Strange are the ways of god.
Strange are the ways of those who follow that god.
Even stranger are the ways of those who advertise their trust in THAT god on their currency.
A country that victimized a large no. of it's citizens in the 50's and 60's on the pretext of being communist.
Is giving into equitable distribution of wealth...Ayn Rand must surely be turning in her grave.
Today POP Obama declared that he will endeavor to make Healthcare affordable for it's seniors and underprivilged.So that it's citizens don't have to go to Mexico and INDIA.
Quite a noble step for a nobel prize winner.However not when he adds in the next breath that he will tax the rich more in order to collect more tax and intends to bring about a legislation by July.
I don't have anything against a leader in trying to get his country out of trouble - when it means doing away with all the "isms' and simply trying common sense.
What it does remind me is a quote by Hegel:
There is no system, no idea that is permanent.Every system or idea breaks down and combines with it's antisystem to form a quasi stable system which lasts for another period till it discovers and forms another unstable system, which will last for some time.
In our very short life span we have already seen the downfall of UK,rise and fall of EU, CRASH of USSR, actual fall of the Berlin wall... what else?
I also read somewhere that no currency has ever lasted for 100 years.(Don't be fooled the modern dollar is only 50 years old when it was taken off the gold standard).
If that is right the $ is in for even a meteoric crash in the next 10 years ...if not earlier.
By the way Google still hasn't accepted Obama as it's normal dictionary entry, it shows up red when typed.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
FAKE LICENSING IN AVIATION
It's one thing to invite public opinion in these matters and quite different to know what goes on.
Shipping is an elder brother to aviation in more ways then one.Most of the things including uniforms,technical vocabulary has been taken from Navigation and Engineering part of shipping.
In India itself the qualifying exams for various grades have been and are very tough, and that sends people to UK and Singapore where they are relatively easy. However that is not to say that the Indian Licenses command less respect in the shipping circles.Indians are in the top 3-4 nationalities in terms of salary.
The reason why exams are tough in India is because the surveyors are quite out of touch with the latest and ask questions about systems which are obsolete.However that is no more and the exams structure has been modernised in keeping with world trends. The present DG has brought about transparency in the system . However the surveyors who finally pass the candidates always keep a mental quota of the passout, just like CA or ICWA.However it is called M.O.T.(Matter of Time)- and everyone manages to pass in a proper way. We did have cases of fake licenses itself all over the world but that is history with new STCW conventions.
So finally to say that nothing can change without will to change.-
Shipping is an elder brother to aviation in more ways then one.Most of the things including uniforms,technical vocabulary has been taken from Navigation and Engineering part of shipping.
In India itself the qualifying exams for various grades have been and are very tough, and that sends people to UK and Singapore where they are relatively easy. However that is not to say that the Indian Licenses command less respect in the shipping circles.Indians are in the top 3-4 nationalities in terms of salary.
The reason why exams are tough in India is because the surveyors are quite out of touch with the latest and ask questions about systems which are obsolete.However that is no more and the exams structure has been modernised in keeping with world trends. The present DG has brought about transparency in the system . However the surveyors who finally pass the candidates always keep a mental quota of the passout, just like CA or ICWA.However it is called M.O.T.(Matter of Time)- and everyone manages to pass in a proper way. We did have cases of fake licenses itself all over the world but that is history with new STCW conventions.
So finally to say that nothing can change without will to change.-
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
TITBITS WITH BATCH MATES
We the batchmates of the Class of '86- have something in common- and that is not just age.It is the common 1460 days spent together in common environment.
The bond still holds strong(at least some of us).
Even being of the same age I have learnt so much from each of them- and most of it about life.
A difference of class and families that existed on 7th Dec 1982 vanished overnight and what emerged was a common comradeship that got defined only by our attitude to life and each other.
Probably people like John Kuruvilla, Thapar , Sanatani and the inimitable Hrishi will never know how they positively influenced my life. How, not they, but their bringing up helped ME change my thought process and mould my attitude to life.. A whole aspect of life...and that's the truth.
Growing up must be a collective process of various inputs. A healthy companionship is one of them…and today when Pradeep wrote about his daughter it triggered a very strong sense of a common feeling and common life inflexion point once again.
This phase is one of the most enjoyable and introspective when we know what exactly our progeny is thinking.
How can they think different about life than what we did 28 years back.
However since their life will also depend upon what we (did or did not) taught them. Does it not say that somehow the values commonly learned and adhered to by all of us are being transferred to our children.
So do they also not have some common thinking platform howsoever small it may be.
