April 2018

Living in uncertain times with predators with killer’s instincts

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The Darwinian “survival of the fittest” principle has guided the society throughout the human history and the industrial and post industrial man also continues with this spirit. The idea of “Survival of the fittest” springs from “struggle for existence” and leads to what we call “competition”, which more often than not, is expressed through a “killer’s instinct.” Life boils down to a heartless “race”, where everybody is focused on his or her self interest with absolute disregard for others’ interest and plight. See the unnecessary and insane honking on the Indian roads by the car owners or even auto rickshaw drivers, breaking the red lights and violating traffic rules, often brazenly cornering the cycle riders or people walking on foot, you won’t need to understand the meaning of utter selfishness with brazen disregard of what happens to others! It is not confined to roads; it has seeped into other arenas of life as well. There is no exaggeration in the statement when we just look around- the way politicians mobilize votes, the way business mobilizes funds, the way goons dominate our neighbourhood and even the way intellectuals and media spread and scrutinize information and take sides. Everybody is just guided by “killer’s interest”, success at any cost with total disregard for the concern of others. That is the “animal instinct” that has gone wild.

School children die in India because somebody who is driving their van is busy on mobile while driving, not listening at all to the cries of children to stop while crossing an unmanned railway gate. Speeding cars driven by underage children of the rich people every now and then trampling people on the road has become so frequent (India claims to take life of largest number of lives on road.  A legislature in one of the states of India rapes a minor seeking job and his men and allegedly police kill her father when he tried to complain. It becomes uglier when rapists brutally kill the rape victim as happened in Kathua, Surat or Lukhnow. In a posh school in Delhi a small child is brutally killed in the washroom. The times are so uncertain— boss in your office, a teacher in a university or a school, doctors in hospital, your domestic help or your cab driver and even your friends can turn a predator. The lowest of the dirt can be seen in a father raping his daughter or a spiritual Guru doing the same to his devotees. Where is the bottom line? Predators all around, life has become so uncertain with cheating, deceit, indifference, brazen and unscrupulous selfishness or even frustration to compete out others in the race!    The western societies have also their fair share of “selfishness” and “frustration” driven violence, cheating and heartbreaks! Success at any cost, no matter what, and success with the most mundane meaning!

We are made to understand that what matters is “success” at any cost and success is defined in a very stereo typed style- a fat cheque as salary, a fat bank balance, a big house, a big car and affording costly consumer goods, not just for our own satisfaction but also to evoke envy and inferiority complex among the so called ordinary or common man around. The brazen display of power and wealth is interpreted as success, those who love and care are the weakest people, those who stand against it are fools or not talented. Killer’s instinct and focus on self interest is the only aspiration of everybody right from a politician to a man in the street. Positive thinking is always understood in terms of mundane success- think big, never say die, inflict pain on self and others, but succeed any way. Success has become an all pervading disease, even if it is acquired by cheating, bloodshed and violence, breaking a thousand hearts and demolishing all civilized norms and conventions! Retaining higher position in the university propels a Vice Chancellor to say that patriotism can be best promoted by displaying tanks in the university premises! Success at any cost!   Where is the bottom line and who is to be blamed? Here everybody’s hands are blood stained—we have all become predators!

Adam Smith, the father of modern economics rightly said, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our necessities but of their advantages.” But this needs to be seen critically. Although self interest is the propelling force behind all our activities, animal instincts should not be allowed to go berserk in a civilized human society. This is why we have rules, conventions and laws. They are necessary. But more important is that we respect these provisions. Our instincts are natural. But the natural instincts should not control our activities, rather we should control them. The extension of self interest is greed and natural instincts may be negative such as anger. Hypocrisy is ingrained in civilized societies. “ If a cat does something, we call it instinct; if we do the same thing, for the same reason, we call it intelligence. Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit.”

The best thing to learn today is not to quit the search for success. It is to stand for values in whatever we do, success would come as a natural corollary. That’s why Albert Einstein said, “”Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”Mahatma Gandhi rightly said that the quality of success depends on the means adopted for it. We should not be blind in the pursuit in self interest. Success without heart and soul for others is eventually empty. In fact the caution of Franklin D. Roosevelt in this regard is worth remembering, “Self-interest is the enemy of all true affection. If we indulge too much in self interest, we lose sight of what happens to others around us. If we care for others, self interest does not lead to brazenness and indifference. In a cultured society guilt and criminality needs to be condemned and innocent people need to be helped not only by law but the social controls as well. Social controls happen because of our attitude of live and let live and help our fellow human beings.

Adam Smith in this regard had a lot to say. He said, “The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardour which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tranquillity of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice.”

 “Competition” and “killer’s instincts” should not be taken as weapons to succeed without caution. The apparent meaning of these words may be a dangerous thing to adopt. Although some people would like to follow the dictum that “in love and war” everything is fair, it is not so. Killer’s instinct means that we have an intense passion to continue in the pursuit of our goals despite odds. It does not mean being unethical. Germaine Grear rightly says, “Developing the muscles of the soul demands no competitive spirit, no killer instinct, although it may erect pain barriers that the spiritual athlete must crash through.” Even for the sports arena killer’s instinct needs to be interpreted with caution. Richard Lerner points out, “Whether hunting is right or wrong, a spiritual experience, or an outlet for the killer instinct, one thing it is not is a sport.” That’s it!

We need to reconsider the meaning of success, competition and killer’s instinct. Or else we would only rejoice our existence as predators in our pretty hells called success in our language. Success is empty without love, care and service to humanity. If we do so life would much better! How much time humanity would take to choose a right meaning of success depends on our ability to learn and grow. Education seems to be the only ladder. But this needs an open mind and courage to choose the good path, even if the current success Gurus say the contrary.

