Adani - Dubious Or No?

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/28/gautam-adani-india-hindenburg-research-crash/ 
• Hindenburg's Nate Anderson and Gautam Adani's group of companies
• https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/the-man-behind-a-50-billion-selloff-11675016022102.html
  
• In London Times
  
• https://www.outlookindia.com/business/who-is-chang-chung-ling-the-chinese-link-featured-in-hindenburg-adani-crossfire--news-258079: Interesting
• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/20/india-adani-coal-mine-kete-hasdeo-arand-forest-displaced-villages?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other: Doesn't sound good
  
• https://www.outlookindia.com/business/adani-group-shares-crash-after-credit-suisse-assigns-zero-lending-value-to-its-bonds-report--news-258611: The rout continues
  
• How Gautam Adani Made (and Could Lose) a $147 Billion Fortune
  
• India Today: Adani Enterprises case reaches Supreme Court, plea seeks action against Hindenburg Research founder.: Oh my. I wonder if Supreme Court will favor Adani and whether a subsequent verdict by an international arbiter or court will overturn it. Pretty embarrassing for India should this happen. And if the original report written by the short seller had its facts accurate then the question that arises is: what were Indian stock regulators (say SEBI) doing and how did they miss catching the issue?
  
• https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/quant-mutual-fund-exits-adani-group-stocks-say-sources-11675418286737.html: Quant exits Adani stocks 
  
• Live Law - Indian Legal News: Adani-Hindenburg Issue : PIL In Supreme Court Seeks To Declare 'Short Selling' As Offence Of Fraud, Probe ....
  
• Gautam Adani’s Rise Was Intertwined With India’s. Now It’s Unraveling.
  
• Moneycontrol: Aswath Damodaran dissects Adani crisis: What's the fair value of this 'competent' infra play?.
  
• Swarajya: Why The Adani Endgame May Not Be The Disaster His Enemies Wish For.
  
• What should you think about Aswath Damodaran’s view on Adani Enterprises?: Very nice
  
• https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/gautam-adanis-little-known-unlisted-company-a-hidden-gem-with-351-subsidiaries-369995-2023-02-13
  
• Related party transactions
  

Every Dog Has Its Day

• Things were inexpensive
• There was no water problem
• Great weather
• Politics was better and cleaner

These were the reasons people would emigrate to UK from India.

And maybe these are the reasons people might want to come back to India now from UK

Economy

• https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/opinion/india75-how-have-we-done-on-per-capita-income-9003541.html: GDP Per Capita
• https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/opinion/india75-who-benefited-the-most-from-economic-growth-9011571.html
  

Education

 

• https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/how-kids-really-succeed/480744/
  

Additional reading:

• ThePrint: Pakistan’s universities are living in past glories. Only Aladdin’s lamp can save them now.
• https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/iit/india-75-its-time-to-critically-evaluate-the-iits-one-of-independent-indias-proudest-achievements-9018241.html: About IIT
  

Where Are We Going

• Live Law - Indian Legal News: Mother Cant Be Asked To Choose Between Child & Career: Bombay High Court Permits Woman To Go Abroad With.... Isn't it nice? Father pays for the daughter. Mother is allowed to take daughter abroad, far away from father, because mother shouldn't be forced to choose between career and child. Wah. What options did the father have? Just make payment? Is this the best for the child?

Additional reading

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/work-peak-professional-decline/590650/

Engineering Or Medical?

 https://www.scoopwhoop.com/career/people-with-non-engineering-medical-careers-share-how-their-life-is/

Getting A License For A Handicapped Person

 https://theprint.in/opinion/how-many-people-with-disabilities-have-a-driving-licence-in-tamil-nadu-a-story-in-79-rtis/824651/

Rules Based

 A friend sent me this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/28/united-states-should-practice-the-rules-based-order-it-preaches/. She asked: Why are so many democracies unwilling to condemn Russia?

My response: "A much better way to frame the division in the world is between countries that believe in a rules-based international order and those that don’t. " From the same article. 

If Western democracies were  so rule bound as the author suggests why were UK USA etc in bed with Saudi, China and Russia all these years? Why was uk so cosy with Russian oligarchs until the Ukraine invasion? How did those oligarchs suddenly become persona non grata in Feb this year? 

Why are we still doing business with China or Saudi (despite what we know Saudi did to khashoggi)? 

