Au revoir Mr Somanatha Sarma!

 Am reproducing my ode to Mr Somanatha Sarma, the HM of UPS Thalavoor. He's a great gentleman!

• Good Evening folks,

  
  

  1. Would not have finished my task for the day and the month of May if I did not

      narrate to you this story of Mr Somanatha Sarma, the HM of the Thalavoor 

      UPS where my dad, his sisters and brothers, my sisters and many of my 

      cousins had spent their childhood.

  
  

  2. It houses classes from KG to class VII and has a strength of 196 students. I

      am invited by the school during the 'Vaayana Maasaacharanam' every year.

  
  

  3. The illustrious and hardworking Mr Sarma has brought his school to great 

      levels by his innovative thinking, insisting on the best for his students while

      ensuring discipline and going through the minutest details to deliver the best.

      Despite constraints in resources, he has been able get funds that have been

      meticulously managed toward the betterment of the school.

  
  

  4. I would like to put his efforts in one sentence, "He used to breathe and live

      for the school and I don't think that they make 'em teachers like him any

      more!"

  
  

  5. He retired earlier in the day after putting in 28 years of his life at 56 years of age.

      His wife, Vrinda works for the KSFE and they have two children, Gayathri who 

      has just completed her degree course and son, Gautham who has performed

      well in the recent 10+2 examination.

  
  

  6. Spoke to him on the last day of his professional life and have requested him to

      join me in the PN Panicker Foundation's activities.

  
  

  7. Wishing him a long, happy and healthy life and here's praying that he and his

      family get all that they wish for!  

  
  

  8. R.

  
  

  ---

• , 
•  or 

Finished our medical reviews.

It was pouring the whole night yesterday and it continued all through the morning. Though we'd set the alarm for 4, both of us had got up an hour late and went about our chores.

We were ready before 6, our chauffeur, Sajish, came in at 6 and we'd kicked off by a quarter past 6. Continuous heavy rains, potholed roads were the things that decelerated our advance to Kochi. In addition to it, our Chevy had developed a problem in its a/c mechanism with the effect that Sajish drove the entire stretch - both up and down - by keeping the forward windows rolled down!

Had breakfast at Elayathu by a quarter to 8. Came across three traffic blocks and reached Satish Bhat's clinic by 20' past 10. Sent the car to Shenoy's Care and Lekha was at the clinic much before 11. 

The doctor had seen me soon after, we'd our usual conversation, collected medicines and he was happy with my readings and overall medical condition. 

Similarly, Padmanabha Shenoy was satisfied with Lekha's test results, the USGs of the left heel and the shoulder muscles. He was quite happy to see and interact with me after almost 6 months. He encouraged me about the forthcoming Vaayana Maasaacharanam activities and I'd asked him to take care of himself.

We commenced our return by a half past 2, after lunch at the Care Canteen.

Reached The Quarterdeck by a half past 6. I'd got off at Ayyappan Nair's shop to buy a miniature Ganesh for Lekha as it's her birthday tomorrow. The order for a Red Velvet cake was placed on Shameer's bakery yesterday itself!

Tailpiece.

Felt tired but watched all our usual serials. It was a quiet evening thereafter!

Made it through inclement weather - easily, without problems - thanks to Sajish's choice of the inner roads, less cluttered with traffic and repair work.

Was able to clear all my apprehensions regarding our health. Lekha's and my next medical reviews are on the 28th and 29th Aug, respectively.

The government raises MSP for kharif crops.

The union cabinet approved a hike in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the 2025 - 26 kharif season and extended the interest subvention scheme for farmers. It also approved two multi-tracking railway projects in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, as well as a four-lane highway project in Andhra Pradesh.

Let's see the entire range of decisions in a min-format.