I think time has come when we must meet with or sans our children but definitely with our better halves to talk and talk and talk. Without any expectations from the meeting. Even if it does not mean 118 but just 18 or 8 … we must.
************************
Hi, Rajeeve,
Why the doubt came to my mind was that there is only one cable overhead from
where electricity is transferred, hence it has to be single phase. Since it
is all 11KV lines, it has to be AC. Then to use a single phase induction
motor for such high load looks improbable. So how do they manage.
With regards to my daughter, she is in a age when she is supposed to feel
she knows everything and she can give me a funda or two.
B/Regards
K.Pradeep
years
******************************
Just on a different note, Does electric locomotives have single phase/ three
phase motor, A/c or D/c and what could be the actual voltage on the motors.
Apologies to Mr. Saha.
********************************
Hi Pradeep
Last I checked the Motors used to be DC but in India over the last decade
and a half there was a changeover to AC.
Elsewhere in the world the change is almost complete.
I remember being told how the pantograph used to change at VIRAR from AC to
DC.
The rectifiers also used to be big serious stuff(some mercury rectifiers).
Of course now Maglev trains are rewriting technical history.
Looks like somebody's son is giving 'someone' tuff time.
Check out this site:
railway-technical.com/drives
The bond still holds strong(at least some of us).
Even being of the same age I have learnt so much from each of them- and most of it about life.
A difference of class and families that existed on 7th Dec 1982 vanished overnight and what emerged was a common comradeship that got defined only by our attitude to life and each other.
Probably people like John Kuruvilla, Thapar , Sanatani and the inimitable Hrishi will never know how they positively influenced my life. How, not they, but their bringing up helped ME change my thought process and mould my attitude to life.. A whole aspect of life...and that's the truth.
Growing up must be a collective process of various inputs. A healthy companionship is one of them…and today when Pradeep wrote about his daughter it triggered a very strong sense of a common feeling and common life inflexion point once again.
This phase is one of the most enjoyable and introspective when we know what exactly our progeny is thinking.
How can they think different about life than what we did 28 years back.
However since their life will also depend upon what we (did or did not) taught them. Does it not say that somehow the values commonly learned and adhered to by all of us are being transferred to our children.
So do they also not have some common thinking platform howsoever small it may be.
I think time has come when we must meet with or sans our children but definitely with our better halves to talk and talk and talk. Without any expectations from the meeting. Even if it does not mean 118 but just 18 or 8 … we must.
************************
Hi, Rajeeve,
Why the doubt came to my mind was that there is only one cable overhead from
where electricity is transferred, hence it has to be single phase. Since it
is all 11KV lines, it has to be AC. Then to use a single phase induction
motor for such high load looks improbable. So how do they manage.
With regards to my daughter, she is in a age when she is supposed to feel
she knows everything and she can give me a funda or two.
B/Regards
K.Pradeep
years
******************************
Just on a different note, Does electric locomotives have single phase/ three
phase motor, A/c or D/c and what could be the actual voltage on the motors.
Apologies to Mr. Saha.
********************************
Hi Pradeep
Last I checked the Motors used to be DC but in India over the last decade
and a half there was a changeover to AC.
Elsewhere in the world the change is almost complete.
I remember being told how the pantograph used to change at VIRAR from AC to
DC.
The rectifiers also used to be big serious stuff(some mercury rectifiers).
Of course now Maglev trains are rewriting technical history.
Looks like somebody's son is giving 'someone' tuff time.
Check out this site:
railway-technical.com/drives
Friday, February 25, 2011
A Story and .... a story!!!
There was a rich man in a locality (for a change we'll not call it a village).
He wasn't rich in the beginning but due to his hard work and diligence he slowly gained wealth and name for himself.
His achievements were expressed in form of his house which slowly grew in the locality both in terms of height and splendor (since it could not grow in area- there was restriction by other houses).
The prosperity grew with time as did the family as he had 4-5 sons (I don't know why no daughters).
Then as is supposed to happen with people - whether rich or poor, big or small- he died- suddenly .
Now that the old man was away ,the sons were left to their own devices with their own families.The families started having their own strategies and finally decided to part their ways - partitioned their splendid house. Then within the limits of their smaller mental divisions called houses they started doing their own things.
This included back biting against each other, plotting, cross plotting etc. etc.
First the wives didn't get along then the children and finally the brothers themselves fell apart.
The mental boundaries of their houses became physical and the boundaries were not really equal.
The big brother managed to get the biggest piece.
Slowly with time each of them went about their own business independently, however not without having periodic skirmishes.
Sometimes the venting of their emotions spilled over to the neighbors as well who tried to mediate.
