Most aspirant migrants won't be able to.

 Another half year done ! It is officially winter again in Australia, and summery-rainy in India. And with countries starting to take this vaccine-race seriously (except ScoMo, who prefers a stroll), things are starting to look better. Already countries are trying to remove travel bans, and come up with vaccine-passports, to allow unrestricted and un-quarantined travel internationally. 

Yes, very well aware of the fact that the vaccinated can still get COVID, but it won't be as deadly serious as it has been.

Which has brought back the attention to old conundrum- human migration. Unlike birds and beasts who can cross borders unrestricted, human beings need to get permission to move into a new country.

Over on reddit , clueless aspirants have always asked questions on how they can 'easily' move across to a more developed nation permanently, without the hassle of a higher education. And foremost among them are Indians.

People from every career and age group have been asking of the easy way to get out of India. And the answer is cruel. There is no easy way.

Most of the people asking questions about migrating, won't be able to follow through with their plans. They are the early stage of migrating, where they have not yet made a decision where they want to go to. The fact that they are asking questions on a free site for free information means they haven't done the cost and time analysis for a permanent migration.

Yes, moving permanently out of the country you were born into , to a totally new nation , with new rules, languages and culture is one of the biggest decision a person can take. And it is especially difficult when the mgirant is stuck in a third world country like India/Bangaldesh/somwhere in Africa, to a developed nation. And the reason for this is cost. The cost of the visa alone is unbearable , and many times the average  yearly salary. And there are additional costs and expenditures that play out when the migrant moves.

But there is also the red-tape that comes from the nations being so different. In India , for instance, many youngsters choose to study courses which don't have a worker demand in foreign nations. Like Art, or History. Nowadays the modern age has given rise to digital nomads, who 'specialise' in digital marketing and social media management. But these professions cannot help one move over, as they do not require special skills. Also courses taught in colleges in India need not be in tune with those taught abroad. This is why a thorough skill assessment is done during the the PR application process, to assess whether the candidate's education and work experience will be relevant in the target country.

But then there are the cut-offs. Countries which offer a points based migration path have upper limits to age, which leads to tricky situations. You could have 15 years work experience, and gain points, but by that time you will also be in your thirties, which means you lose points for age. The reality is this: if you have not migrated permanently by the time you are 30, your chances diminish rapidly after that.

Then there is the language problem. Except for a few countries like US, UK, most developed nations use a different language for everyday conversation. And this poses a big problem for those trying to move to Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands...etc. Even Canada uses French. So moving to such countries automatically means gaining the required expertise in whatever language they use. This means additional cost, and time, to train and take the language test. And yes, the tests are strict, and there are various levels that accurately measure exactly how fluent you are.

And finally, there is the harsh reality that getting a visa to move is just step 1. Step 2 is to get that first job. And there is no guarantee of how long it will take you to land your first job in the new country, after having moved there. Companies are hesitant to make offers to immigrants who have just moved in. The afore mentioned differences in language and culture are some reasons, but most employers are just not willing to take that risk, until they can get a proper reference from you. I have heard stories of people who spent upto 6 months looking for jobs, and had to return when they couldn't land one.

Moving countries is not easy, and needs investment in money , time, and patience. And most important, a plan. Like most things in life, there is no easy way out.

But people have done it, and continue to do it. And that means that it is not impossible. The pandemic has dealt a blow to the migration plans of many millions, and changes in the way people and companies work means things will be visibly different from now on. 

To summarise, most aspirant migrants wont' be able to do so. But for those who are committed to the cause, and willing to go any length, maybe, just maybe, they could.

How much are you committed  ? 

One quirk I hate about life here.

This is not a rant. At least not 'that' kind of rant. But I had to write it down somewhere.  There is this one thing I hate about life in a developed nation like Australia. It is not a first world problem per-se. But it looks like one for someone who just came in. It is about doctors. 

Doctors in this country simply don't want to prescribe medications. There, I said it.

If GPs here had their say, which they do, they would rather every sick person just stay at home and recover naturally, via a miracle. You could have 50 degree fevers, and coughing from your lungs, but the doctors here will not prescribe antibiotics. At best, they will recommend getting an OTC cough syrup. And then, plenty of rest. 

Now I work in a system with ample sick leaves to take, so I can stay at home and rest, aided by the medical certificate issued by the GP, and will still get paid for it. But that does not make my illness go away. It actually makes things worse for us because now I need special care, and the fear of spreading something to the family. The sooner I get better, the better it is for everyone.