Are we, Western democracies, so honorable really? Isn't survival the driving force really behind our actions? Do we think the western democracies were ignorant until Feb? 

Why this holier than thou attitude suddenly?

Desire And Image Gets Us To Our Goal

I had a very interesting conversation with a friend about the current Ukraine situation and Indian stance.

Friend: Modi's condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there will slightly soften the West's attitude to India. India's decision to sit on the fence in the UN Security Council resolution to condemn Russia did not go down very well in the West.

Me: India is a non entity.

Friend: India may not be as much of a non-entity as you think. If it was, why did the West criticise their recent decision? Nobody criticised North Korea, Sri  Lanka  etc.

Me: True to some extent. The only way India makes a difference in this equation is that it may buy oil from Russia (but not food grains, India itself exports that and hence competes against Russia). Plus the defence contracts and [India's need for] spares will provide revenue to Russia. I doubt India will [in future] buy any military requirements from Russia. Otherwise who gives a damn whether India votes for Russia or against.

Friend: It's all about the impression that people have about India. We do want the world to think of India as democratic, liberal (now under threat according to the West), has freedom of speech, independent press - all features constituting motherhood and apple pie. Don't we?

Me: :) you are talking about what we want. I am talking about what is. 

Friend: Yes to get what we want, we want to be seen to be on the right.

The parts in italics are so revealing, eye opening.

Friend: Referring to the article above: "This is one of the numerous articles we have seen recently about why democracy is still motherhood and apple pie! You asked the other day, I am sure only to engage in constructive discussion, about the point of this war because Ukraine cannot win on its own because of Russian military superiority. This tells us why."

Anna And Airtel

Today I received this message from Airtel, an internet and telephony service provider.

Hi, due to a technical issue at our end, your mobile services may temporarily get affected in Adyar. This is not the experience we want you to have. Rest assured, we are on the job to rectify the issue at the earliest - Team Airtel.

I was surprised. And somehow taken back few years down the memory lane when I used to teach fifth graders. There used to be a girl in the class whose milk teeth had fallen and the new ones hadn't yet come back, though she was in the 5th grade. Of course, the curiosity in me got the better of me and I used to ask the girl (in front of the whole class) when she plans to get her teeth back. One day she responded to me thus:

My father said it might take a looong time for my teeth to grow back and that you (meaning I) should just be patient and not inquire about my teeth frequently.

 

It sounded eerily like the message I got today.

Hi, due to a technical issue at our end, your teeth may not grow temporarily. Rest assured, we are on the job to rectify the issue at the earliest - Team Toothfairy.

Both Airtel and Anna found a way to shut me up by just acknowledging their problem but without a specific date commitment.

We Don't Recognise Jio

The pandemic hit us in March 2020. Since then our professional life has become all virtual and from home. Even for young students, it's all online classes.

This post is about such students. India has about 23 crore students studying in class 1 to 12 (from https://www.mvorganizing.org/how-many-students-are-there-in-india-2020/).

Assuming 40% of them belong to the lower income group (LIG), the number of such students from LIG would be about 9 crore students. 

Imagine if the pandemic had hit the world 5 years back in 2016. India didn't have Jio then. 

Jio disturbed the internet scene in India. It's because of Jio that India has a tariff of about Rs200 (USD 3) for a month of unlimited calls to anywhere in India and about 1.5GB data per day. And it's because of Jio that other ISP's telecoms had to follow suit with similar pricing and in the end most got such a financial battering that they had to exit the business. 

For some prospective on data cost see: (though figures don't seem to be accurate)

https://www.ibtimes.co.in/india-ranks-lowest-global-mobile-data-cost-thats-great-news-heres-how-839072

The figures for India and Pakistan are given below. 

Rs 6 /GB in India

Rs 17/GB in Pakistan (from a friend)

Rs mentioned in this post refer to INR only. 

(https://www.phoneyear.com/pakistan-has-the-second-most-expensive-mobile-data-rates-south-asia/)

As I mentioned earlier, there is an estimated 9 crore young students whose parents would be in the lower income group. These are possibly children of auto drivers, milkmen, housemaids and such.