Some of the neighbors in all their goodwill even advised them to keep weapons and guards.
Amidst all this each brother went about his own business- some flourishing- some not.
One of the brothers raised the walls of his own house so that he could seclude himself from his inferior siblings.
The siblings tried their best to bring him down by attacking him physically and socially.
There came a day when the world declared the elder brother as the richest man in town.
He was given a warm reception by civic authorities where his brothers were also invited.
The mayor called the brother up on stage and felicitated him of being the richest man in town.
However the elder brother stopped him and said that all of his brothers present there were together the richest family in the state, and must be all felicitated together...
...then somehow the ship took a roll and I got up...
the story that I had dreamed took the shape of so many families in town..city..state..country...AND FINALLY COUNTRIES.
I though about the BIG BROTHER that we are spoken of as...
Our much touted status as richest country by 2050.
I wondered if the younger brothers would ever let us be there.
..and even if we're there, will it be worth it under the fear of something happening at the hands of unknown...
...just thinking
He wasn't rich in the beginning but due to his hard work and diligence he slowly gained wealth and name for himself.
His achievements were expressed in form of his house which slowly grew in the locality both in terms of height and splendor (since it could not grow in area- there was restriction by other houses).
The prosperity grew with time as did the family as he had 4-5 sons (I don't know why no daughters).
Then as is supposed to happen with people - whether rich or poor, big or small- he died- suddenly .
Now that the old man was away ,the sons were left to their own devices with their own families.The families started having their own strategies and finally decided to part their ways - partitioned their splendid house. Then within the limits of their smaller mental divisions called houses they started doing their own things.
This included back biting against each other, plotting, cross plotting etc. etc.
First the wives didn't get along then the children and finally the brothers themselves fell apart.
The mental boundaries of their houses became physical and the boundaries were not really equal.
The big brother managed to get the biggest piece.
Slowly with time each of them went about their own business independently, however not without having periodic skirmishes.
Sometimes the venting of their emotions spilled over to the neighbors as well who tried to mediate.
Some of the neighbors in all their goodwill even advised them to keep weapons and guards.
Amidst all this each brother went about his own business- some flourishing- some not.
One of the brothers raised the walls of his own house so that he could seclude himself from his inferior siblings.
The siblings tried their best to bring him down by attacking him physically and socially.
There came a day when the world declared the elder brother as the richest man in town.
He was given a warm reception by civic authorities where his brothers were also invited.
The mayor called the brother up on stage and felicitated him of being the richest man in town.
However the elder brother stopped him and said that all of his brothers present there were together the richest family in the state, and must be all felicitated together...
...then somehow the ship took a roll and I got up...
the story that I had dreamed took the shape of so many families in town..city..state..country...AND FINALLY COUNTRIES.
I though about the BIG BROTHER that we are spoken of as...
Our much touted status as richest country by 2050.
I wondered if the younger brothers would ever let us be there.
..and even if we're there, will it be worth it under the fear of something happening at the hands of unknown...
...just thinking
Thursday, February 24, 2011
INDIA -NO.1 SUPERPOWER BY 2050
WHOAAAAAAA!!! That was a headline screaming from one of the prominent papers website.
The statement being attributed to CITI.
Quite a tall statement coming from an institution that had to be saved from bankruptcy.Immediately after the same one and got entangled with a scam involving HNIs.
Doesn't matter who they are as long as the make the right statement.
Something that makes us feel grand and croaky .
Something that makes me take the credit of something that will happen 40 years from today when I'm (better) dead and gone.
Something that puts me fast asleep on my 25000 buck mattress on a 40000 bed in a 1.5 crore house (that's on a 25 year loan).
Something that makes me feel grand in the false hope of a propaganda - that we are great- and believing it all the same.
We were always great right back to 5000 yrs of history- don't believe it - read your history book man (even if I flunked mine 30 yrs back).Ya we were great right in the times of that guy- you know who had his capital in what we call a BIMARU state today.
..Sure sure we were great and would have still been if the muslims didn't come and stop our growth. Later if the British didn't come and make us slave and had taken our wealth and put it up on display at tower of London.
Where today I have to shell out 15GBP to see MY own Kohinoor.
Oh sure we could still have been great.
Reservation... what reservation. Oh that ya if it hadn't been for that may be we could have been greater much faster.
Poverty... where.Not any longer.Now everyone has bread to eat and even cake and Pizza and Mcburgers.What poverty?
Come on don't be impressed by those street urchins who crowd around you when you come out of McD- they just represent the underbelly of the country.They are not mainstream guys .
