DISINVESTMENT SHOULDN'T BE POPULAR IN PSEs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continuance of the disinvestment policy appears like the tailing of UPA government’s policy. Previously, the last NDA government had a disinvestment portfolio under Arun Shourie and it went on to pull the disinvestment throttle in full swing. The government’s plan of decreasing its share in public sector banks (PSBs) to conform to Basel-III norms by 2018-19 is just another instance of showing eagerness to disinvest in even profit making enterprises.

As per the earlier Cabinet decision, the government is to dilute its stake in three of the major profit-making public sector enterprises (PSEs) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Coal India Limited (CIL) and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited- to garner an estimated total of around Rs. 45,000 crore based on the current market prices.

The government claims that from a budgetary point of view the sale of equity reduces the need for borrowing from big financial institutions, like World Bank and IMF, which increases the interest burden in future years. But this rationale for preferring disinvestment of stock in profit-making companies to borrowing to finance budgetary expenditures that are in excess of revenues is not clear from accounting point of view. Making provisions of little extra expenditure in budgetary support can save huge payment in dollars to overcome the debt.

The Union government’s reasoning that the profits of some PSEs have gone down over the past few years are true. But many in these companies and independent experts feel that the government itself is to blame for it. What happened during the 2010 Cairn India-Vedanta deal in Rajasthan smacks only of corruption. The Mangala oil rig was the largest onshore discovery of crude oil in India. But on the withdrawal of Cairn, the partner in business, ONGC, was to be the inheritor of the oil rig. However, the rig went to Vedanta under spurious arrangements.

Instead of putting more in infrastructural assistance, the government has always taken a back seat. Even after all this, the PSEs have shown a positive growth, slightly slow may be. PSEs have played a major role in devising strategies to absorb tough economic times like recession, inflation. It seems privatisation has become an easier way for private industries to work in fields developed by the PSEs.

Perhaps, the PSEs are first victims of the economic climate fostered by neo-liberalism. Huge creation of crony capitalistic market is only a tragic aftermath along with the drawing of lines among those who can spend and those who can’t. Banks and other PSEs are just the cases in point.

When Mohit turns to Javed

It was raining that day in 2012. He got off the train, closer to his family than he had been in three years. But nobody would take him those final miles. For one entire day, the 12 years-old sat, cold, forlorn, wet and crying at the Bareilly railway station. He knew his family lived in the city, but he knew not where. He tugged at shirt sleeves, but they brushed him off. “Mujhe bypass le jaao, mera ghar vahan hai.” They dismissed him and thought he was a beggar, a rag picker. He tried to tell them that he had not always been one. But no body seemed to listen. Two days later, Mohit Kumar was back at Kanpur railway station, collecting plastic bottles from the tracks for the woman who was his captor. Hunger had bested him. At least she gave him food.
In September 2009, Mohit and Javed, another boy from their locality, boarded a train to run away from their fathers. Javed was older, the mentor in this escapade. Nine years-old, Mohit thought it would be a great adventure. “Our fathers had scolded us for watching a movie at the kirana store, and he said we would go to Mumbai to be film stars. We sat on the first train we saw, and it started moving. Three stations later, Javed said he was going to toilet. I waited for him to return. He never came back,” says Mohit.
The last station was Kanpur, and Mohit was forced to get off by the railway staff. Then, she met Salma. She was older to him with some white hair. She brought him food. One roti and a leftover sabzi. The next day he became Javed Khan, younger brother to Salma. A beggar and a rag picker. He began with collecting bottles and had to collect Rs 400 a day. Slowly, Mohit was becoming Javed when he heard a man in khaki mention Bareilly. They had come looking for another child; Mohit tried to go to them but Salma became frantic and hit him.
It was sub-inspector Santosh Yadav, looking for missing children under a police operation. He found something amiss. Next day he went back to the boy and sent him back to Bareilly in white clothes with three policemen.  This time the search for home was not futile. “Mohit wapis aa gaya,” they call out worried. He smiles at his name. Javed is already fading away.

