Achche din are here!

This is the story of the Classes XI and XII students of KV, Baramulla.

Of late Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being accused of not saying much in public, with some critics even calling him ''mauni baba'' but the people of Uri town, 18 km from Baramulla on the river Jhelum, are not complaining. They think Modi's actions speak louder than anything he can say. Prime Minister Modi's work resounds here as for the first time, a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Baramulla district have started classes for standards 11 and 12 students.

And it's PM Modi's unique style of governance that Power Minister Piyush Goel is raving about. On 04 Jul, around 1130 hrs, he landed at the helipad in Baramulla district of the Kashmir valley, where Modi was to arrive shortly to inaugurate the 240-Megawatt Uri-II hydro electric project. Meanwhile, the young and energetic Goel started talking to a few locals, among them women.

They complained to Goel that their children went to a hostel in Srinagar from class 7 or 8 onwards as the district didn't have any Kendriya Vidyalaya for standard XI and XII students. The mothers of Baramulla found it worrisome to send away their teenage kids to Srinagar, which is almost a three-hour drive. The local school, which only has up to standards X, is funded by a power PSU. On ;earning this, Goel immediately called up HRD Minister Smriti Irani on her mobile phone and proposed that his ministry will pick up the expenses if Irani can permit the addition of two more standards in the current Kendriya Vidyalaya in Baramulla. Smriti told him, "Give me five minutes", as the HRD secretary was in a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary in New Delhi just then. Within an hour or so, Smriti Irani called back Goel and said that her department will make all the arrangements and the school can start immediately once Modi gave the go-ahead.

Modi arrived at the helipad in Baramulla at 1530 hrs. Goel told him about the concerns of the mothers of the area and requested the PM, "If you approve, then we can start the school  for XI and XII standards". Modi asked his staff to make a few calls to new Delhi and talked to some senior officials about the standard operating procedures in such cases. He set the ball rolling and by 1615 hrs Modi himself announced in Uri that the local Kendriya Vidyalaya will start admitting students to classes XI and XII from this year on.

Goel could not believe that Modi would act so fast and that things would change for the children and the mothers of Baramulla so quickly. The admission process started a week after Modi left the town. On Friday, 01 Aug for the first time ever, classes XI and XII were conducted in Baramulla. So far 11 children have taken admission for the new academic year but once the school starts functioning, it is expected that many more students will return from Srinagar and other places where they are currently studying.

- Courtesy. The ToI

Tailpiece.

Got up at a quarter past 6, the chores and was ready by 10.

Washing machinex of the bedlinen.

A quiet evening.    

  

A strike like this can paralyse a country!

French oil industry is in crisis as strike continues. Striking French oil refinery employees voted on Wednesday to maintain blockades now in their third week, despite a government order for some of them to return to work in a bid to get fuel supplies flowing.

Workers Requisitioned

France's Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne asked prefects to launch the procedure "to requisition workers who are indispensable to the functioning of the Esso petrol depots.

Requisitions allow authorities to order some of the workers of the petrol depots hit by strikes to return to work. A similar measure was imposed in 2010 during strikes in French refineries.

According to such an order a small number of workers - fewer than 10 according to regulations - should return to work to ensure essential shipping services.

31 percent of stations across the country lacked at least one grade of fuel, a figure that stood at 44% in the greater Paris region. The industrial action to demand pay hikes has paralysed six out of the seven refineries in France, leading to shortages of petrol and diesel exacerbated by panic-buying from drivers.

Panic Buying

Panic buying by consumers worried that stations might run out of fuel altogether is increasing problems facing motorists, though authorities are urging consumers not to worry.

Government Dips Into Strategic Reserve

Government officials said they increased petrol imports and released some of the state's strategic stocks to help ease the shortages - amid concern that they could prompt protests across the country.

My take

Don't the striking workers have any sense of nationalism? They don't seem to realise that their country is on its knees and the cumulative effect could cripple its economy, which can turn out to be fatal for the the country 

Tailpiece.

Got up at a quarter past 6, the chores and was ready by 10.

The maid came earlier than usual and went about her job.

Ramesh, the gardener and his assistant, Vishnu had come a half past 2 and completed the jobs they'd begun yesterday.

A quiet evening.

Technology can impact business!

When I  heard that "UPI" is killing the candy business, I was taken aback....did I hear it right or it was something else. Further exploration, was an eye opener with hard to believe detail as to how a business was built on "chutta nahin hain" went downhill as UPI arrived.