  The infra projects

   * 4-lane Badvel-Nellore highway in Andhra Pradesh

      Total cost Rs.3,653 crores

      Connects economic centres : Hubbali, Hospete, Ballari, Gooty, Kadapa, Nellore

   * 4-lining Ratlam-Nagda railway line

      Total cost Rs.1,018 crores

      Connectivity with west coast ports for MP, UP, Delhi

   * $-lining of Wardha-Ballarshah railway line

      Total cost Rs.2,381 crores

      Provides North-South connectivity

   MSP for kharif season (2025-26) 

   Total outgo : Rs.2,07,000 crores

   * MSP for cereals

      Paddy      Rs.2,369 cr per quintal against cost of production Rs.1,579

      Jowar (Hybrid) Rs.3,699 per quintal against cost of production Rs.2,466

      Bajra        Rs. 2,775 per quintal against cost of production Rs.1,703

   * MSP for pulses

      Tur (Arhar) Rs.8,000 per quintal against cost of production Rs.5,038

      Moong        Rs.8,768 per quintal against cost of production Rs.5,845

      

   * MSP for oilseeds

      Groundnut   Rs.7,263 per quintal against cost of production Rs.4,842

      Sunflower    Rs.7,721 per quintal against cost of production Rs.5,147

      Soyabean     Rs.5,328 per quintal against cost of production Rs.3,552

Tailpiece.

Got up at a half past 5, the chores and we opened up the house for the day.

The maid was at work and it rained very heavily.

APS Lab sent its medical team to draw my blood samples for Liver Function tests.

A quiet evening.

FDI inflows surge.

FDI inflows surge 14% to $81 billion in financial year 2025. 

Of the total FDI in FY25, around $50 billion came through automatic or government approved routes, $23.5 billion was reinvested earnings and another $6.5 billion came in as other capital.

The services sector emerged as the top recipient of FDI equity, attracting 19% of total inflows, followed by computer software and hardware (16%) and trading (8%). FDI into manufacturing increased 18% to $19.04 billion.

Among states, Maharashtra attracted the largest share of FDI equity inflows at 39%, followed by Karnataka (13%) and Delhi (12%).

On the source country front, Singapore led with a 19% share, followed by Mauritius (10%) and the US (7%). Inflow from UAE showed the highest growth of almost 50% to $4.3 billion.

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time of a half past 5, the chores and we opened up the house for the day.

Sun did shine more often today and I carried out my morning walk outside the house.

The Rajah Medical team had come by at 7 and later at 9, to draw my blood samples for Fasting Blood Sugar and Post Prandial Blood sugar, respectively. 

Raju and Bindu dropped by to know about my recent surgery.

Bangladesh needs to be watched.

Over the last few days, especially, there has been a lot of interesting activities taking place in Bangladesh. Its army chief, Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman has said that the lawlessness that has spilled out on the streets have to cease forthwith, failing which, the army is gonna get on to the streets to bring the law and order situation under control!

Strong words these especially when the CEO, the inexperienced and bungling Mohammad Yunus is floundering doing nothing without being able to provide a clear and firm governance!

The general is the ousted PM Sheikh Hasina's appointee and her relative, too. her rule was brought down by miscreants and anti-nationals who were egging on for an Islamic nation.

People have realised that there has been no action toward the conduct a free and fair elections by December, this year. The entire range of political parties are in a disarray.

So, with the General reading out the riot act to the concerned quarters, rumours are rife that Mohammad Yunus will leave the country this week.

It's my fond hope that democratic rule is restored and Sheikh Hasina returns as the PM of Bangladesh at the earliest.

Tailpiece.

I'm sure that this is what the average nationalist, Bangladeshi really wants!

The Siliguri corridor.

The Army had carried out Operation Teesta Prahar recently giving a clear hint to Bangladesh to keep off from doing anything funny.

Background

Why Chicken's neck is a perennial security challenge?

The Siliguri Corridor is a narrow stretch of land of West Bengal that connects India's mainland to its north eastern states viz. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya, collectively known as the Seven Sisters. This land bridge, just about 22 km wide at its narrowest point, lies between Nepal to the north and Bangladesh to the south. 