Nothing can be better guide to steer our education system to a right path to make a responsible and moral citizenry than what Abraham Lincoln suggests.  Abraham Lincoln in a letter to the teacher to his son wrote:

“So dear Teacher, will you please take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to know, teaching him – but gently, if you can.

Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend.

He will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader.

Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found.

 In school, teacher, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when he does win.

Teach him to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy if you can and teach him the secret of quiet laughter.

Teach him if you can – how to laugh when he is sad, teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics.

Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill.

Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tell him they are wrong.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is doing it. Teach him to listen to every one, but teach him also to filters all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul.

Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patient to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God.

This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. He is such a nice little boy and he is my son.”

Fitch keeps India rating at BBB- for 12th year

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Fitch, one of the top three credit rating agencies of the world  has kept (27 April 2018) India’s sovereign rating unchanged at BBB-, the lowest investment grade for the 12th year with stable outlook. Despite giving a stable outlook, it has praised the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India, expressing hope that the new tax will drive the mid-term growth once the teething troubles are resolved. The agency said that the main reason of keeping credit rating at BBB- is India’s weak fiscal balances. It is same credit rating for the 12th year for India by Fitch.

It forecast India’s GDP growth to rebound to 7.3% in FY19 and 7.5% in FY20, as a “temporary drag will fade” caused by demonetisation and the GST in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Fitch said that India’s five-year average real GDP growth of 7.1% is the highest in the APAC region and among ‘BBB’ range peers. However, it pointed out that India’s Per capita GDP is the lowest among its ‘BBB’ range peers.

Fitch said that if the government reduces its debt over the medium term and achieves higher sustained investment and growth rates without the creation of macro imbalances, it would make a strong case for an upgrade in rating. It said that government debt amounted to 69% of GDP in FY18 (while ‘BBB’ median is 41% of GDP), while fiscal slippage of 0.3% of GDP in both FY18 and FY19 relative to the government’s own budget targets of last year, implies a government deficit of 7.1% of the GDP as against ‘BBB’ median: 2.1%.

The rating agency appreciated the Indian government’s measure to tackle NPAs as reflected by government’s decision to announce Rs 2.11 lakh crore for bank recapitalization. However, in the wake of recent fraud at Punjab National Bank, it warned that more capitalization may be needed. It also added that most of the capital injection is likely to be absorbed by losses associated with NPL (non-performing loans) resolution rather than rather than to fund new lending.

It may be recalled that nearly after 14 years another credit rating agency Moody’s had earlier upgraded India’s credit rating to Baa2 from the lowest investment grade of Baa3. However, both Fitch and S&P keep the rating unchanged.

What is credit Rating?

A credit rating is an assessment of the creditworthiness of a borrower in general terms or with respect to a particular debt or financial obligation. A credit rating can be assigned to any entity that seeks to borrow money — an individual, corporation, state or provincial authority, or sovereign government.

A sovereign credit rating is the credit rating of a sovereign entity, such as a national government. The sovereign credit rating indicates the risk level of the investing environment of a country and is used by investors when looking to invest in particular jurisdictions, and also takes into account political risk. A rating expresses the likelihood that the rated party will go into default within a given time horizon. In general, a time horizon of one year or under is considered short term and anything above that is considered long term.

Credit rating is also done in case of a corporation’s financial instruments i.e. debt security such as a bond or a debenture, but also the corporations itself. Thus these institutions also rate corporate units, banks and their debt instruments.

Four most relied credit rating agencies of world

The four relied international credit rating institutions are Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings and DBRS (Dominion Bond Rating Service). They are the only four ratings agencies that are recognized by the European Central Bank (ECB) for determining collateral requirements for banks to borrow from the central bank. These are only four rating agencies which have received ECAI recognition from the European Central Bank (ECB). That designation indicates CRAs whose ratings can be used by the ECB to determine collateral requirements for borrowing from the ECB.  In recent years, DBRS’s sovereign ratings on European nations, including Portugal, Ireland and Italy, were used by the ECB for such purposes. The ECB uses a first, best rule among the four agencies that have the designated ECAI status, which means that it takes the highest rating among the four agencies – S&P, Moody’s, Fitch and DBRS – to determine haircuts and collateral requirements for borrowing. Ratings in Europe have been under close scrutiny, particularly the highest ratings given to countries like Spain, Ireland and Italy; because they affect how much banks can borrow against sovereign debt they hold.

The symbols used for credit Rating

While Moody’s, S&P and Fitch Ratings control approximately 95% of the credit ratings business, they are not the only rating agencies. DBRS’s long-term ratings scale is somewhat similar to Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings with the words high and low replacing the + and −. It goes as follows, from excellent to poor: AAA, AA (high), AA, AA (low), A (high), A, A (low), BBB (high), BBB, BBB (low), BB (high), BB, BB (low), B (high), B, B (low), CCC (high), CCC, CCC (low), CC (high), CC, CC (low), C (high), C, C (low) and D. The short-term ratings often map to long-term ratings though there is room for exceptions at the high or low side of each equivalent.

Credit Rating Agencies in India

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A credit rating agency (CRA) is a company that rates debtors on the basis of their ability to pay back their interests and loan amount on time and the probability of them defaulting. These agencies may also analyse the creditworthiness of debt issuers and provide credit ratings to only organisations and not individuals consumers. The assessed entities may be companies, special purpose entities, state governments, local governmental bodies, non-profit organisations and even countries. Individual customers are rated by specialised agencies known as credit bureaus that provide a credit score to every customer based on his/her financial history.

Credit rating agencies in India do not have a distant past. They came into existence in the second half of the 1980s. As of now, there are six credit rating agencies registered under SEBI namely, CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, SMERA, Fitch India and Brickwork Ratings. Ratings provided by these agencies determine the nature and integrals of the loan. Higher the credit rating, lower is the rate of interest offered to the organisation.

