The Ponzis and the Scapegoats - I!!

Year back, a regular customer of our medical store asked me to invest a small amount into a private investment scheme. He also mentioned that he too would be benefited form my investment but I was not in mood to oblige him. He was quite unhappy with my decision even told me that he being a regular customer and he is taking medicine worth thousands rupees every month and I should return a favour against it. I was quite taken aback and amused as if he was doing a favour to me by paying thousand bucks against the medicine of same amount he used to purchased. During that period whenever he met me he never hid his unhappiness and I was least bothered by it. After some time the said investment scheme collapsed and now he realised the mistake but only after losing some undisclosed amounts.

We are living in a messy epoch and  investment is the only way to grow our money. We need more money, as the life expectancy is more than what it used to be and lifestyle too is more complex but investment not mean to throw my hard earned money to a dustbin and wait for a return. What happened in Bengal with Chit Fund is shows that people need to be educated against this scamsters. In rural India people still not familiar with the banking system and only the rude banking officials should be blamed for it. These unregulated investment scheme reach out to the poor and make a merry with their hard earned money. The chit-fund business continues to flourish in West Bengal despite the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiating action against two companies for misusing the regulator's name to invite deposits from the public.  Before, it happened with Sanchayita scheme and now it is with Shradha group.

These scheme also known as Ponzi scheme. The scheme gets its name from an Italian American called Charles Ponzi who in 1919 ran an investment scheme in  Boston, which promised to double the investor’ s investment in 90 days. This was later cut to 45 days. At its peak the scheme managed to collect around $40 million and had nearly 15,000 investors.

The Scam and the Scamsters

Stock Guru

 Ulhas Prabhakar Khaire, 33, and his wife Raksha J Urs, 30 had floated a company, Stock Guru India, promising to double investors' money in six months. They had launched a high-profile promotional campaign and even roped in celebrities. Masters of disguise, the couple had changed their names to Lokeshwar Dev Jain and Priyanka Dev Jain while running the company and disappeared with the investors' money. Delhi Police nabbed the couple from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, where they had opened another fake investment company. Police said the couple changed their looks and assumed new names based on stolen identities for each of their fraudulent operations. The scam came to light around April last year after investors complained to the police. In Delhi alone, cops have received 14,303 complaints from investors who had put in money ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 60 lakh in Stock Guru India.

Sanchayita

in the early eighties when several investors and agents committed suicide. Sanchayita collected more than Rs 120 crore in 1980 before its offices were raided and it folded up with only a handful of people getting back a minuscule amount of money. Two main promoters of the group were arrested with one of them Shambhu Maukherjee committing suicide and Swapan Guha being declared insolvent by the court. Another accused Biharilal Morarka is still at large. As for investors and agents there are reports of several committing suicide and a handful pinning hope against the hope with a criminal case dragging on in court for more than 30 years now.

!!!The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. -  Frank McKinney!!!

To Dust!

In the memory of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, only writer who own both Oscar and Booker. She always stayed away from limelight and lived a quite life.

Ruth Prawer was born in Cologne, Germany to Jewish parents Marcus and Eleanora Prawer. Marcus was a lawyer who moved to Germany from Poland to escape conscription and Eleanora's father was cantor of Cologne's largest synagogue. The family fled the Nazi regime in 1939, emigrating to Britain.

During World War II, Jhabvala lived in Hendon in London, experienced the Blitz and began to speak English rather than German. She became a British citizen in 1948. The following year, her father committed suicide after discovering that forty members of his family had died during the Holocaust. Jhabvala attended Hendon County School and then Queen Mary College, where she received an MA in English literature in 1951.

In 1951, Prawer married Cyrus H. Jhabvala, an Indian Parsi architect. The couple moved to Delhi, India, and they had three daughters: Ava, Firoza and Renana. Her three daughters are living in three different countries, India, the United States and England. In 1975 Jhabvala moved to New York and divided her time between India and the United States. In 1986, she became a naturalised citizen of the United States.

