My Life

   The business of investing is all about predicting the future. When an investor endeavours to predict the unknown and when his thoughts and actions influence the outcome of events, it involves taking risk.    Most times, retail investors flit from being risk averse to being risk-seeking individuals. Conventional wisdom is that when the indices are constantly moving up in the midst of a raging bull market, an investment in stocks is considered least risky. When the markets face correction and move downwards, everyone panics and presses the ‘sell’ button. Stocks are then considered risky assets.    Sadly, as most serious, value investors are aware, the converse is true. Risk is at its lowest when markets are in free fall and is at its peak when markets defy gravity. We must understand that risk is being accumulated as the markets move up and come down when markets collapse.                         ...

   When he saw swallows nesting in the barn for the first time in almost two decades, Slovenian farmer Uros Macerl felt vindicated. His exhausting battle against a polluting industrial giant had been worthwhile.    A role model to some, an “eco-terrorist” to others, Mr. Macerl recently picked up one of the world’s most prestigious environmental awards for shutting down a cement plant owned by French corporation Lafarge in Trbovlje region in 2015.    The 48-year-old flew to New York to receive the U.S. Goldman Prize, which honours “environmental heroes” for their efforts to protect nature, often at great personal expense. In Mr. Macerl’s case, the 13-year fight cost him his marriage. “I’ve paid a high toll with my family... but it also taught my children the struggle was worth it,” the father of three said.                                        Black Snow ...

   Many stories in the Upanishads (interpretations of Vedas), the Puranas (Legends) and the epics highlight the essence of the Guru-Sishya (Teacher-Pupil) relationship which forms the bedrock of spiritual tradition. The role of a Guru goes beyond mere transmission of the essence of the scriptures, for he also imparts the essence of living a disciplined and principled life; and the ideal disciple trains himself to have unshakable faith in the Guru.    The story of Sage Daumya and his disciples related in the Mahabharata shows the many ways in which disciples have been tested and accredited for their guru bhakti. One of Daumya’s disciples, Aruni is tested in the following manner.    Once during heavy rains, Aruni is given the responsibility of preventing the fields from getting flooded. Aruni tries putting up mud packs, but this does not work. So he lays himself on the moat to keep the water away. When Daumya sees this sincere and selfless effort that is also...

   Multiculturalism is part of the Indian society and any attempt to monochrome it will be self-defeating. It was on display recently in Kerala through two opposing developments — a ‘PM Modi fest’ and many beef-eating festivals. One represented the illustration of a report card for development and the other the right to assert a personal choice.    Humans are an interesting species whose history is defined by greed in gaining and maintaining control over resources and sustaining power. Cultural identity has been a central tool in this. A cultural identity is a phenomenon which, among other things, comprises choices by individuals and communities that define aspects of religion, ethnicity and personal habits. However, these identities have also been repeatedly used by the power elite to serve their own interests.    Manipulation and politicisation of cultural symbols relating to these identities have resulted in chaos and destruction. The most glaring exampl...

   India’s economic growth estimates lately seemed out of sync with the dampened feel-good sentiment in the economy. The GDP was growing at a world-beating rate, the stock market was booming, but little on the ground suggested that people were feeling better off.    Consumption and investment behaviours suggested probably not. So when in February this year, the state statistical apparatus estimated that the impact on the economy of demonetization was muted, doubts were cast on its credibility. The dissonance between the statistics and ground reports considerably reduced in the latest released batch of data into which the updated Index of Industrial Production was plugged in.    The GDP data for the fiscal year 2016-17 present a sharp picture of the state of the economy. GDP growth has slowed for the first time in five years, in 2016-17, to 7.1%. The economic recovery that was gathering pace year after year abruptly lost speed last year.    Correct...

                                          Garbage clogs the drainage near WHO office, Indraprastha

   Hassan Rouhani has formally begun his second term as Iran’s President in especially challenging circumstances. Conservatives at home are pushing for a hard-line agenda, Sunni states in the Gulf are consolidating a regional alliance against Shia-majority Iran, and the U.S. is turning up the heat on the country’s missile programme.    Mr. Rouhani, who won the election on a moderate platform, had drawn hope during his campaign that he would build on the momentum his first term had generated and initiate social reform. It was never going to be easy, given the resolve of the clerical establishment to push back any major attempt to change the status quo.    In Iran’s complex, multipolar political system, the President runs the government with a popular mandate but the security establishment reports directly to the Supreme Leader, who can override the government on critical issues. What Mohammad Khatami tried and failed and what Mr. Rouhani tested during his fi...

   Vedanta (the last of Vedas) teaches that Brahman (the ultimate reality) is synonymous with existence and becomes manifest as the entire creation, inclusive of its infinite variety in terms of name, form, purpose and utility value.    This is through the power of Maya Shakti (the goddess of illusion) and when creation is dissolved this Maya (illusion) is also no more. But this truth is not felt and believed generally when one sees only the gross and subtle aspects in creation as existing and not Brahman or Existence that supports all.    Our knowledge is defined by the world and the differences in it. Maya Shakti plays on individual perceptions regarding the world, Vedanta and esoteric matters, leaving one baffled about the real and the unreal.    The concept of Existence and the role of Maya to make clear the truth of the progress and process of creation. Sat (a thing that is unchangeable) is the prime substance. Space or ether, wind, water, fi...