Imagine online classes for them - meaning getting used to internet, getting a smart phone, using internet data for online classes. All these has been possible for at least some fraction of those 9 crore students

Because of Jio, a good percentage (I don't know exactly how much) has been able to continue their studies online. Of course a lot depended on whether their family had or lost their source of income. But if the family could afford their school fees and books, Jio made attending online courses very possible.

Had the pandemic hit us 5 years earlier where would those students have been?

Take Pakistan in comparison where internet costs are comparatively higher. Imagine what their LIG students are going through. Those students are likely much worse off than their Indian counterparts.

Thanks, Jio. 

Disclaimer:

The author has nothing to do with Reliance and they were not paid anything by the company.

Additional reading:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/02/coronavirus-india-school-closures/

Selling And Repurchasing

Effect of selling in a falling market and buying at a lower price:

Let's assume we have 500 units of an equity mutual fund (MF) scheme at a current NAV of Rs100 per unit that were purchased at an NAV of Rs70. Total purchase cost = Rs70*500 = Rs35,000

Now let's assume the market is falling and I am very tense. The NAV has fallen to Rs 90. I decide to sell all the units. Assume my holding is for less than a year, so short term capital gains (STCG) will be levied (@ 15%).

Exit load will be 1%. 

What I get is 

500 units* 90*99% = Rs44,550. 

My gains will be (44550-35000)

= Rs 9550

My STCG will be 9550*15%= Rs1433

Nett of taxes and exit load what I have is 44550-1433 = Rs 43117

Now let's assume the NAV falls to Rs 80 and I invest all my proceeds into the same scheme at that NAV.

I get 43117 / 80 = 539 units.

Note that earlier I had 500 units.

Now let's assume that the NAV rises later to Rs115 and I again sell all the units at this NAV.

My redemption will now give me 539*115*0.99 = Rs 61365

My short term gains are now 

61365 - 43117 = Rs 18248

My tax will be 15% * 18248 = Rs 2737

What I will have nett of tax is 

61365 - 2737 = Rs 58628

If on the other hand I had never redeemed inbetween and I had held on the 500 units of the equity scheme and sold it at NAV of Rs 115 (and assume this happened after a year so it's long term capital gains).

My proceeds will be 500*115 = 

Rs 57500. Note that there is no exit load because I sold after a year.

My gains = 57500 - 50000 = Rs7500

My tax will be max 10%= Rs 750

If my total long term capital gain across all instruments is less than Rs 1lac, I don't pay any tax. Else I pay 10% of the gains exceeding 1Lac.

So my tax in this case will be between zero and Rs750. 

My nett will be between Rs 56750 and Rs 57500. And this is still less than Rs 58628 which I would have had if I had sold the scheme and repurchased and incurred TWO exit loads and TWO STCG @15%.

It may make sense to sell and repurchase at a much lower NAV. Note a lot depends on the difference between the NAV that I first redeemed and the NAV I repurchased at. If this spread was much less than Rs 10 (=90-80), this tactic wouldn't make sense.

What we have with this tactic is just a peace of mind that we have got out of a falling market. And if in fact we re-enter the market at a sufficiently lower NAV we stand to make a little extra money in the bargain. This is counter to the strategy of holding on for the long term.

Note also that the two STCG will result in tax cash outflow earlier. 

Now let's make it a little more abstract.

Assuming that the first redemption was at NAV of x (=90)

And let's repeat the same calculations.

Proceeds from 1st sale

495x - (495x-35000)*.15

=420.75x+5250

New number of units

(420.75x+5250)/80

2nd redemption value

(420.75x+5250)/80*.99*115

=(420.75+5250)*1.423

=598.78x+7471

2nd STCG

(598.78x+7471)-(420.75x+5250)

=178.03x+2221

2nd STCG tax

=(178.03x+2221)*.15

=26.7x+333

Nett after 2nd redemption

=(598.78x+7471)-(26.7x+333)

= 572x+7138

Nett after LT redemption

= 500*115=57500

At what NAV are the two nett equal?

572x+7138=57500

X=88

So long as x> 88, double redemption gives more.

The question that remains is how is this value of x dependent on the other three NAV (70, 80 and 115).

Let's assume a, b, c are the three NAV, respectively.