In 1963, Jhabvala was approached by filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant to write a screenplay of her 1960 novel The Householder. The film, The Householder, was released by Merchant Ivory Productions in 1963 – this began a partnership that would produce over 20 films. She had no previous film making experience. The next Merchant-Ivory project Shakespeare Wallah (1965), was a critical success, and it was followed by a number of other collaborations between the three, including an adaptation of Jhabvala's novel Heat and Dust, (1983); the docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay (1983); A Room with a View (1985), for which she won her first Oscar; Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990); Howards End (1992), her second Oscar win; and The Remains of the Day (1993), for which she was nominated for a third Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, though she did not win. Her screenplays are often less comedies of manners than profound struggles over the souls of young women.

She also own a  Booker Prize for Heat and Dust and only writer to own Oscar and Booker.

Jhabvala died in her home in New York City on 3 April 2013 at the age of 85. Jhabvala is survived by her husband and three daughters.

one day, everyone have to go and there is no escape from death, Socrates, left behind this beautiful quote.

!!!The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows. – Socrates!!!

The Real Iron Lady!

James Brown wrote ‘This is a man's world, this is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl’. However, there were women who lived life their own term and not only with a tag as ‘woman of desire’. They end up ruling their own state with more conviction than their male counterparts. Golda Meir, Sirimavo Bandaranaike (the first woman prime minister), Indira Gandhi were the few who once perfectly filled the slots. Margaret Thatcher, definitely the other name that will crawl into our mind. She also known as ‘Iron Lady’, Britain’s first woman prime minister and ruled the country over a decade. A few facts from her life are scribbled in this page.

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher was born in Lincolnshire, on 13 October 1925. Her father was Alfred Roberts and her mother was Beatrice Ethel. She spent her childhood in Grantham.  Her father was active in local politics and the Methodist church, serving as an alderman and a local preacher and brought up his daughter as a strict Methodist.

Margaret Thatcher attended Huntingtower Road Primary School and won a scholarship to Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School. Her school reports showed hard work and continual improvement; her extracurricular activities included the piano, field hockey, poetry recitals, swimming and walking. In her upper sixth year she applied for a scholarship to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, but she was initially rejected and was offered a place only after another candidate withdrew. She arrived at Oxford in 1943 and graduated in 1947 with Second-Class Honours in the four-year Chemistry Bachelor of Science degree. She became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1946. After graduating, Roberts moved to Colchester in Essex to work as a research chemist for BX Plastics. She joined the local Conservative Association and attended the party conference at Llandudno in 1948, as a representative of the University Graduate Conservative Association.

Officials of the association were so impressed by her that they asked her to apply, even though she was not on the Conservative party's approved list: she was selected in January 1951 and added to the approved list post ante. At a dinner following her formal adoption as Conservative candidate for Dartford in February 1951 she met Denis Thatcher. In the 1950 and 1951 general elections, she was the Conservative candidate for the safe Labour seat of Dartford, where she attracted media attention as the youngest and the only female candidate. She lost both times to Norman Dodds, but reduced the Labour majority by 6,000, and then a further 1,000. She married to Denis Thatcher in December 1951. She was selected as the candidate for Finchley in April 1958 and elected as MP for the seat after a hard campaign in the 1959 election. In October 1961, Thatcher was promoted to the front bench as Parliamentary Undersecretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance in Harold Macmillan's administration. Mrs. Thatcher won the Conservative Party leadership election of 1975, defeating Heath by a good margin. A woman had never held any of the highest posts in British politics before. Thatcher was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education and Science. After nine year in 4^th May 1979, Thatcher became Prime Minister of UK. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983.

Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords.

Margaret Thatcher Quotation :

"If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope."

"Pennies don’t fall from heaven - they have to be earned here on Earth."

Indian Penny-Spinner League!

The Indian Premier League (IPL) for Twenty20 cricket championship  was initiated by Lalit Modi in 2008. Modi, served as the league's first Chairman and Commissioner. It started with eight team and currently contested by nine, consisting of players from around the cricketing world. The birth of IPL is a result of an altercation between the BCCI and the Indian Cricket League.