In early 2010s almost all big Candy payers, including Mondelez, Mars, Nestle, Perfetti, Parle and ITC reported staggering growth and future prospects. But as UPI arrived, most of these brands have reported a steep decline in sales of toffee. Hershey's, one of the world's biggest chocolate and toffee maker said India is one of the worst hit markets in the post COVID era hitting their expansion plan.

So what really changed? Before UPI, shopkeepers would trade toffees for loose cash, a transaction that wasn't happening the other way round. These small amounts over days did wind up to becoming large sums of money, as accepted by many buyers in studies. With UPI, all of this stopped. People paid the exact amount that was due with no scope for change, ultimately eating up the daily toffee sales.

The pandemic added fuel to the fire. With most of the audience scared of the pandemic, everyone wanted to do contact less payments. This also created a sort of push towards digital payments and toffee went of the picture. No chocolate (toffee) company would have ever thought of finance products as their astheir competition. Toffees were cash substitutes and UPI replacedthis requirement and behaviour.

It is a big lesson for any business as one need to keep an eye on "What are the reasons people buy our product and what would change that behaviour? Do we find reasons which aren't really our direct competition but can potentially replace our product usage?"

A lesson on how technology can impact business.

Courtesy. What'sApp

Tailpiece.

Got up at 3, the chores and we were ready well in time. We kicked off for Muhamma for Lekha's dental appointment at a half past 5. Breakfast was around a quarter to 8 at the Aryaa's restaurant at Edappalli. 

We reached Mallan's clinic around a trifle past 9. A pre-surgery conversation with the doctor made us understand the current impasse and proposed corrections. Work over, we set off for Panampilli Nagar to buy medicines and to have lunch at another Aryaa's outlet.

We commenced our return trip soon after and reached Guruvayur by a quarter past 4. Bought our fruit basket and finished a small job at the bank.

Settled down at home and Lekha needed nursing after the surgery that she'd undergone today.

The Divine Croc.

On Monday, desolate devotees flocked Ananthapura Anantha Padmanabha Swami temple at Kumbla, in Kasaragod to pay their last respects to their dearest Babiya, a mugger crocodile which ate only vegetarian food.

Babiya was found dead around 2200 hrs on Sunday in the lake in front of 'Arikkottil', the place where the 'nivedyam' is prepared.

For many decades, the presence of the crocodile, which eats only vegetarian food given by the devotees and temple officials, in the lake near the temple had attracted devotees from other parts of Kerala and Karnataka. Babiya could also be seen in the small pond on the northern side of the temple at times.

The legend is that a British soldier killed a crocodile in the temple pond in 1945. The night the crocodile was shot dead, Babiya appeared in the pond. Its mysterious appearance made the devotees believe Babiya had divine presence.

Normally, Babiya would eat only the 'nivedyam' from the temple. The temple is surrounded by a lake and Babiya was seen in this lake. It is said that whenever the chief priest closed the temple in the night, Babiya would come out of the lake and rest in front of the temple. When the chief priest came in the morning, it would go back to the water again. At times, it would also go to the pond near the temple.

Tailpiece.

Got up at a half past 6, the chores and was ready by 10.

Lekha had gone across to the ration stand to fetch the monthly dues and returned after about half an hour.

Our maid reported rather late that she has had a fall and would not be able to report for work. Washing machinex was resorted to, consequently.

A quiet evening, thereafter.

   

Iran's women-led protests.

Hackers supporting Iran' wave of women-led protests interrupted a state TV news broadcast with an image of gun-sight crosshairs and flames over an image of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Kamenei, in a footage widely shared on line on Sunday.

In other anti-regime messages, activists have spray-painted "Death to Khamenei" and "The Police are the Murderers of the People" on billboards in Teheran. "The blood of our youth is on your hands", read an on-screen message that flashed up briefly during the TV broadcast Saturday evening, as street protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, again rocked Teheran and other cities.

Pictures of Amini and three other women killed in the crackdown that has claimed at least 95 lives according to Iran Human Rights - a Norway-based group.

Iran has been torn by the biggest wave of social unrest in almost three years which has seen protesters including university students and even young schoolgirls chant, "Woman, Life, Freedom".

In Amini's hometown Saqez, Kurdistan, schoolgirls chanted and marched down a street swinging their hijab headscarves in the air.

In the face of the violence and online restrictions, protesters have adopted new tactics to spread their message of resistance in public places.

"Not afraid anymore. We will fight", read one large banner.

- The NIE

My take

Iran's leadership needs to be flexible and introduce the badly-needed reforms that the country needs. The anarchy, otherwise, can snowball!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by 10.