Let us discuss about some of the credit rating agencies in India:
CRISIL

CRISIL stands for Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited and it was the first credit rating agency set up in India in 1987. Today, CRISIL has become a global analytical company that rates companies, researches the markets and provides risk and policy advisory services to its clients. At the time of incorporation, the agency was promoted by ICICI Limited, UTI and many such financial institutions. The agency started operations in 1988.

CRISIL is headquartered in Mumbai. CRISIL provides independent opinion and efficient solutions by performing data analysis and research. It has a strong track record of growth and innovation. CRISIL has expanded its business operation to USA, UK, Poland, Argentina, Hong Kong, China and Singapore apart from India. The majority shareholder of CRISIL is Standard & Poor’s, one of the biggest credit rating agencies of the world.

CRISIL works with various governments and policy-makers in India and other developing nations to enhance and improve the infrastructure and meet the demands of the region. The agency has rated around 5180 SMEs in India and has issued in excess of 10,000 SME ratings overall. CRISIL commands revenue of Rs 1,110 Crores with a net income of Rs 298 Crores and an operating income of Rs 320 Crores.
CARE

Credit Analysis and Research limited was established in 1993 and since then it has gone on to become India’s second largest credit rating agency. It was promoted by Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), Unit Trust of India (UTI) Bank, Canara Bank and other financial institutions. CARE has its headquarters in Mumbai and regional offices in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. CARE has the primary function to perform rating of debt instruments, credit analysis rating, loan rating, corporate governance rating, claims-paying ability of insurance companies, etc. It also grades construction entities and courses undertaken by maritime training institutions. Ratings provided by CARE include financial institutions, state governments and municipal bodies, public utilities and special purpose vehicles.

The Information and Advisory Service Department of CARE prepares credit rating and reports on requests from business partners, banks and other financial entities. It also conducts sector-based studies and provides necessary advisories for valuation, financial restructuring and credit appraisal systems. CARE conducts an extensive research and rates SMEs based on their financial health. These ratings are provided under 8 levels where CARE SME 1 signifies excellent financial health with negligible risks and CARE SME 8 rank signifies lowest credit quality with highest credit risk.
ICRA

Originally named as Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency, the organisation was set up in 1991. It was a joint venture of Moody’s and Indian financial and banking service organisations. It was renamed to ICRA Limited and was listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in April 2007. ICRA, which is an independent professional corporate investment information and credit rating and advisory agency, is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana.

ICRA assigns corporate governance rating, performance ratings, grading and provides ranking to mutual funds, hospitals and construction and real estate companies. The agency generates revenue of Rs 2.28 Billion. ICRA has a major focus on the MSME sector. To cater to its clients, the dedicated team of professionals have developed a linear scale for the concerned sector. It helps the agency to benchmark peers quite easily. ICRA ratings are used to analyse the credit risk in India. It does not cater to the international companies and organisations.

 

SMERA

Small and Medium Enterprises Rating Agency of India is one such agency that functions exclusively for the sector it was formed for, i.e. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. This agency was founded in 2005 by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Dun and Bradstreet Information Services India Private Limited (D&B) and various public, private sector and other MNC banks of India.  The agency has its headquarters in Mumbai. SMERA has been registered with SEBI as a credit rating agency and accredited by Reserve Bank of India in 2012. It is an external credit assessment institution (ECAI). SMERA rates bank loans under Base II guidelines. Grading of various instruments like IPO, bonds, commercial papers, NCDs, fixed deposits, security receipts, etc. is done by SMERA which can be used by all banks for capital adequacy requirements calculation as authorised by the RBI.

SMERA pioneered SME rating in India and till date it has rated more than 38,000 enterprises. Financial institutions highly consider SMERA ratings before approving or lending funds.

ONICRA

ONICRA Credit Rating Agency is the private rating agency established by Sonu Mirchandani under ONIDA Finance. It is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana. The agency provides credit ratings, conducts risk assessment and provides analytical solutions to individuals, corporates and MSMEs. The solutions offered by the agency helps organisations take informed decisions about lending funds to individuals, MSMEs and other organisations. After its establishment in 1993, the agency has gained expertise in assessing micro, small and medium enterprises. It is one of the seven agencies licensed by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) for the rating of SMEs. Onicra provides grading services as well. Its grading services include education grading, healthcare grading, solar energy grading and APMC grading. Onicra has signed MoUs with 16 banks and NBFCs in India to provide interest rate concession to up to 1% to top MSME units. It performs a wide range of tasks such as accounting, finance, analytics, customer relations and back-end management. More than 2500 SMEs have been rated by Onicra in the past two and a half decades.
FITCH India

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) is a credit rating agency that provides time-bound, accurate and prompt credit opinions. It is 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group. Ind-Ra covers corporate issuers, financial institutions, banks, insurance companies, urban local bodies, structured finance and project finance. Fitch‘s Ind-Ra is headquartered in Mumbai and has branch offices in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Ind-Ra is recognised by Securities and Exchange Board of India, National Housing Bank and the Reserve Bank of India. Fitch is a major financial information service provider and rating agency having its operations in more than 30 countries across the globe. It checks credit capacity of global leaders in all industries.

Is the Indian economy really that strong?

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The Indian economy is currently growing at about 7%, after dipping below 6% following demonetisation. It is projected to grow over 7% this year. That is faster than China’s growth rate and makes India effectively the fastest-growing economy in the world.

The Indian economy’s foundations have also been strengthened in the last few years. Inflation has come down to the 4-5% range. Trade balances with the rest of the world have improved, and the current account deficit has come down to about 1.5% of GDP. India has also systematically built up its foreign exchange reserves — now a comfortable $420 billion.

These figures appear to tell the story of a dynamic economy. But is it truly that rosy a picture? Deeper analysis indicates that growth may be overstated and the economy prone to significant vulnerabilities.