The story of a migratory home

Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, Odisha’s Chilika Lake witnessed a huge increase in the number of feathered guests during this winter. According to the annual bird census, over 7.62 lakh migratory birds have thronged Chilika Lake this year.
“Around 7.62 lakh birds of 172 species visited the blue lagoon this year. It was found during the annual bird count, conducted at 1,100 sq km vast lake,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Chilika Wildlife Division Bikash Ranjan Dash, said.
The number had decreased in 2013 due to cyclone Phailin, which hit the coastal Odisha, devastating many areas of the state. “Last winter around 7.19 lakh birds of 158 species had visited the lake,” he added.
“Similarly, in 2013 and 2012, around 8.77 lakh of 180 species and 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species respectively had visited the lake. There is no new species of bird sighted in the vast lake during the census,” he said.
There are about four mouths in Chilika including the old Palur mouth. The other three are Gabakunda inlet, Dhalabali inlet and new Phailin inlet (opened after the cyclone Phailin).
The Chilika Lake in Odisha was declared as ‘Destination Flyway’ by the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) because of its natural treasure and bio-diversity.
“Increase in number of migratory birds in the lake is attributed to the safety measures taken by wildlife authorities and improvement of the habitat in the lake,” said an ornithologist from BNHS, Mumbai. In 2006, contamination of a portion of Chilika Lake around Nalabana Birds Sanctuary has resulted in the deaths of over 1,700 migratory birds within a span of 45 days.
“Chilika is a beautiful place to visit. It has various awe-inspiring destinations like Nalabana, a must place for bird watchers with hundreds of varieties of migratory birds thronging the place every year. There are islands with pristine beaches to recapitulate. On a boat with endless water around you, a dolphin to spot now and then, it is filled with numerous spectacular experiences to have,” said a tourist.
Birds migrate from as far as the Caspian Sea, Baikal Lake and remote regions of Russia, Mongolia and Siberia. The vast mudflat in Nalabana Bird Sanctuary in Chilika Lake provides them adequate feed.
The water body also boasts off about 211 bird species, largest Irrawaddy dolphin population, 217 fish species and more than 30 migratory species, according to an estimate.  At present, about Rs 40 crore per annum is being earned from community-based eco-tourism activities.

जिस तरह से जिंदगी आज सबकी बातों का मुकाम बन गयी है, हर पल एहसास होता है की मैं अब बड़ा हो चला हूँ . जीवन की दीवारें न जाने क्यों इस मौसम में फीकी सी पड़ रही हैं. नहीं-नहीं कृप्या मेरे पेंट मैं खामी न निकालें और न ही मौसम की रुसवाई का बहाना दें. दोस्तों को बातें करता देख और सुन मैं भी कहने को ही सही पर बड़ा हो चला हूँ.

इस गर्मी में छुट्टियां तो भूल ही जायो, बस कहीं सोने का ठिकाना मिल जाये तो यह ही अच्चम्भित करने योग्य होगा. क्या करे साहिब इंजीनियरिंग में आई.आई.टी के बाहर भी तो बहुत बड़ी दुनिया होती हैं..बस हम उसी के बाशिंदे हैं. अब कीजियेगा भी तो क्या? जो कर सकते थे उसे करने की तसल्ली दिल ने लेने न दी. और जो अब कर सकते हैं उसे करने की शिद्दत तो दिल में हैं परन्तु साथ में "परन्तु" भी है!

चलिए फ़र्ज़ कीजिये हम अपना मुकाम ढूँढने निकल गए अपनी बस्ती से बिना लॉव-लश्कर के. जानते हैं जहां भर की बाते सुन्नी पड़ेंगी लेकिन दिल ने तो अब इनसे घबराना ही छोड़ दिया है. डर फिर भी है मुझे..जानता हूँ, करने का माद्दा भी रखता हूँ. बस जब माँ-पापा का ख्याल आता है तो कदम पीछे खींचने की हिम्मत आ जाती है. समझ नही आता की किस प्रकार निरंतरता का साथ दे पाउँगा? 

