#Mythology: When Draupadi Calls Krishna as Saviour
In
the infamous episode from the Mahabharata, where Draupadi, the wife of the
Pandavas is in trouble as she is lost and owned by Duryodhana during game of
dice, as people recall, she first tried to call upon all elders present in the
court and asked them to help her. When no one saved her, in the end she prayed
to Krishn, her friend and brother, and he, using his divine power saves her by
giving her the ability to keep extending Saree into an endless thing.
There
is an interesting aspect about this incident.
We can note that she first
called out all elders in the court for protection. During the time she would
not have remembered Krishn because she was a 'logical mind' and hence she was
arguing with her husbands and all other elders. Because of her arguments she is
considered a feminist symbol today. But when nothing else helped, in the end,
she gave up i.e. shut down her logical mind and turned ‘inwards’ spiritually.
After she did that, she got God's help and was protected.
Thing to note here is that
she was helped by God when she accepted that she was 'helpless' and weak and
needed protection. (Something which modern feminists may not like to
acknowledge because for them religion is one more constraint.) Until she had
her strong ‘ego’, she did not recall Krishn and hence remained vulnerable. Message
is that if we have to choose spiritual protection, ego is our biggest enemy.
This can also be extended
in the matters of all relationships – ego is an enemy.
- Rahul Tiwary
Saturday, September 1, 2018
#Books: शरतचंद्र चटोपाध्याय की पुस्तकें
एक ट्रेन यात्रा के लिए प्लेटफार्म से कोई किताब खरीदनी थी। आजकल बुक स्टॉल्स पर नए 'चीकी' लेखकों की 'लव स्टोरीज' खूब दिखती हैं। एक पच्चीस साल का लेखक जिसके दूध के दाँत भी नहीं टूटे, जब प्यार और रिलेशनशिप्स पर ज्ञान देता हुआ किताब लिखता है तो चिढ़ ही होती है। खैर, नजर गई शरतचंद्र चटोपाध्याय की एक पुस्तक पर - 'लेन देन'। पढ़ा तो एक बिलकुल नयी दुनिया दिखी।
वह नयी दुनिया किसी साइंस फिक्शन की तरह काल्पनिक नहीं और हॉलीवुड मूवी की तरह किसी पराए संस्कृति के बोझ तले दबी नहीं थी। उस नयी दुनिया में हर ओर शोर नहीं पर खामोशी की अपनी भाषा थी। जहाँ हर कुछ बिकाऊ नहीं बल्कि त्याग, तपस्या और संस्कार के बंधन थे। ऐसा नहीं कि उस दुनिया में सब खुश थे - कहीं करुणा की नदियाँ और कहीं पीड़ा के कुएँ भी थे। पर पानी और आँसू दोनों में 'पॉल्युशन' नहीं था।
वह 'नयी' दुनिया हमारे पुराने समाज की सच्ची तस्वीर दिखाती थी। जब लोग सच्चे-दिल और भावुक होते थे। जब पैसे के लिए कुछ भी कर गुजरने की किसी ने प्रतिज्ञा नहीं ली थी और जब 'संतोष' नाम की कोई चीज हर दूसरे घर में मिलती थी। वह 'नयी' दुनिया मुझे अच्छी लगी।
अच्छी लगे भी क्यों नहीं - शरतचंद्र की कितनी ही पुस्तकें बॉलीवुड की फिल्म बनकर खूब सफल हुई हैं - जैसे हाल की देवदास और परिणीता। शरतचंद्र (15.09.1876 -
16.01.1938) बांग्ला भाषा के एक महान लेखक थे।
अगली ट्रेन यात्रा में फिर से उनकी एक किताब मिली - कमला। फिर से वही 'नयी दुनिया' और वही जादू।
फुर्सत मिलते ही किताब टटोला; प्रकाशक 'मनोज पब्लिकेशन्स' दिल्ली के ही थे और उनकी एक वेबसाइट भी थी। वेबसाइट पर गया और जितनी मिलीं - 'शरत साहित्य' की कुल २१ पुस्तकें ऑर्डर कर दीं जो कि अमेज़ॉन इत्यादि से आधे से तिहाई कीमत पर मिल रही थीं। ४ दिनों बाद सारी किताबें घर आ गयीं हैं। और खुशी इतनी है कि क्या कहूँ।
धन्य है भारत और यहाँ का साहित्य।
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Sunday, August 19, 2018
#Hinduism: Daughter lighting funeral pyre of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
After
demise of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, one of India's best and most respected Prime
Ministers on 16th of August, his foster daughter Namita Kaul
Bhattacharya lit the funeral pyre [1].