Kinks to iron out

In order for growth to be both high and sustainable, investment has to be strong. Investment is the act of adding to our productive capacity — building infrastructure, factories, and enhancing the skill of the workforce. However, the striking fact about India is the weakness in investment, reflected in the sharp decline in the rate of investment in recent years. The rate of investment has come down from 34% of GDP in 2014 to about 30% currently. Compared to earlier years, the decline is even more precipitous: the investment rate is now at the lowest level in about 15 years. A decline in investment of this magnitude is difficult to reconcile with a 7% growth rate. Should investment continue to decline in the future, it would be incompatible with high growth.

The other kink to the strong growth story is the weakness in industrial production. It was growing at around 6% in 2016, but plummeted to 2% by mid-2017 following demonetisation. While there has been a pick-up in industrial production in the fourth quarter of 2017 that is exaggerated in comparison to the last quarter of 2016 when activity literally froze up. That is, it is again difficult to reconcile strong overall growth of the economy with weak industrial performance.

Bank financing is important for growth in India. This is particularly true of small and medium-sized enterprises and parts of the agricultural sector where the bulk of the labour force is employed. When there are stresses in the banking system, growth invariably suffers.

The pace of bank lending has been coming down sharply in the last five years. During 2014-16, bank lending grew at a 10% pace. It is now growing at about 6% following demonetisation. The main reason for the slowdown is the rise in non-performing loans. These have doubled from about 5% of gross loans outstanding in early 2015 to 10% currently, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has forced banks to classify loans stringently. Consequently, banks are now more hesitant to lend. This sharp decline in the growth of bank lending is again not compatible with an economy growing at 7%.

If these consistency checks indicate an economy growing at much less than 7%, does it imply that the published growth numbers are made up? I do not believe that the growth numbers are being tampered with to show a strong performance. Our statisticians are doing an honest job in compiling what is clearly a difficult job of calculating GDP.

However, initial estimates of growth are calculated from the more timely data on the formal corporate sector. The economic growth numbers invariably get revised over the subsequent year or two when less timely data from the informal sector become fully available. Demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, which is a long-term positive for the Indian economy, had far greater adverse effects on the informal rather than the formal sector. Therefore, the initial growth figures, calculated mainly from estimates of the performance of the formal sector, tend to inflate the figures of overall growth of the economy. These will no doubt be revised down in due course. The main point of the consistency checks is to emphasise the need for caution before getting triumphalist about growth. Demonetisation has paradoxically shown initial growth estimates to be higher rather than lower.

As noted above, there have been improvements in the foundations of the Indian economy through declining inflation, improving trade performance, and strengthening foreign exchange reserves. Moreover, despite the electoral cycles, Central government budget deficits have been broadly under control.

On slippery ground

However, the improving fundamentals are on slippery ground. While policy measures have helped control inflation, the decline in inflation has largely been driven by extraneous factors. Food and energy prices are important components of the consumer price index and the decline in commodity prices has had a large role in bringing inflation down. Should food and energy prices revert to an increase in the future, it would be difficult for the RBI through its monetary policy actions to bring inflation under control.

Oil, gold and coal constitute almost 50% of total imports in India. Over the past few years, India’s trade has gained significantly from steep declines in the prices of these commodities. Rather than strong exports, India’s trade improvement reflects the extraneous factor of declining commodity prices. The trade balances would come under renewed pressure should commodity prices, over which India has little control, turn higher.

Lower oil prices have also benefited the Central government budget through reduced spending on energy-related subsidies. Focus generally tends to be on the Central government budget. However, what is more important is the general government budget — the combined budgets of the Central and State governments. This deficit is still a large 6.5% of GDP. Moreover, India’s debt is a relatively high 70% of GDP and, unlike in a number of emerging market economies, it has not really come down in the last five years. The fiscal position in India constitutes a hidden vulnerability.

There have been improvements in the Indian economy in recent years. However, the current published growth rate exaggerates underlying strength. The improving fundamentals owe more to favourable external circumstances than to hard domestic policy choices.

Ramana Ramaswamy is Distinguished Academic Visitor at Queens’ College, Cambridge

National Film Awards 2018

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The National Film awards were announced by Shekhar Kapur, the head of the Jury for feature films, on April 13, 2018.  While Vinod Khanna was posthumously given the prestigious  Dadasaheb Phalke award, the critically acclaimed Assamese movie Village Rockstars won the Best Feature Film award. The best film actress award would be given to Sridevi for her performance in ‘Mom’.Vonod Khanna was a very popular actor and his  popularity in the 1970s rivalled Amitabh Bachchan’s. He passed away last April. He was also an Union minister and BJP MP from Gurdaspur for four terms. Sridevi, often described as the first female superstar, delivered a clutch of compelling performances in movies such as Tamil classic ‘Moondram Pirai’, Sadma (its Hindi version), ‘Mr India’ and ‘Chaalbaaz’.

The National Film Awards this year was a tribute to regional cinema. On a day when Malayalam cinema shone, winning awards in as many as seven categories ranging from best film on social issues (Aalorukkam), best direction (Bhayanakam), best supporting actor for Fahad Fazil for ‘Thondimuthalum Driksak- shiyum,’ cinematography (Bhayanakam), screenplay original and adapted, and production design, the jury also announced 78-year-old legend K J Yesudas as the best male playback singer for 2017.

Jury chairman Shekhar Kapur, who said he was hugely impressed by the regional cinema in India, also had a word of advice for the Hindi film industry: “It needs to pull up its socks.” “The standard of performances in some of the regional films is completely stunning. These regional films are rooted,” Kapur said while announcing winners.

The best feature film award went to Assamese film ‘Village Rockstars’ produced and directed by Rima Das, who also won the award for best editing. Bhanita Das won the best child artist award for the same movie.

