Loud Thinking

Archive for September, 2013

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

— Buddha

“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.”

Margaret Shepherd –
Author, artist

Don’t Overpromise on Your New Job

When taking on a new role, it can be tempting to list out all of the grand things you plan to accomplish in your first year. But be careful before you make any hard commitments. It’s better to underpromise and overdeliver. You don’t know what unforeseen obstacles may get in your way—the organization’s resistance to change, for example. Be conservative when setting expectations with your new boss and other stakeholders. If you deliver more results, you will delight them. But if you promise too much and fall short, you risk undermining your credibility. Even if you successfully complete a great number of projects, but don’t do everything on your list, you will have failed in their eyes.

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

Pakistan submerged in the debt trap..!

There is a feeling that government is mortgaging the future of the country with the foreign donor agencies, by taking so much huge amount of loans (that too just for the repayment of the old loans), which this poor country may never be able to repay. This means that in every terms, we have gone bankrupt; and can’t even breathe without the debt life line.

Today, Pakistan is not under huge debt, rather, it is completely buried under the debt. The government has borrowed Rs.611 billion in just 40 days from the state bank of Pakistan, as against Rs.507 billion in full year (2012-13). In other words, the PMLN’s government has borrowed Rs.15.3 billion per day in 40 days as against Rs.1.4 billion per day by the previous regime in 2012-13.

The 6% depreciation of Rupee vs the USD in the last 80 days, has cost Pakistan Rs.3.5 billion per day and has added additional Rs.276 billion in public debt in the last 80 days. (Figures quoted in this para and its preceding para were reported by Dr. Ashfaque H Khan, in his article titled “A nation’s debt” published by the daily “The News” dated 27 August, 2013).

Drive is to strive vigorously toward a goal or objective.

“You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having.”

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959);
architect

“It’s always wonderful to get to know women, with the mystery and the joy and the depth. If you can make a woman laugh, you’re seeing the most beautiful thing on God’s Earth.”

— Keanu Reeves

WE MUST SAVE PAKISTAN FROM THE COMPLETE FINANCIAL DISASTER

Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The division in society is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.
The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least. Hardly any day passes without reports of suicides committed by the poor due to the economic hardships. Children are not dying in dozens, but in scores due to the measles outbreak and, strangely enough, no soul has moved and not even a single person has been held accountable.
There is a feeling that government has decide to mortgage the country with the foreign donor agencies, by taking so much huge amount of loans (that too just for the repayment of the old loans), which this poor country may never be able to repay. This means that in every terms, we have gone bankrupt; and can’t even breathe without the debt life line.
Today Pakistan is not under huge debt, rather, it is completely buried under the debt. The government has borrowed Rs.611 billion in just 40 days from the state bank of Pakistan, as against Rs.507 billion in full year (2012-13). In other words, the PMLN’s government has borrowed Rs.15.3 billion per day in 40 days as against Rs.1.4 billion per day by the previous regime in 2012-13.
Maybe, we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription to rise again and build the nation from the ashes because, for the overwhelming majority, a time is coming that they will be forced to think: no life no nation.
The current frame work under which the country is being run will not take Pakistan any forward, even if it is allowed to continue, for another 100 years. All small and big nations in our region and the world have overtaken us, in the basic fields of health, education, justice, law and order and food security.
All stakeholders must wake up, as the nation is moving towards destruction and business as usual can do no good for Pakistan; our survival is directly linked with the existence of our nationhood. Nationhood means, “the state or quality of having a status as a separate and independent nation”.
Pakistan needs a turnaround, for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China, under Mao Zedong.
Hence, for all Pakistanis, failure is not an option, but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract for the common people of Pakistan, who always pays 100 percent bills and taxes and never defaults on their bank loans,but is deprived of every conceivable civic amenities. Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.
Changes must be made in the constitution to block corrupt and power hungry mafias from contesting the elections. The current election system should also be radically changed, so that the whole country directly votes for a president/prime minister. However, before the voting, the candidates of all the political parties, for this post of the president/prime minister, must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators, who will be automatically considered elected, according to the percentage of votes cast, in favour of the main candidate, for the top post of the country.
The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised, on which later on, no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan, in each and every field of life after 50 years. This vision should be further divided into ten five years plans.
In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people, to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of the people. from certain large areas over the people of other smaller areas. In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly, any secessionist or separatist activities, currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

Pakistan! Look what the biggest stooge of the America in the region is doing.