Proceeds from 1st sale

495x - (495x-500*a)*.15

=420.75x+5250

=420.75x+75a

New number of units

(420.75x+5250)/b

=420.75x/b+75a/b

2nd redemption value before tax

(420.75x+5250)/80*.99*115

=(420.75+5250)*1.423

=598.78x+7471

=(420.75x/b+75a/b)*0.99*c

=416.5cx/b+74.25ac/b

2nd STCG

(598.78x+7471)-(420.75x+5250)

=178.03x+2221

=(416.5cx/b+74.25ac/b) -

(420.75x+75a)

=(416.5c/b-420.75)x+(74.25c/b-75)a

2nd STCG tax

=(178.03x+2221)*.15

=26.7x+333

=((416.5c/b-420.75)x+(74.25c/b-75)a)*.15

=(62.5c/b-63)x+(11.14c/b-11.25)a

Nett after 2nd redemption

=(598.78x+7471)-(26.7x+333)

= 572x+7138

416.5cx/b+74.25ac/b - ((62.5c/b-63)x+(11.14c/b-11.25)a)

=(354c/b+63)x+(63.11c/b+11.25)a

Nett after LT redemption

= 500*c=57500

At what NAV are the two nett equal?

572x+7138=57500

X=88

So long as x> 88, double redemption gives more.

(354c/b+63)x+(63.11c/b+11.25)a > 500c

X> (500c - (63.11c/b+11.25)a) / (354c/b+63)

(57500-7138) /571.9

=50362/571.9

=88

In the above equation, x is higher (desirable) as c/b becomes lower and as a is lower.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oIC6BHc1h7CJZ4qmKIPJ0uvBr2DyFe85ZXQMg257skk/edit?usp=drivesdk

Dainik And Divya And IT Raids

https://m.thewire.in/article/health/not-covid-stunned-by-data-gujarat-blames-death-certificate-spurt-on-duplicate-registrations

Above is an article that tried to explain how Gujrat government had understated the Covid deaths. The article refers to a study by the Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar, which you can see referred to in the screenshot below from the article above. 

Today, I read this article below:

Income Tax department raids media group Dainik Bhaskar's offices at multiple locations

I found that Divya Bhaskar, which alleged that Gujrat undercounted Covid deaths, and Dainik Bhaskar, whose offices were raided by Income Tax, belong to the same group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divya_Bhaskar

Is it a case of retribution? Or just coincidence? 

After I published this post, I read the articles below. Does it seem like The Hindu has the same suspicion?

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/it-raids-on-dainik-bhaskar-group/article35458142.ece

Even Indian Express seems to think the same: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/dainik-bhaskar-tax-raids-7416460/

Additional reading 

• https://vbala99.blogspot.com/2021/04/covid-deaths-in-india.html
• Scroll.in: The lights begin to wink out in India’s democracy.
• India Today: Dainik Bhaskar Group evaded taxes on Rs 700 crore of income over 6 years: IT Department.
  

Anil Ambani And Me

As per this article, lockdown is supposed to be lifted because our cases are relatively low now, about 114,000 per day.

Reuters India: India to ease lockdown rules as coronavirus case numbers decline.

This is my Corona tracker - shows the new cases, deaths, recoveries every day from April 2020. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mrcYiTOuwGjqUomO9vsUQLuY-5DwlgPs7nY8RhmyuPw/edit?usp=drivesdk

In the 1st wave, the highest number of cases was on Sep 16, 2020 and it was about 100,000. The number that was highest (new cases per day) in the 1st wave happens to be the lowest in the 2nd wave and the same number is almost a cause for celebration now.

I am reminded of the time College graduates in the US celebrated spring break because the temperature rose to 10C and all students would be out in shorts whereas in Calcutta the same 10C temperature would be the coldest day all winter and people would be dressed indoors in wollens and socks and shawl.

Take another example. Anil Ambani and I are about equally wealthy - marginally above bankruptcy. I see my wealth as high because I came from a zero. Anil sees his as zero because he came from billions.

As a friend of mine would say it's all about "nazariya ka farq" (difference in point of view). After seeing 400,000 new cases per day 114,000 seems like nothing. How you see a number depends on where you are coming from.

People In Glass Houses

 

""Oxygen plants are essential. It is irresponsible not to have them," the bench said." - India Today: Batra Hospital runs out of oxygen, 8 patients die before Delhi govt rushes supply."

https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/delhi/story/batra-hospital-runs-out-of-oxygen-8-covid-patients-die-1796959-2021-05-01

Of late, high courts and supreme court have been castigating various entities like the election commission (for allowing political rallies during the pandemic), Delhi administration and Central Government for having Oxygen shortage. 