That created some buzz in the media as media is always eager to cover as many
aspects of the ‘news of the hour’ as possible. Media reported about the fact
that a daughter lighting funeral pyre is not common among Hindus; which is
correct. But it is important to note that the reason behind the custom is not
any bias against women but a different one altogether.
First,
Hinduism as a religion does not ban women from attending cremation or a female
from lighting funeral pyres. A lot of women have done so across the times. This
practice of not allowing women at the cremation site is more of a cultural practice
or a social custom. The reasons can be explained in many ways.
The
major reason is that daughters are perceived to be emotional and too attached
to their parents and hence may not be able to carry the whole process as
strongly as a son would be able to do. This should not be seen as a sign of ‘weakness’
as modern feminist could judge it as. Any custom that society makes considers
the general welfare of people. In several cases a daughter may be strong enough
or stronger than the son but those would be exceptional cases.
"As
the fire leapt up, the pandit handed over a bamboo stick for the Kapaal Kriya — breaking the skull
to release the soul from the body. Several times in the process, buckets of
water were poured on me, or I was asked to pour on myself. Shivering to the
spine, in the cold November rain, breaking my dad’s skull, my senses were numb,
maybe heart stopped beating. I must be breathing. Must have, coz I didn’t die.
We came back, drenched to the bone, my soul and mind paralysed."
This
just gives an account of kind of experience the doer of the rituals have to go
through.
It
is an arduous task.
Even
if daughters or females were allowed to do the rituals, all of them may not
like to do it. Hence sons or male members of the family would take care of the
process. It is very important to note that this custom is to
"safeguard" the women from the trouble.
Many
a time when the deceased does not have a male family member, one of the
daughters or a female family member does the process. No Hindu organization
issues a "fatwa" against them or any other sort of protest.
To
conclude, this custom of not allowing females from doing the cremation rites is
social in nature, not religious. And this custom was made to safeguard the
females from the inconvenience and ordeal due to a cumbersome process, not as a
form of any gender discrimination.
:: Rahul Tiwary
References:
Disclaimer:
Views are personal.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
#Message: Draupadi and Boon from Shiva
Draupadi worshiped Lord Shiva and asked for husband who is honest and strong and skilled and handsome and intelligent.
Instead of giving her one husband with all five qualities, Shiva gave her five husbands each with one quality.
Message: Beware of what you wish, because you may get it but not in the manner you expect! And old wisdom still works - expect less and be modest in your wants and wishes...
- Rahul
Friday, August 17, 2018
#Hinduism: Shankara: Ideal God for Householders
God is one but is worshiped by different people in different forms.
Someone said that for a 'grihastha' or householder, the best form of God to worship is Vishnu or his avatars like Ram or Krishn; mainly driving inspiration from 'trilogy' concept in Hinduism where Vishnu is the form of God who sustains life while Shiv is the god of destruction. But there is more in Hinduism apart from Trilogy concept and hence there are no easy conclusions.
Do you know that the only Hindu god who is to be visualized as a householder with a wife and children is Lord Shiva! In popular images you can find Shiva and Parvati sitting together while baby Ganesha and Karthikeya are in their lap. On the other hand, Lord Rama is worshiped along with wife Sita, his brothers and Hanuman but not with his kids. Lord Krishn can be seen along with Radha as consort. Lord Vishnu can be seen along with Goddess Lakshmi. Lord Hanuman was a brahmchari so sometimes he is seen alone while some times along with Lord Ram. Goddess Durga is seen alone. No other God apart from Lord Shiv is visualized along with their children as a family.
Shiv is originally a hermit living on Mount Kailash but he was 'domesticated' by Shakti when she brought him to Kashi where he became Shankara, a householder. Parvati ji became Goddess Annapurna, goddess of food and nourishment for everyone.
Shiv family is also complete. Shiva is Purusha himself; his wife Sati is considered ideal wife; Ganesha is considered ideal son; Karthikeya is the warrior god who protects villages. Together, they represent perfect balance in the universe.
Hence as Shankara, Shiva becomes ideal god of householders or grihasthas.
- Rahul Tiwary
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