Saw the matinee show of Mammooty's 'Roschach' at the Jayasree Cinema.

A quiet evening.

 

The philosophy of Vedanta.

Vedanta, the most prominent school of Hinduism is a philosophical system that is concerned with questions such as 'Who am I?', 'What is this Universe?', 'How am I related to the Universe?'

The roots of the Vedanta philosophy are in the Upanishads, which are the concluding portions of the Vedas. There are three main concepts in Vedanta. The first is the Brahman or Ishwara, which is the ultimate reality. The second is Atman or the individual souls. The third is the Prakriti or the physical world. When it comes to the relationship between the three, there are many views in Vedanta, each represented by a school of thought.

Advaita Vedanta says Brahman and Atman are one and the same. It believes that all souls across space and time are one entity. This is the most famous school of Vedanta. It rejects rituals and advocates renunciation. It is, to some extent, influenced by Budhism, which was popular at the time. The prominent teachers were Gaudapada (500 CE) and Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE).

Dvaita Vedanta says Brahman and Atman are always totally different from each other. This is the opposite of Advaita. The most important philosopher was Madhvacharya (1238-1317 CE).

Vishishta Advaita Vedanta says the Atman is different from the Brahman though connected to it as its root. The most famous philosopher was Ramanuja (1017-1137 CE), who stressed the importance of bhakti (devotion) to a personal god. In modern times, the Swaminarayan movement was started by Swaminarayan (1781-1830). This movement is known for its huge Akshardham temples in New Delhi and Ahmedabad.

Besides these three basic schools, many other schools have arisen over time which follow similar but slightly differing versions of Vedanta. In the 19th century, a school called Neo-Vedanta arose. It was a reaction to the British rule and combined Vedantic thoughts with nationalism. This school maintains that the different schools of Vedanta are all differing interpretations of a single truth. Prominent thinkers of this school were Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo.

Several core beliefs are common across these schools. These include a belief in god as opposed to atheism, considering the Vedas as revealed knowledge and that time moves in cycles of creatio and destruction. Besides its influence in India, the philosophy of Vedanta has had a great influence on western thinkers and scientists.

Courtesy. Gaurav Yadav.   

Tailpiece.

Got up at a half past 6, the chores and was ready by 10.

A quiet Sunday.

Participated in the Zoom meet on Military Literature Festival. The RIN mutiny in HMIS Talwar of 1946. Interesting!

And this guy wants to be the Prime Minister!

Rahul Gandhi doesn't want to grow. He has scant respect and regard for his elders and political opponents. His words and actions have demonstrated, time and again, that he is thoroughly immature and incapable of shouldering serious responsibilities. A person who has been in the forefront of his party has never been able to carry his party to victory and many-a-time, the party has suffered ignominous defeats at the hustings because of the hatred and venom that he and his colleagues spew on their opponents.

I often wonder as to who writes his scripts; it's definitely by a person who dislikes him and makes him a villain of the piece, always and every time. 

Now, let's see his latest tamasha. While addressing the press today, Rahul Gandhi at Mayasandra in Tumakuru, Karnataka - on the 31st day of his Bharat Jodo Yatra - said, "I think the RSS was helping the British and Savarkar was getting stipends from the British. BJP was nowhere in the freedom struggle. BJP cannot hide such facts, Congress and its leaders fought for freedom".

With a single proverbial stone, he has sought to kill three birds! Let's call out the frauds being perpetuated :-

    * The RSS was helping the British - a totally false statement.

    * Veer Savarkar was getting stipends from the British - balderdash!

    * BJP was nowhere in the scene; the Bharatiya Jana Sangh - which was a precursor of the present day BJP - was very much there.

Rahul Gandhi, allow me to give you a few important lessons, if you are aspiring to be PM and not because your mummy wants it. Let me tell you, your sister would have done a much better job.  

If you are aspiring to be someone big in this country, then follow these fundamental aspects of behaviour :-

   * When you speak, measure your words.

   * You just cannot afford to be parsimonious with the truth.

   * Have respect for your opponents; do not denigrate them even if they were to do so to you.

   * You need to grow up and stop being immature.

   * What you're doing now is 'Bharat thodo' and not 'Bharat jodo'.

Kindly make amends to your entire range of approach towards making an impact in the hearts of the people.

And for starters - I've been crying hoarse from day 1 - "What's your vision for this country? And don't give me the moth-eaten Congress party manifestoes, please! We're curious to know!"

Tailpiece.

Got up at a quarter past 6, the chores and was ready by 10.

Achieved quite a few things over the telephone.

The maid came for work, quite late, around lunch time.