(https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coronavirus-lets-try-and-not-be-a-cry-baby-centre-to-delhi-on-oxygen-crisis-amid-covid-19-2421034)

What surprises is me the performance of the courts themselves. The number of cases pending and the rate of disposal of cases (I am not talking about the correctness of judgments) leaves a lot to be desired. Couple of my friends have filed divorce cases and these are running for more than a year and these are cases where the wife hasn't asked for alimony, child support. I attended one virtual court hearing where the judge gave new dates for EACH case because she was at home and no paperwork was available with her lordship. 

Just great.

Shouldn't the courts fix their own problems first.

Additional reading 

https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-outbreak/dont-clamp-down-on-citizen-voices-justice-chandrachud-warns-states

Covid Deaths In India

We have been hearing about crematoriums running all day long, burial grounds running out of space as we are almost touching 3000 corona deaths per day.

I looked up the normal death statistics in India. 

That's about 7.3 deaths per year per thousand population. With a population of about 135 crores (1350 million) our annual deaths should be about (7.3 / 1000) * (1350 * 1000000) = 9,855,000.

If we convert it to a per day basis, it is 9855000/ 365 = 27000.

That means that India's death rate normally is about 27000 per day. Remember that India's covid deaths are about 3000 per day (at the time of writing).

Covid deaths are just about 10% of the normal deaths. How come our crematoriums and burial grounds are overflowing with just 10% extra deaths?

If we consider Delhi with a population of 20 million, the daily deaths in the city normally would be (7.3/1000*20,000,000)/365 = 400. 

If we assume that the daily Covid deaths in cities in India are proportional to the population of the cities then covid deaths in Delhi should be about 10% of the normal deaths in Delhi and hence should be about 40. Is this number anywhere close to reality?

Read this:

https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/delhi-coronavirus-deaths-over-1-000-covid-deaths-missing-in-delhi-data-reveal-civic-records-2422628 - enlightening.

What gives?

A friend disagreed. This is what he had to say:

I do not disagree with this analysis and I am sure there are codifying errors that skew the numbers but the only angle I feel is not to be concluded as siva is saying... that the numbers are being manipulated with intent to do so ..for if that is the case then we need not see death rate go up from 150 a day on an averages to 3500 a day on an average.....

Also logistics wise in a normal death there will be. T+1 time window of the body reaching crematorium....and people will wait either for an overseas relative to come or even to get a slot in a crematorium of choice ....the 15 percent surge is now perhaps coming in like an adrenaline surge as bodies are being instantly disposed..causing the overload on the ecosystem....

Cruel scenes sans cruel intent in governance is my only submission....

Additional reading:

• https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/tnm-investigation-scores-covid-19-deaths-bengaluru-missing-state-count-147912
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/01/india-coronavirus/
  
• The Hindu: Facts and figures: On India’s COVID-19 death count.
  
• The Indian Express: In Bhopal, official Covid toll in April is 109, but over 2,500 at pyres, graves.
  
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/06/india-coronavirus-deaths/
  
• https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/indias-uncounted-covid-19-deaths
  
• The Wire: 'Not COVID': Stunned by Data, Gujarat Blames Death Certificate Spurt on Duplicate Registrations.
  
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-deadliest-covid-day/2021/05/19/2452925c-b89a-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html - similar thoughts as mine expressed by Shahid Jameel
  
• Mint: The reality of this pandemic in our villages cannot stay hidden.
  
• The Hindu: It’s like participating in a procession of the dead, says Kolkata crematorium official.
  
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/shocking-drone-footage-shows-a-mass-burial-site-of-hundreds-of-covid-19-victims-on-the-banks-of-indias-ganges-river/ar-AAKgKPb?li=BBnb7Kz
  
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-coronavirus-ganges-river-bodies/2021/05/21/73cbced6-b811-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html
  
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/30/covid-victims-overwhelm-delhi-crematoriums?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other - interesting that this article mentions that the daily deaths in Delhi is 395 as against normal daily deaths in Delhi mentioned earlier in this post of about 400.
  
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/24/india-covid-rural-india-deaths-modi/ - Quote:  "It’s probably an understatement to suggest that the real death toll is at least five times the actual figures."
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/24/india-failed-save-living-covid-19-now-it-wont-count-dead/ - Graphic video
  
• Just How Big Could India’s True Covid Toll Be? Numbers.
  