   During a visit to Moscow in 1980, Marco Minniti, a bald and bold young functionary in the Italian Communist Party, mortified his comrades by asking a Red Army general why the Soviets had occupied Afghanistan.    The general pointed south on a map and explained that the far away land mattered for his country’s national security. Now, decades later, it is Mr. Minniti, Italy’s powerful Interior Minister and the hard-nosed veteran of its intelligence apparatus, who is again looking south — but to Africa, which he calls the “mirror of Europe”.    A mass migration streaming up Africa, through Libya and across the Mediterranean, enabled by human traffickers and exploited by political populists, poses a challenge to his Centre-Left government, not to mention his country and continent.    To stem the flow of migrants and the potential infiltration of terrorists he is calling on his vast government experience. Minniti is surrounded by bookcases filled wi...

Photo released by Kremlin shows Putin catching fish in Siberian Tyva Region

   About 31% of the world’s “multi-dimensionally poor” children live in India, according to a new report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), a poverty reduction project grounded in economist Amartya Sen’s ‘capability approach’.   “In terms of countries, fully 31% of the 689 million poor children live in India, followed by Nigeria (8%), Ethiopia (7%) and Pakistan (6%),” noted the survey, titled ‘Global Multidimensional Poverty Index [MPI], 2017’. OPHI is an economic research centre at the Oxford University, led by Professor Sabina Alkire, and the study is based on a survey conducted among 103 countries. 10 indicators A “multi-dimensionally poor” child lacks at least a third of ten indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living. The health dimension comprises of indicators such as nutrition, child mortality, and education. Under the standard of living are indicators such as access to cooking fuel, im...

   When in deep contemplation, Vyasa had visualised the entire story and events of the Mahabharata as if it had occurred before his eyes. Thus inspired and by the power of his austerities, the sage was advised by Brahma (Creator God) to write the epic with Ganesha (God of Success)  as the scribe. Vyasa saw 1) Srikshti (the creation)                   2) Vedas (the first text),                   3) Four Purusharthas (Aims of Human Life),                          a) Dharma (righteousness, moral values),                          b) Artha (prosperity, economic values), ...

   While Donald Trump has thrust transgender people back into the conflict between conservative and liberal values in the United States, geneticists are quietly working on a major research effort to unlock the secrets of gender identity.    Researchers are looking to the genome, a person’s complete set of DNA, for clues about whether transgender people are born that way. Two decades of brain research have provided hints of a biological origin to being transgender, but no irrefutable conclusions.    Now scientists have embarked on what they call the largest ever study of its kind, searching for a genetic component to explain why people assigned one gender at birth so persistently identify as the other, often from very early childhood.    Researchers have extracted DNA from the blood samples of 10,000 people, 3,000 of them transgender and the rest non-transgender, or cisgender. They are testing for about 3 million markers or variations, across the g...

   Donald Trump said that relations with Russia had hit an all-time and “very dangerous” low, putting the blame on Congress after he reluctantly approved sanctions against Moscow. An angry Trump lashed out at his own lawmakers who had overwhelmingly approved the measures. Moscow called the sanctions a declaration of “economic war” that had exposed the U.S. president’s weakness.   “Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us HCare!” he added in reference to a recent defeat in the Senate on his health care reform plans.   Mr. Trump’s outburst came a day after he grudgingly signed off on the sanctions, calling the legislation “significantly flawed” and adding that some of its provisions were unconstitutional. Mr. Trump’s presidency has been overshadowed by allegations that his campaign team colluded with Moscow during last year’s U.S. presidential c...

"Many teens come to me complaining about loneliness. They complain their parents are too busy for them and they have no friends. I recently had a 16-year-old come to me complaining he doesn't want to live because no one likes him. These are the same kids who are searching 'painless deaths' on Google. They go to suicide forums." says Dr Concerned  So this makes it extremely crucial for the parents to pay attention to their kids. So what should parents do?   Firstly, Internet  is a medium frequented by teens and it's anonymity increases the chances of experimentation. Moreover, it is easy access without supervision that makes it dangerous and alluring at the same time. Parents need to keep talking to the kids. Take interest in your child's activities. Give them space to share their feelings without negating them. Never reprimand your teen for whining, crying or staying aloof.  Try to find out the reason behind unnatural behavior. For example, a disturbed sto...

   A small-granulated dark black and brown coloured pygmy grasshopper measuring about 9.07 mm revealed itself to the world in the forests of Chhattisgarh, Central India.    Collected from moist deciduous forests in Korba district, the species was named Coptotettix korbensis. Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India have published the details of the new species in international science journals ‘Zootaxa’ and “Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France”. A few months ago another paper published in Halteres by the same authors brought to light a species of the short-horned grasshopper Epistaurus tinsensis. The species was collected from the Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Raipur. Slightly larger than the recently discovered species, Epistaurus tinsensis has a yellowish brown body with dense long silvery pubescence.    Coptotettix korbensis and Epistaurus tinsensis are two new discoveries in 2017, but what is interesting is that seven species of gras...

                                                                                      A Tractor Overturned

   How is Congress Party Unwittingly keeping BJP in power?    A particular brand of intelligentsia, finding itself marginalised in the national discourse, is visibly uncomfortable with the massive mandate of 2014. BJP getting a full majority on its own and ending a three-decade long fractured polity was beyond their imagination.    It not only questions their ability to analyse elections but raises serious doubts on their understanding of Indian society and politics. While trying to build a counter-narrative, they now derive solace in portraying nationalism as ‘hyper-nationalism’.    Some time back, similar attempts were seen in the form of ‘intolerance’ and ‘award wapsi’ (returning accolades). The antinational sloganeering in Jawaharlal Nehru University was first sought to be defended and then rationalised and Rohith Vemula’s case in Hyderabad Central University was propped up as an accusation against the Central government. The murder of M.M. Ka...