A Thought

“There are those who know that they are in the game; there are those who don’t know they are in the game; and there are those who don’t know they are in the game and have become the game.”                                                                                                                      – Louis Bacon

crowding in a bus

Yesterday while travelling by bus I observed that bus is crowded in front while there is still a lot of space available in back side.  That looks little strange to me, as people are standing in a mess but nobody is ready to move back. Somehow I feel that this is related to the mentality of today’s world as everyone is in hurry these days and no one wants to be left behind everyone wants to be ahead in race which matches with the crowding behavior in the bus. It is right or wrong I don’t know but somehow mirrors people’s behavior.

Microfinance Institutions- serving or dis-serving poor

Microfinance institutions are supposed to be doing social welfare by providing microcredit to poor people. But the striking feature of the working of these MFIs is that the model they are following for the so called welfare of the poor will hurt more than providing any benefit.

One of the consumption habit among the poor class is that they first they had consumption financed by the way of borrowing from moneylenders or by any other institutions and after that they repay by daily savings. In between the transaction the moneylender or the MFIs made huge amount of money by charging very high (sometimes impractical, as high as 50-60%(not less than 20%) which makes whole thing unviable for the borrower) interest rates on the name of low credit of these borrowers. This kind of system is only beneficial for lenders.

What seems to be the problem is that poor don’t save much, whenever they face with the situation where they need money they borrow from moneylenders, even if some of their big expenditures are predictable such as marriage, celebrations, festivals they simply don’t save even for these events. So, then they get trapped into the vicious cycle of borrowing and then paying, high rate of interest of these lenders ensure it. What they lost in this the cost they are paying as interest and income they and forgoing on savings, a double blow.

What actually happening in the whole scenario is that these MFIs are only promoting consumption among the targeted social class. This will only exaggerate the problem. It is all about generating cash flow to support 2 meals of the day for a family. And if he is not able to do that what’s the point in providing a consumption loan (even if he need it badly) just to reduce his family to 1 meal a day.

Among the poor there is a very low tendency to save, although govt has started various programs to promote savings among these poor classes, such as post office saving scheme where one can deposit a fixed sum on recurring basis weekly or monthly. These kinds of schemes are aimed at developing saving habit among poors. But these schemes got only limited success, because of agency problem.

There are some allegations made by these MFIs on the government institutions regarding credits given to poor. One of them is that these institutions try to control the use of credit given by them. These are true but look at what’s the motive behind that. Government wants to ensure that the credit taken by the person must be put for desired use; otherwise if that credit is used for the some other purpose which will not yield any income that person will face difficulty in repayment of loan or may default.

The other allegation MFIs made is about the speed of loan disbursement and the purpose of loan. So, MFIs are absolutely true about these facts but at the same time there is a question about what they actually doing. It’s right that they are giving loans to poor on short notice for health shock or when the person in dire need. But look at the kind of interest rates they are charging (at least 20% that’s the good case but they charge up to 50%). Doesn’t it look like an opportunist behavior when someone is in dire need of quick credit they make it an business opportunity. So, I am asking a simple question here what the good they are doing.

So, what I think is that instead of providing microcredit to poor, if these MFIs work towards developing saving habit and financial planning(even by way of Insurance as deposit mobilization is not allowed to them) among poor so that they can do away with these credit cycles which always come to hunt them. More so with the kind of reach they have, they can put that reach into channelizing the funds into productive avenues by providing consultation as well as opportunity to create a business to disadvantaged people. Otherwise they are doing just a disservice to poor and looks to be simply opportunists, who are taking a benefit of under-developed financial system of the country and dire need of poor.

-Amit Kumar

 

Why me

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. He received letters from his fans world over, one of which conveyed: “Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease”?

To this Arthur Ashe replied: The world over — 5 crore children start playing tennis, 50 lakh learn to play tennis, 5 lakh learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD “Why me?”.

And today in pain I should not be asking GOD “Why me?”

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943, February 6, 1993) was a prominent African American tennis player who was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his playing career, he won three Grand Slam titles. Ashe is also remembered for his efforts to further social causes.

ARTIFICIAL LIFE

 

Within the discipline of anthropology, a number of

scholars have begun to examine the ever-expanding

subfield of synthetic anthropology, which examines

artificial beings, worlds, and languages as a means

of reaching a more comprehensive understanding

of human beings. Recent advances in robotics seem

to have brought science fiction to life, intriguing

the general population as well as anthropologists

and other scholars. In February 2005, the U.S.

government announced that it had accelerated its

development and use of what has popularly become

known as “robot soldiers.” Far more than being

entertaining, the use of artificial soldiers is predicted

to have enormous impact on saving the lives of

American soldiers engaged in reconnaissance

missions as well as in actual combat. The army

predicts that robot soldiers will be ready for the

battlefield in less than a decade. Financing the

robot soldiers will raise the cost of the Future

Combat Systems (FCS) project to $127 billion,

making it the most expensive military project on

record.