The brand value of IPL is estimated to be around US$2.99 billion in fifth season. However, the league has been engulfed by series of corruption scandals where allegations of cricket betting, money laundering and spot fixing and controversies.

IPL, believed to be the world's "richest cricket tournament".

In 2012 the naming rights for the series was awarded to Pepsi. Two eligible bids were received, with Pepsi winning over Airtel with a bid of  Rs. 396.8 crore.

Winners

Season I [ 2008 ]

The inaugural season of the tournament started on 18 April 2008 and lasted for 43 days with 59 matches. The final was played in DY Patil Stadium, Nerul, Navi Mumbai. Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings in a thriller and emerged as the inaugural IPL champions.

Season II [ 2009 ]

 Deccan Chargers defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers in a thriller and emerged as the second IPL.

Season III [ 2010 ]

The final was played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Chennai Super Kings won by a margin of 22 runs.

Season -IV [ 2011 ]

In season four, two new teams from Pune and Kochi was added to the IPL for the fourth season and number of matches increased from 60 to 94. Chennai Super Kings won their second consecutive title after defeating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs in the final.

Season -V [ 2012 ]

The fifth season featured nine teams after the termination of the Kochi franchise. Towards the end of the league, the season faced various hurdles including a spot fixing case, which allegedly included 5 players caught on a sting operation carried on by a local news channel. The final of the season was played at the Chidambaram Stadium on 27 May, where the defending champions Chennai Super Kings played against Kolkata Knight Riders. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match in the last over.

Season -VI [ 2013 ]

The sixth season opened in February 3, 2013 with the auction for players and it was broadcasted on Sony Six. 108 players were on offer but only 37 players were sold. Deccan Chargers were ousted from the league instead, Sunrisers Hyderabad will play from the 2013 season onwards on behalf of them as they have almost all the players from the Deccan's 2012 team. The tournament will run from 3 April to 26 May 2013 with Kolkata and Chennai hosting the playoffs. Kolkata's Eden Gardens will host the first match as well as the final as they were the champions of the 2012 season.

While these  money spinner  tournaments like IPL, BPL, Big Bash and list is growing by every year, it is obvious that test cricket will die its undue death. Happy that we relish it for long and will do so than watching the mockery of the sports in the name of the cricket. However, comparing it with various European football premier league is a good joke.

!!!There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed. - Frank Buchman!!!

Days! obligatory or Insignificant?

Every passing moment is very significant as life can change within a split second. I was surprised when came to know through newspaper that March 20 is World Sparrow Day. It increased my curiosity to know about other days and what are the significant of it. So, peeping through some of it but not all.

January

          Day of Silence- January 3

          World Braille Day - January 4

          Laughing day – January 10

          Street Children's Day – January 31

February

          National Girl Day – February 2 (India)

          World Cancer Day – February 4

          Valentine's Day – February 14 – This must be celebrated as all fools day, because love is something that cannot be restricted by a day or a week. The named by which each days are known in The VALENTINE WEEK also sounds very idiotic.