They are not going to be in our Riches story.
They'll just be a parallel system.
Parallel? As in ....................Black Money Economy.
Well haven't you heard so much of OUR black money stashed away with the Swiss, couldn't really stop us from becoming great. We have reached our heights haven't we.
Don't worry about all these distractions.
We'll be great and even greater. We'll beat Japan to 3rd spot in just next 4 years.
YES! JAPAAN. That country that is known for it's strong patriotic sense. Just imagine, we'll be better than them.
You see they reached their height by 1990 in just 45 years and became the highest GDP country.
Then I don't know what happened, why their own country became expensive for them.
They couldn't buy their own stuff. The economy became stagnant. The Last decade was called as THE LOST DECADE for them.
I don't know all that nitty gritty. These economists have a knack of always putting a pin in your balloon.
Sure we'll be THE NO.1 ECONOMY by 2050. APJ had also said so.
Then all our problems will be solved.
There'll be no crime, no rapes, no scams, no swindling, no corruption, no female infanticide or foeticide (I don't know why they have so difficult words - just call it KILLING HER).
Well there'll be none of it. No black money either.
Then?
THEN.What Then? Why do you always keep saying THEN!!!
You become No.1, you become No.1.
It's great to be No.1- just like US is today (minus it's problems).
UK (minus it's POOR senior citizens).
Germany minus it's deficit.
Greece...Spain..Portugal... all those countries man. Just like they were great and No.1 we're going to be also there.
Not now but may be then we'll even start loving our country.. and be faithful to it.
We'll start being more sensitive to our fellow countrymen (and countrywomen too).
We'll start getting up in the bus to give them seats or holding their packets while they board and getdown/.
We might be sensitive to those street urchins outside McD.
We might stop spitting (and urinating) on the road and outside the public urinals.
We might stop littering our streets, wasting water, stealing electricity and taxes.
... of course we might even stop killing the babes too.
The statement being attributed to CITI.
Quite a tall statement coming from an institution that had to be saved from bankruptcy.Immediately after the same one and got entangled with a scam involving HNIs.
Doesn't matter who they are as long as the make the right statement.
Something that makes us feel grand and croaky .
Something that makes me take the credit of something that will happen 40 years from today when I'm (better) dead and gone.
Something that puts me fast asleep on my 25000 buck mattress on a 40000 bed in a 1.5 crore house (that's on a 25 year loan).
Something that makes me feel grand in the false hope of a propaganda - that we are great- and believing it all the same.
We were always great right back to 5000 yrs of history- don't believe it - read your history book man (even if I flunked mine 30 yrs back).Ya we were great right in the times of that guy- you know who had his capital in what we call a BIMARU state today.
..Sure sure we were great and would have still been if the muslims didn't come and stop our growth. Later if the British didn't come and make us slave and had taken our wealth and put it up on display at tower of London.
Where today I have to shell out 15GBP to see MY own Kohinoor.
Oh sure we could still have been great.
Reservation... what reservation. Oh that ya if it hadn't been for that may be we could have been greater much faster.
Poverty... where.Not any longer.Now everyone has bread to eat and even cake and Pizza and Mcburgers.What poverty?
Come on don't be impressed by those street urchins who crowd around you when you come out of McD- they just represent the underbelly of the country.They are not mainstream guys .
They are not going to be in our Riches story.
They'll just be a parallel system.
Parallel? As in ....................Black Money Economy.
Well haven't you heard so much of OUR black money stashed away with the Swiss, couldn't really stop us from becoming great. We have reached our heights haven't we.
Don't worry about all these distractions.
We'll be great and even greater. We'll beat Japan to 3rd spot in just next 4 years.
YES! JAPAAN. That country that is known for it's strong patriotic sense. Just imagine, we'll be better than them.
You see they reached their height by 1990 in just 45 years and became the highest GDP country.
Then I don't know what happened, why their own country became expensive for them.
They couldn't buy their own stuff. The economy became stagnant. The Last decade was called as THE LOST DECADE for them.
I don't know all that nitty gritty. These economists have a knack of always putting a pin in your balloon.
Sure we'll be THE NO.1 ECONOMY by 2050. APJ had also said so.
Then all our problems will be solved.
There'll be no crime, no rapes, no scams, no swindling, no corruption, no female infanticide or foeticide (I don't know why they have so difficult words - just call it KILLING HER).
Well there'll be none of it. No black money either.
Then?
THEN.What Then? Why do you always keep saying THEN!!!
You become No.1, you become No.1.
It's great to be No.1- just like US is today (minus it's problems).
UK (minus it's POOR senior citizens).