The United States is already using unmanned

aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as the Shadow, the

Raven, and the Ignat, to expand military capabilities

in Iraq. The military also plans to employ an

Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP) program that

will expand the capabilities of UAV systems, which

are projected to number 8,000 by 2010. These

systems may be used for border patrol and

homeland security as well as in combat situations.

Army robots are the result of ever-advancing

technologies that have allowed the military to plan

for a time when each human soldier will be able

to tap into the resources of robotic trucks and

planes with up-to-date knowledge of targets,

reconnaissance, and communication. As a result,

soldiers will be able to supplement human instinct

with scientific knowledge when making tactical

decisions. As the technology behind the robot

soldiers advances, so will their abilities and uses.

By the middle of the 21st century, robots are

expected to become autonomous, rather than

being controlled by soldiers using laptop computers.

While some future robots will look like humans,

others may be disguised as hummingbirds, tractors,

tanks, cockroaches, or even dust.

Military visionaries began planning military uses

for robots as early as the 1970s, and the new robot

soldiers were preceded by less advanced models. In

the spring of 2003, the army employed “Matilda”

(Mesa Associates’ Tactical Integrated Light-Force

Deployment Assembly) in Afghanistan. About

the size of a dog, Matilda has a retractable arm

and claw. This robot was ideal for traversing

mountainous regions, seeking out members of

terrorists who might be using the mountains for

cover. Equipped with a video camera and sensors

designed to identify the presence of toxic gases or

other potentially dangerous substances in the air,

Matilda was also used in Afghanistan to test for the

presence of possible booby traps and to precede

soldiers into tunnels or other tight spots. Robots

have been used in Iraq since the beginning of the

war to detect mines and to serve as armed sentries

at weapons depots. A robot capable of firing 1,000

rounds a minute was expected be deployed on the

frontline in Iraq in the spring of 2005.

 

— Elizabeth Purdy

 

 

 

The Dog

A rich man gave a great feast, to which he invited many friends and acquaintances.

 

His Dog availed himself of the occasion to invite a stranger Dog, a friend of his, saying,

 

My master gives a feast, and there is always much food remaining; come and sup with me tonight.

 

The Dog thus invited went at the hour appointed, and seeing the preparations for so grand an entertainment, said in the joy of his heart,

 

How glad I am that I came! I do not often get such a chance as this.  I will take care and eat enough to last me both today and tomorrow.

 

While he was congratulating himself and wagging his tail to convey his pleasure to his friend, the Cook saw him moving about among his dishes and, seizing him by his fore and hind paws, bundled him without ceremony out of the window.  He fell with force upon the ground and limped away, howling dreadfully.  His yelling soon attracted other street dogs, who came up to him and inquired how he had enjoyed his supper.

 

He replied, Why, to tell you the truth, I drank so much wine that I remember nothing.  I do not know how I got out of the house.

The Old Man and Death

An old man was employed in cutting wood in the forest, and, in carrying the faggots to the city for sale one day, became very wearied with his long journey.  He sat down by the wayside, and throwing down his load, besought Death to come.

 

Death immediately appeared in answer to his summons and asked for what reason he had called him.  The Old Man hurriedly replied,

 

That, lifting up the load, you may place it again upon my shoulders.

  

Moral is that never utter a such words which u can’t comply, bcz u don’t know when they come to hunt you. and at that time you might find it difficult to comply to them……

 

 

The One-Eyed Doe

A doe blind in one eye was accustomed to graze as near to the edge of the cliff as she possibly could, in the hope of securing her greater safety.

 

She turned her sound eye towards the land that she might get the earliest tidings of the approach of hunter or hound, and her injured eye towards the sea, from whence she entertained no anticipation of danger.  Some boatmen sailing by saw her, and taking a successful aim, mortally wounded her.

 

Yielding up her last breath, she gasped forth this lament:

 

O wretched creature that I am! to take such precaution against the land, and after all to find this seashore, to which I had come for safety, so much more perilous.

A power

Together we have power build whatever we want, we can even make monster with that. But the underline is that the power of unity is indespensible.

Alone But standing

Alone but Still standing..

 

A speaking picturesque