 

 

Snakes that catches people

Dhenkanal: The Dhenkanal district has its share of beauty
surrounded by peaks, moderate temperature, water bodies along with diverse family of reptiles that include snake in prominence. If Dhenkanal citizens enjoy serene beauty over head, they are often cautioned of serpentines on earth.

Envenoming - to make somebody poisonous - resulting from snake bites is a particularly important public health problem in rural areas. “A recent study estimates that at least 421,000 envenomings and 20,000 deaths occur worldwide from snakebite each year, but warns that these figures may be as high as 1,841,000 envenomings and 94,000 deaths”, says a WHO statement provided by Dr. Sujata Rani Misra, Asst District Medical Officer, District Headquarters’ Hospital (DHH), Dhenkanal.

The major groups of snakes causing envenoming are the elapids (cobras, kraits, mambas etc.) and vipers, and in some regions, sea snakes. Mr Sreenu Appikonda of Dhenkanal Science Centre informed that of these, Russell’s viper, Bamboo-pit viper, Banded krait, Common krait, King cobra, Spectacled cobra are the highly poisonous breeds that exists and catches people in Dhenkanal.

Snake venom is a complex mixture of many different compounds. “The clinical features of the bites of venomous snakes reflect the effects of venom components. These include swelling of the bitten limb to skin and muscle necrosis, abnormal blood clotting, hypotension and shock, neurotoxicity sometimes leading to paralysis of respiratory muscles requiring assisted ventilation”, added Dr. Misra.

Envenoming following snakebite is largely a neglected threat to public health. It affects mainly the poor in deprived rural areas where health facilities are limited and anti-venoms may be hard to obtain. To combat this menace, “DHH Dhenkanal is equipped with anti-snake venom serum polyvalent vaccines, as the varieties of snakes are vivid in this region”, claims Dr. Misra, who treats 12 patients of envenoming every week.

A New Bunty...beginning

The day is as usual as the sun lightening the building, the street and finally the dog that begins his mornings with barking upon the sun. This way he feels he has the right to bark at anyone. Day in and day out, the barking continues without any halt. This noise pollution comes with the natural embarrassment to the owner of this dog whose name I won’t disclose. Defamation should always be the right of dogs and not just humans. This would be the parallel universe be like.

One day Bunty, the dog owner, started with his usual habit of starting the day. He often does it by taking his dog to do shit in the street of uncle Chaddha, in the name of taking the dog to walk. For uncle Chaddha it isn’t just the “cake walk” to pass through the street while going for his shop but also a gesture of hatred for Bunty’s father’s ignorance of giving birth to such a jerk. This is the everyday routine that uncle Chaddha hates to follow. But the sheer pleasure of disproving other’s son is the feeling that uncle Chaddha could not resist to welcome.

One fine morning, both Bunty and uncle Chaddha are prepared to wage on the cold war as part of their usual habit. But the previous day lesson from uncle Chaddha wasn’t the same, usual rote. Bunty looks convinced with uncle Chaddha’s lesson. It seems he has subscribed to a motivational speaker and has copied the exact words from the source, while committing severe mistakes in the usage of articles. The lecture has stilled in him the feeling of bravery and a sense of doing something worthwhile. A worthwhile thing means correcting the mistakes he has been ever committing.

Bunty was a bit confused after having smashed uncle Chaddha’s glass for 23 times. He never had a doubt about the person’s window whose glass he would gust with sixes during the cricket match. He had a clear mind, which he finds filling up with the impressive use of English from uncle Chaddha last evening.

Something rare is going to happen when Bunty went on to the late morning walk with his dog and crossed the street without turning into the street where uncle Chaddha lives and squeals. Uncle Chaddha has struck the right chord in Bunty and that too at the perfect time when the New Year is about to come. Bunty knows well that at this time of year end, something called as “new-year-resolution” starts trending. This was the habit of his college friends even, with whom he passed Bachelor of Commerce. That day he posted some 50 selfies with the proud of being the first person from his family who passed college with the same batch of students, he was admitted with.

