Loud Thinking

Archive for July, 2013

The influence of Indian army over Indian government .. http://t.co/DjSKiCOupF

My old comments on a TOI news of 21 September, 2012 and latest observations of a senior US army general about the influence of the Indian army over its government.

Greatness of a general doesn’t lie in waging and winning a war. Rather, in avoiding the war.

Indian Army chief opposes PM’s trip to Pak (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Army-chief-opposes-PMs-trip-to-Pak/articleshow/16482507.cms#write )

Here, I Remember what Winston Churchill said about the generals, “war is too serious a business to be left to the generals”. Adding to that I will say “peace is even more serious a business to be left to the generals, who by their training are mostly prone to their myopic and tunnel vision.”

I wonder, if the Berlin wall would ever have been removed, if the decision was left to the generals.

So Gen. Bikram Singh should also know that it’s not Siachin, but the future of 1.5 billion humanity of sub continent which is at stake. If, the blood has been shed on a foolish act in the past, why not take action to stop further shedding of blood, for the noble cause of peace & eradication of ignorance and poverty, in the sub continent.

The thinking of such generals, can delay the emancipation of Indians and Pakistanis, but can never permanently deny the divends of peace to such a large world population, which is no more interested in continued acrimony, between the two neighboring countries.

Now,the peace loving people of both the countries have decided once for ever, that they will no more remain the prisoner of the past.

If any body wants to observe the dividends of peace between the neighbors, just look at Europe, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Now, I invite the attention of all those people towards the following eye opening comments of a senior US army general, reported on 29 July, 2013 by the TOI, who say within and outside Pakistan, that Pak army is very influential in exercising its authority over the civilian governments in Pakistan, with reference to the major policy issues of the country.

WASHINGTON: The Indian Army is by far the most influential in the Asia Pacific region, a top American General said as he stressed on the importance of building military-to-military relationship between the two countries.

“As is in many of the Asia-Pacific countries, the army is the dominant service in those countries. India is a prime example. It is by far the largest service. It is by far the most influential,” US Army chief of staff General Raymond T Odierno said.

Link:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Indian-Army-most-influential-in-Asia-Pacific-region-US-General/articleshow/21465988.cms

Mr. Ishaq Dar, where are the $800 million you said will be received from the Etisalat? Hope it was not a lolly pop for the nation..!

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

— Michael Jordan

Learning is the process of gaining knowledge.

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”

Abigail Adams (1744-1818);
U.S. First Lady (1797-1801)

Focus on Learning Your First 30 Days on the Job

When starting a new job, you want to focus your first month on finding out as much as you can about the organization, the people, and your role. This can start before you assume the new job by browsing the company website and talking with people who know the organization well, such as former employees. Soon after you begin the job, review detailed operating plans and performance data. Look through recent reviews for all of your direct reports. Meet with each of them one-on-one and ask about their view of the team and where it needs to go. While you’re taking in all of this information, be sure to develop hypotheses about what you need to get done and the best way to go about it. And of course, all of this learning will generate additional questions, so never stop asking them even when you’ve started to take action.

Adapted by HBR from The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded.

Benefits of Walking

The human body is made to walk. Â
Walking 30 minutes a day cuts the rate of people becoming diabetic by more than half and it cuts the risk of people over 60 becoming diabetic by almost 70 percent. Â
Walking cuts the risk of stroke by more than 25 percent. Â
Walking reduces hypertension. The body has over 100,000 miles of blood vessels. Those blood vessels are more supple and healthier when we walk. Â
Walking cuts the risk of cancer as well as diabetes and stroke. Â
Women who walk have a 20 percent lower likelihood of getting breast cancer and a 31 percent lower risk of getting colon cancer. Â
Women with breast cancer who walk regularly can reduce their recurrence rate and their mortality rate by over 50 percent. Â
The human body works better when we walk. The body resists diseases better when we walk, and the body heals faster when we walk. Â
We don’t have to walk a lot. Thirty minutes a day has a huge impact on our health. Â
Men who walk thirty minutes a day have a significantly lower level of prostate cancer. Men who walk regularly have a 60 percent lower risk of colon cancer. Â
For men with prostate cancer, studies have shown that walkers have a 46 percent lower mortality rate. Â
Walking also helps prevent depression, and people who walk regularly are more likely to see improvements in their depression. Â
In one study, people who walked and took medication scored twice as well in 30 days as the women who only took the medication. Another study showed that depressed people who walked regularly had a significantly higher level of not being depressed in a year compared to depressed people who did not walk. The body generates endorphins when we walk. Endorphins help us feel good. Â
Walking strengthens the heart. Walking strengthens bones.Â
Walking improves the circulatory system. Â
Walking generates positive neurochemicals. Healthy eating is important but dieting can trigger negative neurochemicals and can be hard to do. Â
Walking generates positive neurochemicals. People look forward to walking and enjoy walking. Â
And research shows that fit beats fat for many people. Walking half an hour a day has health benefits that exceed the benefits of losing 20 pounds. Â
When we walk every day, our bodies are healthier and stronger. A single 30 minute walk can reduce blood pressure by five points for over 20 hours. Â
Walking reduces the risk of blood clots in your legs. Â
People who walk regularly have much lower risk of deep vein thrombosis. Â
People who walk are less likely to catch colds, and when people get colds, walkers have a 46 percent shorter symptom time from their colds. Â
Walking improves the health of our blood, as well. Walking is a good boost of high density cholesterol and people with high levels of HDL are less likely to have heart attacks and stroke. Â
Walking significantly diminishes the risk of hip fracture and the need for gallstone surgery is 20 to 31 percent lower for walkers. Â
Walking is the right thing to do. The best news is that the 30 minutes doesn’t have to be done in one lump of time. Two 15 minute walks achieve the same goals. Three 10 minute walks achieve most of those goals. Â
We can walk 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night and achieve our walking goals. Â
Walking feels good. It helps the body heal. It keeps the body healthy. It improves our biological health, our physical health, our psychosocial health, and helps with our emotional health. Walking can literally add years entire years to your life.
Its good to walk.
Be good to yourself. Be good to your body.
ALL ACCUPRESSURE POINTS ARE IN THE SOLE OF YOUR FEET ……
JUST LIKE YOUR HANDS !!

