Loud Thinking

“Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.”

— Robert Tew

Provincial governments beware : Mango ripening chemicals are cancer causing and injurious for human health..!

Dear all the heads of political parties and the CM’s of the provinces,

AoA.

Sir,

The following news published today, by the Times of India, reveals a very grave danger for human health in mango ripening, with extremely harmful cancer causing chemical, named calcium carbide.

Industrial-grade calcium carbide contains traces of arsenic and phosphorous which are harmful to the body. It damages the skin, kidneys, heart and liver and also causes ulcer and gastric problems.

As such, all high and mighty who are in power in the provinces of Pakistan, are earnestly requested to order an immediate and most severe crack down on this criminal activity of the unscrupulous mango traders in Pakistan, where ripening of mangoes using hazardous chemicals is rampant, as well.

TOI News

AHMEDABAD: In the last few days, the health department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has seized large stocks of mangoes artificially ripened using cancer-causing calcium carbide. On Wednesday, the AMC team inspected the Kalupur fruit market and seized 989 kg of mangoes that had been artificially-ripened. The team also seized more than 40 kg of the deadly carbide from the market.

Mangoes normally ripen towards the end of April, said senior officials at APMC Vejalpur. Hence those which are available in the market before mangoes are due have been ripened using acetylene gas produced from calcium carbide, said a mango vendor in Drive-In area. “In fact, mangoes cannot be ripened in 12 hours with carbide pouches. It is the skin of the fruit that turns yellow when acetylene gas is released from the pouches,” the vendor said.

Industrial-grade calcium carbide contains traces of arsenic and phosphorous which are harmful to the body. It damages the skin, kidneys, heart and liver and also causes ulcer and gastric problems.

Bhavin Solanki, Medical Officer of Health (MOH), said for artificial ripening, raw mangoes are packed in cartons and one small packet of calcium carbide placed between each mango layer. “Some traders put packets of calcium carbide to provide maximum artificial heat to quickly ripen the fruits,” Solanki said. Carbide is used in welding and even a small quantity if consumed can cause serious health problems.

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Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

Overcoming is to prevail over a struggle or conflict.

“Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it…If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, there is always another chance for you. And supposing you have tried and failed again and again, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

Mary Pickford (1892-1979);
actress

Questions Successful Innovators Should Ask

Asking a lot of questions is one behavior that successful innovators share. Instead of just rushing to take action, posing questions helps you crystallize the entire innovation process by improving your ability to spot new growth opportunities, pinpoint disruptive threats, and more. Consider using questions like these to increase your odds of success:
What problem is the customer struggling to solve? If people are spending time or money trying to solve a problem (and existing solutions fall short), there’s no clearer sign of an opportunity for innovation.
Who has already solved this problem? It’s likely that someone has already found a solution in a different industry, country, or company. Gaining inspiration from their successful approach can speed up your process.
What can you do that few other companies in the world can do? Zero in on what makes you unique (a trusted brand, access to a distribution channel, technological know-how) to maximize the chances of creating a powerful and compelling offering.

Adapted by HBR from “ Eight Essential Questions for Every Corporate Innovator” by Scott Anthony.

An eye opening letter published today in the daily “Dawn”.

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif the public will be looking to the answers of the questions raised in this letter..!

Pakistani bonds
From the Newspaper

Comment Email Print

THIS refers to recent news reports on Pakistan bonds. I think the issue was good news for US fund managers. Most of the allocation was taken up by them. It was also good earnings for the four leading banks concerned with the issue.

The recently floated Sri Lankan bonds, with five years’ maturity, had a coupon of 5.13pc. Our Pakistan bond of a similar period and maturity has a coupon of 7.25pc. This is a substantial rate difference.

The nation would be interested in knowing from the finance minister as to how many countries have issued sovereign bonds in the last 12 months with a yield as high as the Pakistani bond?

Shiraz Sachedina

Karachi

“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.”

— Lemony Snicket

“If a man wants his dreams to come true, he must wake them up.”

Anonymous

Consider Keeping Your R&D Close to Home

Just because a company can offshore a portion of its operations doesn’t mean it always should. Recent research shows that although there are benefits to moving aspects of a business abroad (e.g. savings), the costs may add up over time through increased organizational complexity – and at a certain point, the move could be counterproductive. Global competition puts pressure on firms to relocate certain arms, even research and development, overseas. (With nations like China ramping up their innovative capacities, why stop at offshore manufacturing or customer support?) But research suggests that offshoring too much of a firm’s innovation is likely to be costly, because it can hinder a firm’s ability to adapt to changing environments, which can affect performance. So keeping R&D on home turf can be beneficial in a world where innovation cycles grow shorter and developing new technologies more difficult.

Adapted by HBR from “ Research: Don’t Offshore Your R&D” by Walter Frick.

Panacea for the ills of Pakistan..!

@nayyarahmad: After 66 years, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The schis… http://t.co/wsFCiUmuWZ