          International Mother Language Day – February 21

          Thinking Day - February 22

          National Science Day – February 28

          Days of The VALENTINE WEEK

                   Valentine week is from February 7–14 every year

                             Rose Day - February 7

                             Propose Day - February 8

                             Chocolate Day - February 9

                             Bagels and Lox Day - February 9

                             Pizza Pie Day - February 9

                             Teddy Day - February 10

                             Promise Day - February 11

                             Kiss Day - February 12

                             Hug Day - February 13

                             Valentine's Day – February 14

March

          International Women's Day – March 8

          Pi Day – March 14

          World Consumer Rights Day – March 15

          World Happiness Day - March 21

          International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – March 21

          World Poetry Day – March 21

          World Tuberculosis Day - March 24

April

          April Fools' - April 1

          World Health Day - April 7

          World Parkinson's Disease Day - April 11

          Day of Silence; Day of Dialogue - April 15

          World Heritage Day - April 18

          Earth Day - April 22

          International Jazz Day - April 30

May

          May Day - May 1

          World Press Freedom Day - May 3

          International Midwives' Day - May 5

          International No Diet Day - May 6

          World Red Cross Red Crescent Day (Henri Dunant's birthday) - May 8

          International Nurses Day - May 12

          International Day of Families - May  15

          International Missing Children's Day - May 25

          Mother's Day – Second Sunday of May in many nations

June

          National Cancer Survivors Day - June 1

          World Environment Day - June 5

          World Refugee Day - June 20

          International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking - June 26

          Fathers’ Day – 3^rd Sunday of June

July

          World Population Day - July 11

August

          International Friendship Day - August 5

          Indian Independence Day – August 15

          World Mosquito Day – August 20

          World Fashion Day – August 21

September

Teachers Day Celebration - September 5

          Engineer's Day – September 15

          World Contraception Day - September 26.

October

          Mahatma Gandhi Birthday/International nonviolence Day - October 2

          World Animal Day – October 4

November

          All Saints' Day – November 1

          All Souls' Day – November 2

          International Exchange Students Day - November 8

          Veterans Day – November 11

          International Men's Day - November 19

          World Fisheries Day – November 21

          Children's Day (India) – November 14

          Day of Road Traffic Victims- November 22

          International children's Day- November 22

December

          World AIDS Day – December 1

          Wildlife Conservation Day - December 4

          International Volunteer Day December 5

          Reflection Day (think about how life's a gift) - December 29

It is not a great idea to dedicate a day for a special purpose and I believe that anyone hardly remember these days by the event it meant for. Everyday is a unique one and should be treated by its merit only once we pass through.

!!!A day to remember when, the new dawn should be stand on the preceding one and give a solid foundation for the following.!!!

Yes President!

Even I am an apolitical person but always like to keep a tab on the current political scenario of the globe. At present the scenario in India is very messy. The UPA’s coalition Government is very shaky, often by the peoples like Mamata Banerjee and often by the unlimited scams. While, following drama and proceeding in the parliament keenly, hardly bothered about our Presidents. The President of India is with his limited power still is our country’s head of state. It is not for the greatest interest but for shear knowledge I decided to sneak peek into the list of presidents. Here is all thirteen Presidents we had till now.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884–1963)       

 In office : 26 January 1950 to 13 May 1962

Dr. Prasad was the first President of independent India from Bihar. He was also an independence activist of the Indian Independence Movement. Dr.  Prasad was the only president to serve for two terms in office.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)    

In Office : 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967  

Dr. Radhakrishnan was a prominent philosopher, writer, a Knight of the Realm and also held the position of vice chancellor of the Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI.

Dr. Zakir Hussain (1897–1969)  

In Office : 13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969   

Zakir Hussain was vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. He died before his term of office was ended.

Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1894–1980)                

In Office : 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974

V. V. Giri is the only person to have served as both an acting president and president of India. He was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and has functioned as Indian Minister of Labour and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977)    

In Office : 24 August 1974 to 11 February 1977

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed served as a Minister before being elected as president. He died in 1977 before his term of office ended, and was the second Indian president to have died during a term of office.

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913–1996)     

In Office : 25 July 1977 to 25 July 1982 

N. S. Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State. Reddy was the only Member of Parliament from the Janata Party to get elected from Andhra Pradesh. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 26 March 1977 and relinquished this office on 13 July 1977 to become the 6th President of India.

Giani Zail Singh (1916–1994)

         

In Office : 25 July 1982 to 25 July 1987 

In March 1972, Singh assumed the position of chief Minister of Punjab, and in 1980, he became Union Home Minister.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009)      

In Office :  25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992

In 1942, R. Venkataraman was jailed by the British for his involvement in the India's independence movement. After his release, he was elected to independent India’s Provisional Parliament as a member of the Congress Party in 1950 and eventually joined the central government, where he first served as Minister of Finance and Industry and later as Minister of Defence.

Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999)    

In Office : 25 July 1992 to 25 July 1997

Shakar Dayal Sharma was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and the Indian Minister for Communications. He has also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.

Kocheril Raman Narayanan (1920–2005)      

In Office : 25 July 1997 to 25 July 2002 

K. R. Narayanan served as India's ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and United States of America. He received doctorates in Science and Law and was also a chancellor in several universities. He was also the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931)     

In Office : 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007

A. P. J. Kalam, is a scientist who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. He also received the Bharat Ratna. Kalam was affectionately known as the People's President.

Pratibha Patil (1934)       

In Office : 25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012 

Patil is the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first female Governor of Rajasthan.

Pranab Mukherjee (1935)  

In Office : 25 July 2012    

Pranab Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

!!!He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. - Lao Tzu !!!

!!!Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. - Benjamin Franklin !!!

Not a mere Better Half – II!

I wrote a few names in my previous blog and writing about another few but there is no dearth of women who made it big on there own. So, this is the concluding and extended part of the last blog and is my tribute to the extra-ordinary ladies on international Woman’s Day.

Politics

Indira Gandhi (-1984

Possibly one of the most controversial figures of the twentieth century, few could deny that she was one of its most powerful political figures, doing much to make India the mighty nation that it is today. A paradoxically well-loved and greatly hated Prime Minister at the same time, Gandhi ruled India on and off for almost twenty years until her death at the hands of Sikh extremists in 1984.

Margaret Thatcher (1925)

Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to hold the office of prime minister of the United Kingdom. The winner of three consecutive general elections, Thatcher served as prime minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916-2000)

Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes the first woman prime minister when she is elected in Sri Lanka. Her husband, Solomon Bandaranaike, is elected prime minister in 1956. When he is assassinated, Sirimavo takes the lead of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and wins the election in her own right.

Aung San Suu Kyi (1945)

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the nonviolent movement for human rights and the restoration of democracy in Myanmar  and Nobel laureate. Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Yangon and educated in India and England, where she attended the University of Oxford. In 1988 she founded the National League for Democracy (NLD) with other leaders in the democracy movement. Her nonviolent strategy of peaceful rallies and pacifism in the face of threats from the military effectively defused the military’s sustained attempts to obstruct free elections. In July 1989 Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest by the military government for staging and speaking at mass gatherings, which were illegal in Myanmar.

Astronaut

Valentina Tereshkova (1937)

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly in space. Tereshkova flew aboard Vostok 6  from June 16 to June 19, 1963. When she was 18 years old she joined a club of amateur parachutists. In 1961, the Soviet space program began to consider sending women into space, she applied to become a cosmonaut. The selection process began in mid-1961 and was overseen by the first person in space, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Tereshkova, three other women parachutists, and a female pilot were selected to train as cosmonauts in 1962.

Mae Jemison (1956)

She was chosen by NASA to become an astronaut. As part of the Endeavor crew, she became the first African-American woman to enter space. She holds nine honorary doctorates in science, engineering, the humanities and letters. After resigning from NASA, she formed a company that researches how technologies can be applied to every day life.

Kalpana Chawla (1961 - 2003)

Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She was the first Indian American astronaut  and first Indian woman in space.  Kalpana Chawla joined the NASA 'Astronaut Corps' in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1996. She spoke the following words while traveling in the weightlessness of space, " She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.  In 2003, Chawla was one of seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Sunita Williams (1965)

Sunita Williams is an Indian American astronaut and a United States Navy officer who holds the record for longest space flight by a woman. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and Expedition 15.  Williams first broke the two spacewalk records for women space travellers - most number of spacewalks, and most spacewalk time during Expedition 14/15 in 2007, but both records were surpassed by Peggy Whitson during Expedition 16. Williams regained both records during her sixth spacewalk, on September 5, 2012, and currently has 50 hours and 40 minutes of spacewalk time.

!!!You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation. -  Brigham Young!!!