Compiled by Mr. Rafiuddin Sheikh (Karachi).

“Out with everything you don’t need — the junk, clutter,
hang-ups and hurts — and in with the fresh, fantastic,
unencumbered life you’ve always wanted.”

— Oprah

A must read for the PM Pakistan, Prof. Ahsan Iqbal and the entire cabinet of wise men and women

“Power policy”

By Dr Farrukh Saleem
Sunday, July 28, 2013
From Print Edition of the daily “The News”.

Capital suggestion

Thirty percent of the new power policy makes sense. Seventy percent of the new power policy is poppycock. The PML-N wants to deliver. Delivery has three pre-requisites: intention, planning and capacity to implement. The PML-N seems well intentioned and is engaged in some sort of planning as well. In my analysis, capacity is the missing link.

Here’s the sensible part of the policy: smart feeders, re-prioritisation of gas allocation, furnace oil priority for efficient plants and performance contracts with Discos. Furthermore, holding the board of directors responsible, energy-saving bulbs and decentralisation are all steps in the right direction. Other sensible elements include a federal adjuster, external collection agencies, prepaid meters, key client managers and time-of-day metering.

Now the poppycock. We will convert to coal. Imagine: we would need 100,000 tons of coal a day while our current production is 8,000 tons. Realistically, Thar coal will need five to eight years plus a few billion dollars. Time we don’t have, billions we don’t have.

Lo and behold, the power policy does not talk about the two elephants in our power sector. First, our IPPs are running some of the most inefficient power plants on the face of the planet. Second, the government has already resolved to jack up the tariff. The truth is that Pakistan’s IPPs have no incentive to become efficient and Pakistan’s IPPs are massively over billing – and still getting paid.

More poppycock. We will import coal. Imagine: we need to import 100,000 tons a day while our ports are currently handling 6,000 tons a day. Plus, a multibillion dollar logistical and supply-chain infrastructure to transport all that imported coal to the power plants day-in-day-out. Time we don’t have, billions we don’t have.

Even more poppycock: the China connection. The truth is that China is converting its own coal plants to LNG and the truth is that the world outside China is no longer willing to finance coal plants.

Amazingly, the power policy does not talk about the two elephants in the room. One, Nepra the abettor not the regulator, and our oil-guzzling, hugely inefficient IPPs. The truth is that our power plants are gulping down anywhere from 24 kg to 46 kg of furnace oil to produce 100 kWh whereby the world outside Pakistan produces 100kWh with 14 kg of oil. Shockingly, the power policy does not talk about the two elephants in the room. One, our IPPs raking in annual returns of 35 percent to 45 percent. Two, the PPP government also jacked up the tariff that sunk the industrial sector, increased the incentive to steal and doubled the circular debt.

The truly sad truth is that the government of Pakistan (GoP) has signed contracts with the IPPs on behalf of the poor residents of Pakistan. And those contracts have produced only two losers – Pakistan and its even poorer residents. Call it incompetence, another case of public money private greed or a little of both.

Why don’t we accept that the GoP and the IPPs are united in an unholy matrimony? Wedded till 2025 (read: sovereign guarantees). And, regardless of what we put in – oil, gas or coal – our IPPs in their current state of affairs are bound to produce expensive electricity.

We need a Nepra on steroids. We need Nepra to hold IPPs by their necks to improve their efficiency and produce cheaper power.

PS: Who has really formulated this policy? The GoP or the IPP lobby? Elite capture of policy is “where resources transferred designated for the benefit of the poor population are usurped by a few individuals of superior status”.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com

Twitter: @saleemfarrukh