Here is the full list of winners:

Dada Saheb Phalke Award: Vinod Khanna

Best Director: Jayaraj for Bhayanakam (Malayalam)

Best Feature Film: Village Rockstars (Assamese)

Best Actor: Ridhhi Sen for Nagar Kirtan (Bengali)

Best Actress: Sridevi for Mom (Hindi)

Best Supporting Actor – Fahadh Faasil for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum(Malayalam)

Best supporting actress – Divya Dutta for Irada (Hindi)

Best Action Direction: Baahubali 2 (Telugu)

Best Choreography: Ganesh Acharya for Toilet Ek Prem Katha

Best Film for National Integration – Dhappa (Marathi)

Best Popular Film: Baahubali 2(Telugu)

Best Debut Film of a Director:Pampally for Sinjar (Jasari)

Best film on Social Issues:Aalorukkam (Malayalam)

Best Child artist: Bhanita Das  for Village Rockstars (Assamese)

Best Children’s Film: Mhorkya(Marathi)

Best Cinematography: Nikhil S Praveen for Bhayanakam(Malayalam)

Best Special Effects: Baahubali 2 (Telugu)

Special Jury Award: Nagar Kirtan (Bengali)

Best Film Critic: Giridhar Jha

Special Mention for Film Criticism: Sunil Mishra of Madhya Pradesh

Special Mention:

Mhorkya (Marathi)

Hello RC (Odiya)

Take Off (Malayalam)

Pankaj Tripathi for Newton (Hindi)

Malayalam actor Parvathy

Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: Irada (Hindi)

Best Regional films

Kaccha Limbu (Marathi)

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (Malayalam)

Newton (Hindi)

Mayurakshi (Bengali)

Ishu (Assamese)

To Let (Tamil)

Gazi (Telugu)

DHH (Gujarati)

Hebbettu Ramakka (Kannada)

Sinjar (Jasari)

Hello Arsi (Odiya)

Walking With The Wind (Ladakhi)

Paddayi (Tulu)

Music

Best Lyrics: Muthu Ratna for March 22 (Kannada)

Best Music Direction (Songs): A.R. Rahman for Kaatru Veliyidai  (Tamil)

Best Music Direction (Background score): A.R. Rahman for Mom (Hindu)

Best Location Sound Recordist: Mallika Das, Village Rockstar (Assamese)

Best Sound Design: Walking With The Wind (Ladakhi)

Best Female playback Singer– Shasha Tirupati for Vaan Varuvaan from Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil)

Best Male Playback Singer: Yesudas for Poy Maranja KalamfromViswasapoorva M Mansoor (Malayalam)

Production

Best Make Up artist- Ram Razak for Nagar Kirtan (Bengali)

Best Production Design: Santosh Rajan for Take off (Malayalam)

Best Editing: Reema Das for Village Rockstar (Assamese)

Best Costume: Gobinda Mandal for Nagar Kirtan (Bengali)

Screenplay

Best Original Screenplay:  Sajeev Pazhoor forThondimuthalum Driksakshiyum(Malayalam)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jairaj for Bhayankam (Malayalam)

Best Dialogues: Sambit Mohanty for Hello Arsi (Odiya)

India wrap up CWG 2018 campaign with 66 medals

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Performance Ranking

Australia topped with 80 Gold medals, 59 silver medals and 59 bronze medals followed by England (45G, 45 S and 46 B) and India (26 G, 2O S and 20 B). Nine World and 91 CWG Records were broken during the 21st CWG or Gold Coast Games. Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin announced David Liti, New Zealand weightlifter, as the athlete of the games.

Youngest players

At the age of 11, table tennis player from England Anna Hursey was the youngest competitor at the Gold Coast games. From Indian team the youngest player in the Commonwealth Games was 15-year old Anish Bhanwala. He won gold medal in 25m rapid fire pistol event. After wrapping up the gold in the 25m rapid fire pistol event, India’s youngest Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, Anish Bhanwala, has more pressing matters on hand. His focus will now shift from the Belmont Shooting Range at the Commonwealth Games to the CBSE Class X exams. Born in Gohana’s Kasandi village in Sonepat, shooting wasn’t the first sport Anish tried his hand on. He competed at the U-12 modern pentathlon World Championships in 2013 and the Asian modern pentathlon Championships in 2015. Pentathalon comprises shooting, swimming, fencing, equestrianism and cross country running and it is shooting Anish zeroed in on ultimately.

India ranks third with all round performance

From the teen shooting trio of Manu Bhaker, Mehuli Ghosh and Anish Bhanwala, the historic table tennis performance by Manika Batra to the arrival of a very confident Neeraj Chopra on the big stage, India had its next crop of stars ready to challenge the world. The redoubtable Saina Nehwal provided the final day golden touch with her women’s singles gold, much like the 2010 Games where her top finish was a shade more significant for it took the overall tally to 100. With 26 gold, 20 silver and as may bronze medals, India signed off third on the table—a promotion of two positions from Glasgow and it was a combination of youth and experience which delivered the results.

At 2010 Games in New Delhi, India won 101 medal, including 38 gold while at 2002 Manchester Games India had managed a total of 69 medal of which 30 were gold. The likes of M C Mary Kom, Seema Punia and Sushil Kumar showed that experience can never be discounted either, turning back the clock to deliver performances which were nothing short of awe-inspiring. While the shooters, weightlifters, wrestlers and the boxers were expected to bring home the maximum share of medal, there was a significant new addition to that in table tennis.

After just one bronze in the 2014 edition, there were significant concerns about how the performance might shape up this time. But Manika Batra was determined to ensure that things turn out differently. The 22-year-old, who dropped out of college to focus on her game, justified what many would call a massive risk. It was by far the best individual performance by an Indian athlete as she ensnared a historic individual gold, a team gold, a women’s doubles silver and a mixed doubles bronze.