Germany minus it's deficit.
Greece...Spain..Portugal... all those countries man. Just like they were great and No.1 we're going to be also there.
Not now but may be then we'll even start loving our country.. and be faithful to it.
We'll start being more sensitive to our fellow countrymen (and countrywomen too).
We'll start getting up in the bus to give them seats or holding their packets while they board and getdown/.
We might be sensitive to those street urchins outside McD.
We might stop spitting (and urinating) on the road and outside the public urinals.
We might stop littering our streets, wasting water, stealing electricity and taxes.
... of course we might even stop killing the babes too.
All that glitters ... can be SILVER too...
In the field of investment there are always people and interests that divert the general attention of the public in one direction and take a different take altogether.
Gold took it's present shine from 2007 onwards (from about $650 onwards).
However when MF were busy peddling the Gold ETFs and portfolio managers busy in recommending Gold as the hedge to their portfolio.
There was another class of people who were busy collecting Silver as their hedge ...
Silver has less than half the known reserves as that of gold.
Considering that it has about 3 times the industrial uses - it's more definite to run out faster than gold.
Now that it has had a massive run up in 2010 of about 68%,the news was released for mass consumption. So now the general public will start buying.
since silver ETFs are still not in force- it'll be still some time before you and me can buy some 10kg of silver.
By the time that happens (ETFs are floated)-silver would have run up further.
However general public may derive satisfaction from the presence of another instrument called e-silver.
This is floated by NATIONAL SPOT EXCHANGE and one needs to open a separate demat account there. Once done you can buy e-Gold, e-silver ,e-Copper and E-Lead.
The minimum 1 unit of E-Silver is 100gms and as of today was Rs.5104(up from Rs.4400 a month back).You can imagine that on the back of a falling stock market.
So you can start buying a unit at a time and build even a safer haven for hedging your risk.
There is even a advantage in buying these 4 commodities- if required you can MATERIALISE them. i.e. you can ask for the actual commodity at select centers in the country (India)if you like. That of course may never happen to you.
Gold took it's present shine from 2007 onwards (from about $650 onwards).
However when MF were busy peddling the Gold ETFs and portfolio managers busy in recommending Gold as the hedge to their portfolio.
There was another class of people who were busy collecting Silver as their hedge ...
Silver has less than half the known reserves as that of gold.
Considering that it has about 3 times the industrial uses - it's more definite to run out faster than gold.
Now that it has had a massive run up in 2010 of about 68%,the news was released for mass consumption. So now the general public will start buying.
since silver ETFs are still not in force- it'll be still some time before you and me can buy some 10kg of silver.
By the time that happens (ETFs are floated)-silver would have run up further.
However general public may derive satisfaction from the presence of another instrument called e-silver.
This is floated by NATIONAL SPOT EXCHANGE and one needs to open a separate demat account there. Once done you can buy e-Gold, e-silver ,e-Copper and E-Lead.
The minimum 1 unit of E-Silver is 100gms and as of today was Rs.5104(up from Rs.4400 a month back).You can imagine that on the back of a falling stock market.
So you can start buying a unit at a time and build even a safer haven for hedging your risk.
There is even a advantage in buying these 4 commodities- if required you can MATERIALISE them. i.e. you can ask for the actual commodity at select centers in the country (India)if you like. That of course may never happen to you.
Friday, September 24, 2010
ABOUT GOLD PRICES VIS-A VIS STOCK PRICES
Today my batch mate put up a query :"Why the gold prices are going up when the Stocks are also high".
Following is my reply.
I’m actually flattered that someone asked me something except why the M/E scavenge temp is going up.
About the gold ? Well.. ahem!!!
Is it actually linked with stock prices??
It’s never been.
1. Being a scarce commodity , it’s price is only linked to one thing – DEMAND.
2. This demand can come from:
a) Consumer demand like India for festival season.
b) Investor demand like bullion.
c) Shifting of investment avenues from World currencies to commodity.
d) This can happen in case of war- like it happened during Iran –Iraq war, Kuwait occupation etc.
e) Economic uncertainties like at present.
f) If you earned in a particular currency and did not have faith in it like US or EURO- then where will you keep it- obviously in a mode which is reliable, current and is small to hold- you have gold and platinum is catching up.
Just out of the context but if you are earning in USD it makes sense to keep about 5% of yr savings in GOLD ETFs. This mode will help it stay in gold form and not be converted to jewellery ( when you are not watching).
I am also certain that Silver and platinum are also to be held but I do not know how I can take delivery of it in cash and hold on to it till I want.
So you see it is back to MFs.
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