Loud Thinking

Archive for 2013

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. –Chinese Proverb

An unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates

Eighty percent of success is showing up. –Woody Allen

Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. –Napoleon Hill

Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. –Vince Lombardi

We become what we think about. –Earl Nightingale

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. –Mark Twain

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. –John Maxwell

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. –Tony Robbins

The mind is everything. What you think you become. –Buddha

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt. Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth.”

— William Purkey

Appreciation is to value highly.

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

Thomas Paine (1737-1809);
scholar, intellectual, writer

This is called vision of the leaders. This is called nationalistic approach and 24K patriotism.

A TOI report published on 9 October, 2013.

A must read for our FM Mr. Ishaq Dar and Governor SBP Mr. Yasin Anwar.

MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan aims to build sophisticated financial infrastructure in three years that will facilitate trillion-dollar core sector investments, leading to sustained economic growth.

Further, now that the currency has stabilised, the dependence on external sources of funding needs to be curbed and domestic savings have to be encouraged, the governor, who took charge on September 4, said.

“We cannot rely too much on the outside world because we do not want to run large current account deficits…moderate CAD with a lot of saving domestically will allow us to still fund a significant amount of investment which we need,” Rajan said in an interview to ET. “We have to give savers a good deal, be it outside savers or domestic savers. That match between savings and investment has to come about.”

Despite anaemic economic growth, monetary policy should aim at bringing down inflation expectations. Growth with low inflation will strengthen the economy, Rajan said. Many investors expect Rajan to raise the benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points on October 29.

October 29 is the date of RBI’s next rate-setting meeting. On September 20, Rajan had raised the repo rate — the rate at which RBI lends to banks — by 25 basis points to 7.5%.

“By focusing on generating growth with low inflation in this country we will do the best thing we can to stabilise the value of the currency to stabilise capital flows,” said Rajan. “So, let us focus on that. And the other would take care of itself.”

The currency was stabilising, Rajan said, because of the growing expectation that the government would be able to restrict the current account deficit to less than $70 billion, the target set by the Centre.

Both the government and the central bank are on the same wavelength when it comes to what is good for the country, though the tools to achieve them may be debated about, at times even in public, which is a sign of the central bank’s autonomy, he said. “Both sides want growth, both sides want low inflation,” said Rajan.

“There is always a healthy debate on the pace and the instruments we use to achieve those objectives. Ultimately, I think this is true in every country and the whole issue is to try and convince the other side.”

The recent currency and bond market turbulence will not hold back the central bank from moving ahead with the liberalisation of currency and futures trading, since a broader and deeper financial market is essential to fund economic growth.

“There is no intent to clamp down,” said Rajan. “And if anything, what we have to see is how to deepen all our markets and that is going to be our focus. As things return to normalcy, we are going to look at our debt markets, look at our currency markets. Ultimately, you have to look at that number of ($)1 trillion, which is what we need for infrastructure investment over the next few years.”

Write Emails That People Will Read

Corporate employees receive and send more than 100 emails a day on average, and competition for readers’ attention is fierce. Luckily, crafting emails that encourage people to read and act is relatively easy. Before you start typing:
Put the subject line to work. Most of us already use our subject line to predict the “what” of the email, e.g. “Monthly Financials.” But it’s also the place to build a personal bridge: “Monthly Financials, per Peter’s request,” or to indicate urgency: “Monthly Financials. Need feedback by Tuesday.”
Visually highlight the key message. Clear structure and typographical signaling, like bolding and bullets, will boost the odds that your reader will get your message quickly and respond in ways that meet your goal.
Time the delivery for maximum impact. Never send an email at the end of the day or the start of a weekend. Make sure people are opening it at a time when they’re at their desks and have time to read it.

Adapted by HBR from “The Art of Irresistible Email,” by Katie Smith Milway.

I wish Pakistani courts and governments of PMLN, PPP and the PTI also cares for the welfare and RIGHTS of the disabled in the country as is done throughout the world in the civilised countries..!

Supreme Court orders Centre and states to implement 3% quota for disabled

A TOI report of Wednesday, 9 October, 2013.

NEW DELHI: In a landmark order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday prised open significant employment opportunities for the disabled by directing the Centre and states to implement within three months an 18-year-old law mandating 3% reservation for such persons in government jobs.

The 1995 Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act came into force on February 7, 1996 providing a minimum 3% reservation in government establishments to the extent of 1% each for persons suffering from blindness or low vision; hearing impairment; and locomotor disability or cerebral palsy.

The reservations will be implemented by all government departments, public sector undertakings and government companies at the Centre and states, enlarging opportunities for persons with disabilities eligible for benefits under the law.

The court rejected concern of the 3% quota breaching the 50% cap on reservations set by the SC itself in the Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment, indicating the reservations are to be carved out of existing Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and even general category seats currently lying vacant.

The National Federation of the Blind through advocate S K Rungta had moved the Delhi High Court seeking implementation of the law in letter and spirit while pointing out contradictions and deficiencies in the office memorandum issued by the Centre. The HC had allowed their petition. The Centre challenged the HC verdict in the SC.

The court rejected the Centre’s argument that 3% reservation to disabled would see quotas exceed the 50% cap as it said 49% reservation to SCs (15%), STs (7%) and OBCs (27%) in government jobs was vertical in character, while the benefits to disabled were horizontal in nature.

An apex court bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjana Desai and Ranjan Gogoi was moved by the distress caused to differently-abled persons and lamented the lackadaisical approach of the Centre and states in fully implementing the law.

“Employment is a key factor in the empowerment and inclusion of people with disabilities. It is an alarming reality that disabled people are out of job not because their disability comes in the way of their functioning, rather it is social and practical barriers that prevent them from joining the workforce,” the court pointed out.

The bench added, “As a result, many disabled people live in poverty and in deplorable conditions. They are denied the right to make a useful contribution to their own lives and to the lives of their families and community.”

The court said even though the Centre and states had a categorical obligation under the Constitution and various international treaties relating to human rights as well as treaties to protect the rights of disabled, it is unfortunate that “even though the Act was enacted way back in 1995, the disabled people have failed to get required benefit until today”.

“We hereby direct the appropriate government to compute the number of vacancies available in all the establishments and further identify the posts for disabled persons within a period of three months from today and implement the same without default,” said Justice Sathasivam, who authored the judgment for the bench.

The court directed the Centre to issue instructions to all departments, public sector undertakings and government companies “declaring non-observance of the scheme of reservation for persons with disabilities should be considered as an act of non-obedience and the concerned nodal officers responsible for the proper strict implementation of reservation for person with disabilities, shall be departmentally proceeded against for the default”.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. –Michael Jordan

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. –Babe Ruth

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. –John Lennon

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. –Albert Einstein

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. –Robert Frost

The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’ -Jeffrey Bezos