On the other end of the spectrum were Mary Kom and Sushil. Without a shadow of doubt among the greatest athletes of their respective sports but faced with questions about their future quite often now, the duo decided to show what it means to turn the clock back. So, both a 34-year-old Sushil and a 35-year-old Mary Kom gave performances to remember, quite literally schooling their younger opponents just how turn on the style without compromising on the substance.

The sheer diversity of medal winners was a heartwarming aspect of the Games for India. There were medals from squash, although not gold, there were nine medals from boxing, 12 from wrestling, 16 from shooting and nine from weightlifting. In fact, it was the weightlifters who set the ball rolling with their best ever performance—the highlight of which was the absence of any doping suspicion. Records tumbled as the likes of Mirabai Chanu, Sanjita Chanu and Sathish Sivalingam remained heads and shoulders above their competitors.

Shooters were not to be left behind and almost everyday, a gold tumbled out of the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane. The only blip was the seasoned Gagan Narang going empty-handed from the event but the mantle was passed on to the likes of Manu, Anish and Mehuli—the teen trio that lived upto the pre-event hype. With shooting not a part of the 2022 Birmingham CWG, India would be at a massive loss on the medal count and the performance this time is likely to be cherished for a long time to come.

At the badminton courts, it was mostly about Saina and P V Sindhu but K Srikanth continued to create a space of his own, taking down the legendary Lee Chong Wei during the gold-winning team competition. In the Saina vs Sindhu battle, the former came out trumps, displaying a very special kind of aggression in the final.

The boxing arena at the Oxenford Studios was witness to a historic Indian performance in which all eight men in fray won medals—two gold, three silver and three bronze, while Mary Kom continued to be the top performing woman with her gold.

And there was lots to celebrate in track and field too with Neeraj Chopra’s season’s best 86.47m Javelin show for gold being the biggest takeaway. The 20-year-old showed he is one for the future with a performance that had brilliance written all over it.

Seema Punia delivered a silver, her second successive, in discus throw, a remarkable achievement for the 34-year-old, whose doping past continues to cast a shadow on her present.

But there were disappointments too, the biggest being the two hockey teams. The women managed to improve to fourth this time from fifth of the past two editions, but the men, silver-medallists in 2010 and 2014 embarrassed themselves with a fourth-place finish. Manpreet Singh’s team lacked finesse and resolve, the lowest point of its campaign being a 2-2 draw with a Pakistan in shambles.

The gymnasts, cyclists and swimmers were not really expected to throw up surprises and they didn’t either, fading into oblivion without much of a fight.

Away from the furore, however, India could certainly be glad about emergence of a new crop of athletes ready to conquer the world.

Relevant Information on Commonwealth Games 2018

The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games and the first time a major multi-sport event achieved gender equality by having an equal number of events for males and female atheletes.

More than 4,400 athletes from 71 Commonwealth Games Associations took part including Gambia where were readmitted as a Commonwealth Games Federation member on 31 March 2018. With 275 sets of medals, the games featured 19 Commonwealth sports, including beach volleyball, para triathlon and women’s rugby sevens. These sporting events took place at 14 venues in the host city, two venues in Brisbane and one venue each in Cairns and Townsville.

These were the first Commonwealth Games to take place under the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) presidency of Louise Martin, CBE. The host city Gold Coast was announced at the CGF General Assembly in Basseterre, Saint Kitts, on 11 November 2011. Gold Coast became the seventh Oceanian city to host the Commonwealth Games. These were the eighth games to be held in Oceania and Southern Hemisphere.

The official motto for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was “Share the Dream”. It was chosen to highlight the dreams and experience at the games that were shared by participants of the games, ranging from athletes to volunteers and the host country Australia to the world including the Commonwealth nations. The emblem of the 2018 Commonwealth Games was a silhouette of the skyline and landscape of Gold Coast, the host city of the games.[ Borobi was named as the mascot of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in 2016. Borobi is a blue koala, with indigenous markings on its body. The term “borobi” means koala in the Yugambeh language, spoken by the indigenous Yugambeh people of the Gold Coast and surrounding areas.[

IMF predicts India to be the fastest growing economy this year

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International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted (April 17) that India would be the fastest growing major economy in the world again in 2018. According to the IMF,   GDP growth of India is estimated to be 7.4 percent in 2018 and 7.8% in 2019. Since the Chinese economy is cooling and estimated by the Chinese government to have a growth rate between 6.5 to 7.0 percent in the next few years (a new normal), India is poised to regain its position as fastest-growing major economies. In its Spring 2018 report, IMF predicts that with growth “picking up” after falling sharply in the second quarter of 2017 due to “one-off factors”, India in 2018 and 2019 would re-emerge as fastest-growing major economies.IMF has predicted that China would grow respectively at 6.6% and 6.4% in the two years.

Among largest economies, IMF’s 2018 growth projections are 1.2% for Japan and 2.9% for the United States. US growth will be boosted in part by a largely temporary fiscal stimulus, which explains over one-third of our upgrade over last October for 2018 global growth. The overall global growth is expected to tick up to 3.9% in both 2018 and 2019.

IMF said that India has made progress on structural reforms in the recent past. Praising the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), IMF said that it will help India increase tax compliance, efficiency, and help reduce internal barriers. It is noteworthy that while IMF makes its projections on current year basis (January-December), India follows financial year (April-March).However, the IMF report has pointed out that realization of inclusiveness would still be a big challenge in the medium-term despite higher growth. Further the report cautioned that India’s high public debt and recent failure to achieve the budget’s deficit target call for continued fiscal consolidation into the medium term to further strengthen fiscal policy credibility.