The recent tension emerged after Mohammad Yunus, Bangladesh's interim chief advisor, made pointed references to India's "land locked" north east in Beijing. Two recent developments heightened Indian anxieties :-

    * Dhaka's plan to move the $ 1 billion Teesta River project from India to China and

    * Reviving Lalmonirhat airbase in northern Bangladesh with Chinese assistance.

Factoids

* 4,096 km Of the total boundary between India and Bangladesh, 2,217 km is with West Bengal.

* 3,149 sq km The district of Darjeeling within the Siliguri Corridor measures and it accounts for

   3.55% of the total area of West Bengal.

* The Siliguri Corridor has about 80 small towns and villages within the areas of Kishanganj district 

   of Bihar, Darjeeling district, northern parts of Uttar Dinajpur district as well as the districts of

   Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar in West Bengal.

* Siliguri town isthe transit point for road, air and rail traffic to Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal along

   with the north eastern states of India. Its location on the foothills of the Himalayas makes it

   strategically important. Its role as the main trading and commercial centre of north Bengal adds to

   its economic significance.

* At its narrowest, the strip is just 21-22 km wide linking the mainland to the north eastern states.

* It's flanked by three countries - Nepal to its west, Bhutan to the north and Bangladesh to the south.

* Major road and rail infrastructure towards the north east passes through it.

Indian steps to secure it

* The Army on 08, 09 May conducted the Teesta Prahar integrated field exercise at the Teesta Field 

   Firing Range in North Bengal, near Siliguri Corridor.

* In Jan 2023, battle preparedness practice of the security forces using latest weapons and equipment

   in a networked, integrated environment involving all arms and services of the Army, the IAF and

   CAPFs was done.

* In 2023, a decision was taken to deploy border guarding forces - BSF, ITBP, SSB - at the corridor 

   during peacetime.

* There is increase in deployment on the Chinese side since May 2020 leading to the precautionary

   deployment by the Indian forces in the region.

Tailpiece.

Heavy rain for the last two days - it's Red Alert in Thrissur from today! And a long power interruption to boot!!

   

Many ancient secrets revealed......

Just a four-day war, then many ancient secrets were revealed.

What was uncovered after "Operation Sindoor" was not Pakistan's defeat - it also exposed America's hidden strategy and China's involvement.

In reality, it has now become clear that Pakistan never had its own nuclear weapons. The nuclear power Pakistan has been flaunting for decades was actually America's secret stockpile, hidden in Pakistan since 1998. America chose this location because, in case of an attack, the damage would be to Asia, not to the US.

I 1998, when India was conducting nuclear tests and America was issuing threats, the US forced Pakistan to conduct tests and fooled the world into believing that Pakistan was now a nuclear power. Not only that, but this fake nuclear image of Pakistan was used to intimidate India, with American sympathizers within the country constantly fuelling fear of Pakistan's strength.

But times have changed and power rests in the hands of a leader who does not fear, who responds. The Modi-government first made India self-reliant, strengthened ties with America and observed Pakistan with restraint.

But when Hindu blood was spilled in Pahalgam, the Modi government did something no one expected - direct strike. The Indian military shook Pakistan's foundations with missile attacks and when our offensive capability reached what were considered "invisible" nuclear installations, America woke up.

It feared that if India continued its assault, its own weapons would be destroyed and it would never be able to face the world again. Now America could neither speak nor stop the attack. It could only silently plead with India.

Modi understood the delicacy of the situation, defeated the enemy in four days and announced a ceasefire with conditions. Pakistan was left exposed before the entire world and America had to quietly withdraw its nuclear arsenal.

Today, America is busy removing its nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Modi himself reminded Trump of his commitments. Now, America is humbled, China is silent and Pakistan is shaken.

In fact....Sources say America will withdraw its nuclear weapons from Pakistan. And to save face, it will label it as Pakistan's nuclear surrender.

Hey Americans....! Now everyone knows Pakistan never had nukes, so why call it a surrender? Take back what's yours....

This four-day war has given India a new status. Today, India is not just a country - it's global power that delivers.

Tailpiece.

It was a very, very wet day today - the second day of Orange Alert in Thrissur district.