(Even for India the self interest is above the US interests. And why can’t Pakistan import cheaper Iranian oil and pay in PKR like India, to support its falling economy? Are we a bigger stooge of America than India? But then India extracts its pound of flesh from the US and we get happy with loans from IMF and WB. Difference is absolutely clear).

A TOI News published today.

Ignore US ire, import Iran oil to save $8.5bn, Veerappa Moily suggests

Veerappa Moily wants govt to import cheaper crude from Iran to save $8.5bn.

TNN | Sep 2, 2013, 12.51AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government will have to tread on a diplomatic tightrope with oil minister M Veerappa Moily suggesting India may save nearly $8.5 billion (around Rs 57,000 crore) by importing cheaper crude from Iran which faces UN sanctions in the wake of its nuclear programme.

In a note to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram, Moily has said that so far this year, India has imported 2 million tonnes of crude from Iran and an additional 11 million tonnes would pare the forex outgo by almost $8.5 billion, assuming oil price at $105.

Last year, India had imported a little over 13 million tonnes from Iran and Moily has suggested that state-run oil companies should be asked to maintain their overall crude imports at last year’s level.

The Iran gambit is central to Moily’s attempt to reduce India’s oil bill by $20 billion but will need a reversal of India’s recent attempts to reduce business with the regime in Tehran.

But the need to control an expanding deficit — fueled by a weak rupee — is becoming urgent, and India may have to repair ties with Iran that have hit an air pocket over the Iranian security forces detaining an Indian ship transporting Iraqi crude. India will need to display some creative diplomacy to tip toe around international sanctions and US sensibilities.

On August 12, even Chidambaram had spoken of importing more crude from Iran as part of his drive to contain current account deficit within the $70 billion target for this financial year. He had, however, made it clear that the operations had be undertaken without breaching UN sanctions.

Although several Asian countries, including India and China, have been provided flexibility, the government has reduced its dependence on Iran. In 2012-13, India imported about 7.2% of its oil from Iran, compared to 10.5% in the previous year.

India imports over 70% of its oil requirement, which is one of the key drivers of India’s import bill. In the absence of a rise in exports, the trade and current account deficits have widened, adding to the pressure on the rupee.

But unlike imports from other countries, India can make the payments to Iran through a rupee account, which was created as part of the settlement mechanism to deal with the UN sanctions.

Moily’s plan is in response to the PM’s call to the ministry seeking a $25 billion cut in the oil import bill to narrow the current account deficit. He has suggested several measures to reduce the oil import bill by $19-20 billion this fiscal.

Want to land a job? Work on your sense of humour

A TOI Report.

One-third of the employers surveyed also said they were more likely to promote employees who asked for a promotion.
PTI | Sep 1, 2013, 07.07PM IST
NEW YORK: Tickling the funny bone of your interviewer may land you the job! Job candidates with a sense of humour are more likely to be hired, a new study has found.

The research also found that when two equally qualified candidates were compared, those who were involved in their community and those who were better dressed were more likely to get the job.

Also, managers said that they were more likely to hire candidates with whom they had something in common.

They also said they were likely to hire a candidate who was physically fit, on top of current affairs, involved in social media or knowledgeable about sports, according to the study conducted by CareerBuilder.

“When you’re looking for a job, the key is selling your personal brand,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.

“Employers are not only looking for people who are professionally qualified for the position, but also someone who is going to fit in at the office,” Haefner said.

The research was based on the responses of more than 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals, ‘BusinessNewsDaily’ reported.

One-third of the employers surveyed also said they were more likely to promote employees who asked for a promotion.

Additionally, hiring managers said there were several ways workers could hurt their chances of receiving a promotion. For example, 71 per cent of hiring managers said workers who said, “That’s not my job” would not get a promotion.

Some other common mistakes that hurt employees’ chances of a promotion included being late to work, lying, taking credit for other people’s work and leaving work early.

Moreover, workers who gossiped, took liberties with expenses, didn’t dress professionally and swore were also unlikely to receive promotion, the researchers said.