Rape culture

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“A slut is someone, usually a woman, who’s stepped outside of the very narrow lane that good girls are supposed to stay within. Sluts are loud. We’re messy. We don’t behave. In fact, the original definition of “slut” meant “untidy woman.” But since we live in a world that relies on women to be tidy in all ways, to be quiet and obedient and agreeable and available (but never aggressive), those of us who color outside of the lines get called sluts. And that word is meant to keep us in line.”
― Jaclyn Friedman

 

“Actually, nothing hurts like hearing the word slut, unless it is hearing the word rape dropped about carelessly. Again, a word I wouldn’t have thought much about, except that when I was in high school a girl gave her senior speech on her best friend’s rape. She ended not with an appear for women’s rights or self defense, but by begging us to consider our language. We use the word ‘rape’ so casually, for sports, for a failed test, to spice up jokes. ‘The test raped me.’ ‘His smile went up to justifiable rape.’ These references confer casualness upon the word, embedding it into our culture, stripping it of shock value, and ultimately numb us to the reality of rape.”
― Christine Stockton

 

Are we tending to a new normal- a rape culture? Event, outrage, memories, metaphors, and then again events…. Again and again…? Where are we going?

India felt let down for what happened in Kathua and Unnao and now in Surat. Girls of India are scared, irrespective of their gold medals and shining performance in a variety of areas, they are not sure they are safe!  India, nevertheless, salutes Gopal S. Chaturvedi, the advocate of Allahabad High Court, who chose to speak and wage a battle against such injustice and brutality while India was shocked and wordless!  India loves his humanism and audacity! He is a man!   Later Prime Minster expressed his pain on these brutal and inhuman acts and said (April 15) that incidents like these could not be a part of any civilised society and promised to make sure that the culprits do not get away– “As a country, as a society we all are ashamed of it (rapes). I want to assure the country that no culprit will be spared, complete justice will be done. Our daughters will definitely get justice.”

 For people it is hard to understand how can a law maker be a rapist? How can a rapist win an election? That is what allegedly happened in Unnao. And police picked up the father of the victim who was brutally beaten by the men of the lawmaker and the perpetrators of crime remained scot free. Later the father of the victim died in police custody with severe wounds. That is how the law and order machinery failed. The people who mattered kept silent, and Gopal S. Chaturvedi decided to file a PIL.

Ruling on a PIL petition filed by senior advocate Gopal S. Chaturvedi, who had raised questions on why the police had not arrested the MLA, the Allahabad High Court came down strongly on the Yogi Adityanath government, saying, “The disturbing feature of the case is that the law and order machinery and the government officials were directly in league and under the influence” of the MLA. The Allahabad High Court directed (April 13) the CBI to arrest BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused of abduction and rape of a minor girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. Taking over the probe, the CBI lodged three FIRs in the case. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice Suneet Kumar said the approach of the State Advocate General, who argued that the accused MLA could not be arrested due to insufficient evidence, “not only exudes an unpleasant flavour, but raises doubts about the bona fides of the police authorities at the highest level.” The court said, “In our opinion, arrest of the accused in the present case is necessarily required to safeguard the majesty of law and the dignity of the prosecutrix (the minor) and to instill confidence that free and fair investigation shall be undertaken by the Investigating agency.” Citing the SIT report on the incidents, the court lambasted the police and doctors, who treated the minor’s father, for tampering with evidence and trying to “create terror and intimidating” the minor and her family.

 Earlier in January a brutal rape and murder case was reported from Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir. The Kathua rape case involving Asifa was a reminder of how low sick people can go. The case involving abduction, rape, and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Rasana village near Kathua in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in January 2018 was one of ugliest acts by anti social and criminal elements. A charge sheet for the case has been filed, and the accused have been arrested and are expected to be tried in a court of law. The victim, Asifa Bano, belonged to the nomad Bakarwal community. She disappeared for a week before her dead body was discovered by the villagers a kilometer away from the village. The incident made national news when charges were filed against eight men in April 2018. The arrests of the accused led to protests from groups, one of which was attended by two ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party, both of whom have now resigned. The rape and murder, as well as the support the accused received sparked widespread outrage.

In yet another case of horrific brutality to a minor girl in Surat, Gujarat police has found the body of a 9-year-old girl with more than 80 injuries, including some on her private parts. According to the media reports, the post-mortem report of the minor has revealed that she was raped and tortured before being strangled to death. The police had found the body on 6 April at a ground in Surat’s Bhestan area. The victim is yet to be identified. The post-mortem report also revealed that she was tortured for more than six days as the 86 external injuries, she sustained, were inflicted over a week. Most of the injuries were caused by a wooden object.

The larger question is not about involvement of any political party—it is only incidental that rapists have allegiance to this party or that party and who safeguarded the perpetrators of crime. The more troubling question is about the deep rooted perversion in society and about the way we educate and groom our boy children to develop a wrong image and perception in their minds about girls or women as a sex object and an inferior gender, a pleasure thing! The aggression of men against women takes a variety of forms, rape being one of them. There are many other forms of injustice and discrimination and we see in everyday life how women are treated as ‘second sex’. We know girls face nutritional discrimination from childhood, lack of opportunity and exposure, harassment and discrimination at work place and last but not the least domestic violence at home. Another troubling trend is that irrespective of education and economic status large number of men still continue to imagine women as an ‘item girl’ or a ‘thing of sexual pleasure’ only as if they do not have other ‘human identities’ as individuals or living being. We see how the level of commitment or tolerance of such brutalities belies our education or social position. There are rapists everywhere. Our daughters are not safe in womb; they are not safe out of the womb either. And stigma of rape lies with the rape victim rather than the male perpetrators of the crime.