Bunty is sure that he’ll do the thing in advance and will keep it for FB post, later when the new year is nearer. He choose not to wait for new year to bring up with a new resolution—that he’ll never break the window panes of uncle Chaddha’s house and that he’ll find a new place where his dog can perform  daily commitments of the morning. Bunty wanted to turn his world upside down. He looked on for turning his life around without having to wait for the New Year.

That’s how with his commitment, Bunty started a new life with a zeal of doing good work. Impressed by uncle Chaddha’s English usage of that day, he sought an idea of melting the ice between uncle and his father. He instantly waged on to convince his father for English tuition from uncle Chaddha. And with uncle Chaddha’s guidance, he plans to trend like the “New Year resolution”.

Such is the importance of one fine day and person in our life. A moment is not only new when it’s New Year. Every moment that comes with the New Year is always new, depending on one’s willingness of how long one can keep it polished. The new-ness isn’t on the Year. It’s in us.

When my smart phone went missing..

With fused eyes of a bulb came my friend who had lost his smart phone to me. Hah..He lost. What a loser. He had to lose the phone as per the bet and that I’ll now carry on my office-financed plane trip to Bangalore.

I took the phone and put my sim card with a feeling of pride. After all, I had won. I have never been a winner what a win have I registered this time. I could have registered a better way of showing what-a-smart-phone I have to my pears but I need to get busy with presentation preparations. I took off. And reached showing my phone to the most I can show off.

Finally my executive class like feel came to a swift end when I landed in Bangalore. I had to get to the location which I had previously saved with maps from Google in my smart phone. On reaching out to my pocket, all to my surprise I was asking “where is my smart phone?” It’s not that I want to show it off this time but actually I need it. I was out of route on the airport itself. To my awe I wondered how I would even get the heck out of this place. God save me! At the same time I had the envy of seeing everyone appearing smart with their smart phones. But I was a dumb goof here.

Now, I had to figure out the location myself without even a single contact in my memory. I started remembering the coveted letters of the word. But so thankful to my just 2-hour smart phone, I didn’t bother checking the messages. Soon I realised how important this presentation was for me. “Work is the real stress buster”, I noticed saying someone, again on phone. The huge clock at the airport became all known for its purpose of hanging in there. It’s for the geeks who miss their phone and didn’t give a damn that trees are still cut down for making paper sheets. I was submissive to this thought but smart phone was enough to make my ignorant part become visible again.

I came out of the airport while keep on asking names of the place. But I was as new to Bangalore as Kannada named places were for me. I have heard people stumble in English but I had a different language to stumble at such a crucial point when I could be fired. I ventured into a taxi as after watching faces of 23 Kannada taxi drivers, one agreed to pronounce and took me to the destination. But soon to me surprise, I found how dumb one could be. I landed at the wrong place. The driver was very correct with the few place identifying words I spelt. Now he was gone. How good people could be. But I was behind the screen of the smart phone most of the time.

Next I approached a police man with curvy hat. I mistook him for being in jolly mood and enquired about the closely named place to what I pronounced. He showed me the same place where taxi driver had dropped me. To my worry I noticed that am already late. I began asking people for the closely-pronounced-and-named-place. On the street soon my eyes met with the guy who I had seen in my Delhi office. I reached out to him but owing to the rush I had to chase him for some 6 minutes. He then took notice that he was been chased. He responded defensively but I comforted him with the complete trail from Delhi to flight and then tragedy of Bangalore. He then agreed to get me a direct auto to the Bangalore location. Finally, I felt like being booked and parcelled for the location. But soon realised how much mischief I had just faced. In the end, all is well that ends well with a slight enlightenment that smart phone are never smart only in the hands of a smart guy.