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/30/kumbh-mela-how-a-superspreader-festival-seeded-covid-across-india?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other: Quote "Why did only my father die when we were 11 members there?” said Thakur. “It is not a virus which kills. The death is destined. I have no regrets.” and "But as media attention focused on Covid-19 cases among the Kumbh returnees, the officials were ordered to stop counting. Four officials in different districts of Madhya Pradesh, as well as officials in Rajasthan, confirmed to the Guardian that their seniors called them off for political reasons."
• https://science.thewire.in/health/the-reasons-to-believe-indias-tragedy-is-worse-than-it-looks/
  
• The Indian Express: No Covid funerals for two straight days at East Delhi crematoriums.: Quote "On April 29 alone, 717 bodies came to the cremation grounds of Delhi for last rites as per covid-19 protocol, which means around 30 bodies every hour."
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tn-underreported-covid-deaths-in-6-tn-hospitals-ngo-101623840130782.html
  
• https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-registers-fourth-fastest-weekly-growth-in-vaccinations-among-large-countries-11624516616268.html: "

  Cumulative 'excess deaths' across 8 states are 10.5 times reported covid-19 deaths"

• As India’s Lethal Covid Wave Neared, Politics Overrode Science
  
• Deccan Herald: Backlog of Covid-19 deaths surfaces in Bengaluru.
  
• India Is Stalling the W.H.O.’s Efforts to Make Global Covid Death Toll Public
  
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/health/covid-global-deaths.html?smid=url-copy
  

India And Scandinavia

The difference between an advanced country and a third world country is that the former is rule bound while the latter is negotiation bound. For example in countries like India and Pakistan, things get done based on who knows who. A typical example is how FATF recommendations are implemented in Pakistan. Knee-jerk actions are taken by the government just before FATF meeting is to take place instead of planned regular actions in the true spirit of eliminating terrorism and terror financing.

In countries like New Zealand, Sweden things are rule bound largely. Rules are clear and implemented well with little deviation.

What about Saudi (KSA)? Which group does it belong to? It is rule bound. Is it hence an advanced country? Not really. An advanced country has another attribute, it's relatively free. The list of things that are illegal will be minimal. Saudi obviously doesn't fit into this category. While every country has a dominant religion (Hinduism in India, Christianity in Italy, Judaism in Israel for example), when the judicial laws are derived from religious considerations rather than from civil ones, we end up having a state that is not free. When we try to drive the answer to a problem from religious texts rather than from rational considerations, we end up traveling a suboptimal path to mediocrity. Religion, like lingerie, should be limited to the bedroom. It should not be bandied about in public.

Here is a question to the reader: If Shariat law were to be implemented in Norway, how will Norway be after 10 years? On top of the world (I don't mean geographically)? Replace Shariat law with any other religious law and combine it with religious fervor - the result would be the same. 

The same thing would happen if the guiding book were to be any other religious treatise.

If we surrender reason to obey what's mentioned in a book, we do it because we are mentally weak (we don't have reasoning ability) or we are emotionally weak (we find it easier to fast for a month or donate our hair or make a trip to Vaishnodevi or Jerusalem or Mecca) than work rationally towards the problem.

It's interesting to see how the advanced country which gives so much freedom to its people also effectively implements rules. 

And it's sad to see third world countries, on the other hand, curb freedom and are haphazard in implementing rules. Pakistan is a good example, to a smaller extent so is India.

What is China? It's again like Saudi.- Very little freedom given and no democracy. India is heading towards what Pakistan and China are instead of towards Scandinavia and UK.

What is the route like to go from being a third world country to ask advanced country?

How does India get to become like Scandinavia? 

Good questions.

Religion / Faith / Networking (RFN) aren't alternatives to good processes. Where they are treated to be substitutes for processes, we are well on our way to becoming a third world country. The more we remove RFN from our nation, the faster we head towards New Zealand.

Additional reading:

https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/the-country-s-problem-is-its-romance-with-informality-11619366101367.html Excellent 

India Vs UK

A friend said to me after yesterday's T20 cricket match between India and England:

India is punching its weight in the world.