             We need to have a serious introspection by all the stakeholders, how do we want to develop our culture and what place we want to give to our daughters, who would be the future mothers and companions on which the failure and success of new millennium India would depend. Laws offer only a partial solution, what we need is a 360 degree change in attitude. The million dollar question is how will it be possible? Do we have answers? We can have answers only if we are honest and determined. How can a rapist be a lawmaker? Why people vote for such people? Why the people in power and authority keep silent and institutions immobile when such heinous crimes are committed? Nirbhaya must be disappointed in her grave, India has not changed much since she was raped and brutalized! A society which does not respect woman can never be happy. Have we chosen to be so?  The heart of millions of common men of India aches. They might be wondering on the initiative called Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao. What for? Rape? Let’s seek in our hearts do we respect other women as we intend others should respect our mothers, sisters and daughters? Do we really want to give freedom, dignity and equal opportunity to our daughters and sisters? Why are we so sick? Does the most fundamental unit of institution called families bother how their sons are groomed to imagine and visualize the ‘other sex?’

हड़प्पा सभ्यता के विभिन्न चरण

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वर्तमान पाकिस्तान और पश्चिमी भारत में लगभग 2500 ई पू के आसपास हड़प्पा सभ्यता (परिपक्व चरण) पल्लवित हुई. परिपक्व हड़प्पा सभ्यता को ताम्र-पाषाण युग के तीसरे चरण की सभ्यता माना जाता है.
         सभ्यता का पहला उत्खनित स्थल हड़प्पा है, जिसका उत्खनन 1921 में श्री दयाराम साहनी के नेतृत्व में हुआ. 1922 में राखालदास बनर्जी ने मोहनजोदड़ो का उत्खनन किया. पुरातात्विक प्रमाणों से यह स्पष्ट है कि हड़प्पा सभ्यता का विकास अनायास या रातोंरात नहीं हुआ, बल्कि पूर्ववर्ती सभ्यताओं के चरणबद्ध विकास ने अंततः हड़प्पा जैसी विकसित नागरिक सभ्यता का रूप लिया.

उद्भव और विकास :

हड़प्पा सभ्यता के उद्भव और विकास को चार चरणों में देखा जा सकता है…
(क) प्रथम चरण : इस चरण में पूर्वी बलूचिस्तान में घुमक्कड़ पशुचारकों का स्थायी कृषि की ओर उन्मुख होना देखा जा सकता है. भेड़ और बकरी जैसे पशुओं को पालने के प्रमाण भी इस चरण में मिलते हैं. इस चरण में फ्लेक और प्रस्तर निर्मित उपकरणों का प्रयोग देखा गया है. हस्तनिर्मित मृद्भांड भी कई स्थलों से प्राप्त हुए हैं. किली गुल मुहम्मद. रानी घुंडई, डाबरकोट, अंजीरी आदि इस चरण के महत्वपूर्ण प्राप्त स्थल हैं.
(ख) द्वितीय चरण : इस चरण में ताम्र प्रयोग के साक्ष्य मिलते हैं. बड़े ग्रामों की संख्या में वृद्धि के साथ-साथ नगरों के उदय की दृष्टि से यह चरण महत्वपूर्ण है. हस्तनिर्मित और चाक से बने मृद्भांडों पर ज्यामितीय चित्र अंकित मिलते हैं. इस चरण के महत्वपूर्ण स्थल हैं- किली गुल मुहम्मद, मुंडीगक, दम्बसादात, रानी घुंडई और नाल.
(ग) तृतीय चरण : ग्रामीण जीवन के स्थिरीकरण के साथ क्षेत्रीयकरण के प्रमाण इस चरण में दिखाई देते हैं. ताम्र और कांस्य के पिन और चाकू जैसे उपकरण प्राप्त हुए हैं. स्त्रियों और पशुओं की प्रतिमाओं की प्राप्ति कई स्थलों से हुई है. मृद्भांडों पर पक्षियों के चित्र भी मिलते हैं. दक्षिणी बलूचिस्तान, दक्षिण पश्चिम सिंध, मोहनजोदड़ो, मुंडीगक, दम्बसादात, रानी घुंडई, आमरी, कोटदीजी और कालीबंगन आदि इस चरण के प्रमुख स्थल हैं.
(घ) चतुर्थ चरण: यह हड़प्पा सभ्यता का परिपक्व चरण है. यहाँ बड़े नगरों का उदय और उद्योग धंधों के विकास के साक्ष्य प्राप्त होते हैं.
(ङ) पंचम चरण: यह परिपक्व हड़प्पा सभ्यता के अवसान का काल है. बड़े-बड़े नगर धीरे-धीरे विलुप्त होते जाते हैं. इसे कब्रिस्तानी संस्कृति या सेमेट्री एच कल्चर भी कहते हैं.

Commonwealth Games 2018: Manika Batra leads India to historic women table tennis gold

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Manika Batra inspired India to a historic gold medal with her stunning singles victories, fashioning an unthinkable 3-1 victory over four-time gold medallists Singapore in the final of the women’s team event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. World No. 58 Batra first scored the biggest of her career by humbling world number four and multiple Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei 3-2 before brushing aside 100th-ranked Yihan Zhou 3-0 to engineer a sensational win over the mighty Singapore side. It was mother of all upsets as prior to this final, the Singapore women’s team had never lost in the Commonwealth Games since the sport was inducted in the program way back in 2002.

The victory tasted even sweeter as the women had returned empty handed from the Glasgow edition four years ago. It was only the second table tennis team gold for India at the Games with the men achieving the feat in the 2006 Melbourne edition.

Earlier in the day, India had blanked England 3-0 to reach the women’s team final for the second time. While Batra was the architect of India’s historic win, the experienced pairing of Madhurika Patkar and Mouma Das played the supporting role to perfection by winning the crucial doubles tie 3-1 (11-7 11-6 8-11 11-7) against Zhou and Mengyu Yu for a 2-1 lead in the final. After Batra shocked Feng 3-2 (11-8 8-11 7-11 11-9 11-7) in the opening singles, Mengyu had equalized for Singapore with a straight game win over Patkar. Batra then proved to be too good for Yihan, who failed to read her deceptive strokes. The Singaporean put a back hand long as the Indian completed a 3-0 (11-7 11-4 11-7), leading to wild celebrations.

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