I am rather struck by seeing how India is dictatating what it does, and punching above its weight in the world. We hear that India is refusing to export AZ vaccine to the UK because of some problems, whatever that is. That has got the government here all in a frenzy about whether it can reach their promised targets by the summer.

Who would have thought some 40 years ago that India would tell the West what it wants and can do to help them?

Gone are the days when India was at the mercy of others for science and technology. Let's not even talk about cricket. As someone said, India is the centre of the cricket universe! England and Australia have just had some bitter medicine.

 

I replied:

Well, India still has miles to go. I would say England punches above its weight consistently. A country (is England really a country in the first place or just a part of UK) of about 5 crore people facing a country of 130 crore in cricket. The results don't seem to indicate a 5 to 130 handicap.

Let's not even get to football. And same in most other spheres. 

UK makes India look like the David (instead of like Goliath).  That's embarrassing.

My friend wrapped it up:

England is a football nation. The irony however is that it has never won the World Cup or even the Euro Cup in football. Aa far as cricket is concerned, it won the World Cup for the first time only in 2019 after a dramatic and controversial finish. In tennis, it produced a British (Scottish) champion after 72 years.

So England or shall I say UK for now (until it splits and becomes England only), it is definitely not punching above its weight in sport. Just trying to, but not quite reached there yet.

Too Little Sense And Too Much Maturity

Recently I came across a nurse who forgot to give me prior intimation that we were running out of diapers. She just informed me on the last day that there were no more diapers. 

I was aghast. What is this? I gave her a lecture about how important it was to inform me up front that something was going to get over so that I have time to procure it. And that she was not to intimate me after we ran out of something.

She was sweet. She kept nodding and accepted that it was her fault. She was smiling. There was no shock nor guilt in her face. 

I finally asked her how we would manage that day without diaper (we did have another kind of diaper but we needed the kind that we had run out of). 

She said it was ok, we will manage. I asked her how. What she meant was the patient will suffer / manage. 

Is this the meaning of grace under pressure with absolutely no sense?

Is this what we learn under the guise of grace and maturity - to be sweet, soft and clueless? Is this EQ? 

Most of the these girls don't have a clue about prevention of the problem in future once a problem has been identified. They also hate to tell the caretaker about the presence of an actual problem or the possibility of a problem. 

How can they do a good job if they hate to convey bad news? 

What is this kind of character?

Saree Gymnastics - Back Flip

These two videos were trending.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CELrixnpdmm/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=1F62F7CE-2DE9-48C9-A048-8F1B70142777

https://mobile.twitter.com/VarierSangitha/status/1271516375517810688 and https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10223624637428605&id=1371263854&refid=17&_ft_=mf_story_key.10223624637428605%3Atop_level_post_id.10223624637428605%3Atl_objid.10223624637428605%3Acontent_owner_id_new.1371263854%3Aoriginal_content_id.424282288955389%3Aoriginal_content_owner_id.100589847991303%3Athrowback_story_fbid.10223624637428605%3Apage_id.100589847991303%3Aphoto_id.1104320236691605%3Astory_location.4%3Aattached_story_attachment_style.video_inline%3Atds_flgs.3%3Aott.AX8Pk9UueM4G8zSs%3Athid.1371263854%3A306061129499414%3A2%3A0%3A1609487999%3A8167057056452535241&__tn__=%2AW-R#footer_action_list

Both the videos were amazing. I was wondering why I liked the second one (in yellow) more. 

Both the girls were talented. Matter of fact I thought that the guy with the girl in blue saree was even better than his partner in blue. 

The somersault in 1st video seemed too much "prepared" and audience oriented. And it was on a cushion. The risk of breaking any bone was rather limited. 

The yellow in the 2nd video was more authentic. And the girl did a reverse somersault and landed on her palms and then straightened up. And it was on a hard surface. She hardly looked at the camera not smiled. It was terrific. 

There was one more thing that caught my eye. The posture of the yellow girl, her steps, prior to the somersault was absolutely elegant.

Wonder who she is!!! 

She is apparently Mili Sarkar, Gunda informed me. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Misti-Mili-Sarkar/390394128084913 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMW0VR7WMAg&app=desktop

This is Parul Arora, the one in blue: https://www.instagram.com/parul_cutearora/ and India.com: Viral Video: Girl Does a Cartwheel While Wearing a Skirt & High Heels, Internet Says 'Wow' | Watch.