But not everyone working here has ample sick leaves. Most workers prefer contract jobs, because they pay higher. But contract workers do NOT get paid sick leaves. In fact, they don't get any paid leaves. So those workers, will try to still work and get to office, even when they are not fully recovered. And this is a humongous problem.

This means that ill workers still spread their illness to unsuspecting co-workers, because they don't want to miss out on pay.

And a private GP will gladly charge you 100 dollars, and still not prescribe a proper medicine.

In most cases, this means a worsening condition leading to hospitalisation. 

Which is where I am typing this rant from. 

Hey blogger

Hey blogger, just wanted to tell you.  The new interface sucks.

Thank You for not promoting me

The last few years have been some of my best. I can't remember the last time I truly enjoyed looking up to living,looking forwards to the adventures I have waiting in store for me. Maybe that last time was way back when I was a child, running around in fields and woods in my hometown.

I have missed this feeling. This liberating, empowering feeling. And I have one of my biggest enemies to thank for this. The person whom I least expected to be thankful to.

My old manager. The one whos name starts with a B.

He was an asshole. Correction, I just looked him up on linkedin: he is STILL an asshole.

I was part of a team which together did a lot of work for his company. A US based consultancy. I had put in a lot of long, all nighters; hundreds of hours of unpaid work. Working overtime on weekdays, and frequently on weekends, there is no measure of how much we have contributed to the growth of the company, and its US customers. I was promised a chance to go abroad, first short term, and then later, a long term onsite opportunity to make up for those lost days. You see, that rare chance to earn in dollars is the only perk of working in the IT field in India. The golden ticket. But first, I was told, I had to prove myself, and wait for at least a year.

So wait I did. First one year, then another, and then, a third. During this time, the long stressful hours took a toll on my health. I was always under stress, and constantly weak and tired. Asthma was only the beginning. I also got married, and found that the unprofessional and unethical work environment was interfering in my personal life a well.

Being an optimist, and extremely patient one , I was willing to wait. But gradually, I realized that I did NOT have all the time in the world. I had always delivered what I had promised as part of my work. So why isn't the manager delivering what he had promised me ? I also found out that he had promised similar onsite opportunities to everybody else in the team. Everybody except the office janitor.

So, in that third year, reality finally started dawning on me. And I had the argument with the asshole manager. I put in my papers, without a job offer in hand. And left a few months later.

About one year from that confrontation, I arrived in Australia.

I still work under managers, but things are so much better. Nobody here forces work overtime , at least without compensation. Ample leaves, and flexible work options. I do go to office everyday, though technically, I don't have to.

But this is the big truth: none of this would have happened, if I had not been wronged against. It is only when I got pushed into a corner, that I started looking for another exit. If everything in my life back then had gone according to plan, I would still be in India. That exit, that was the best decision I took in my professional life. And it has changed me and my future forever.

So thank you,asshole, for not promoting me. For not giving me those opportunities. Thank you to all of the other bad people I worked for, for constantly pushing me into that corner. Thank you for being such miserable human beings.

A burning nation. A doomed world.

2019 is about to come to its end. And this year's loud and clear message has to be 'natural disasters'. From incessant and unforeseen flooding, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and burning forest fires, specially the man made ones triggered in the Amazon jungles, disasters have ruled the news. It has also exposed the weakness and unpreparedness in mankind's resolve to preserve the planet. Without a will, there surely is no way.

Closer home, Australia has seen bushfires burning just after its winter months. Raging fires in the New South Wales area has spread east and south, coming as far as Canberra, burning through millions of hectares of its reserve forests. Few people have been killed, and millions of tonnes of pollutants have been released into the air, injuring countless others. Sydney has seen a dystopic orange hazed sun for weeks now, and a drought of level 2 severity has been declared across the city.

Elsewhere, Time magazine has fittingly named 16 year old activist Greta Thunberg as it person of the year. The young Swede was fore center of the youth agitations for climate emergency all through the year.

And yet, all the agitations seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Politicians are indifferent or in-denial of a climate emergency. I thought India had the worst politicians, and was dumbfounded by the truly jaw dropping assumptions of the idiots in power down here in Australia. Strayan baffoon Barnaby Joyce blamed , of all people, the Green party for policies which caused the fire. The baffoon also blamed the sun's magnetic fields for causing the bushfires, and declared that most of the affected people were supporters of the Green party.

This just underscores the reality that people voted to power are out of touch, or not open to reading the scientific facts right; that they are quick to blame problems on those who oppose their policies, and are quick to churn out outlandish , unverified claims. Compare this to the calm and scientifically sound way the scientists and supporters of the climate movement have phrased their facts and called for action.

“I want you to panic,” she told the annual convention of CEOs and world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January. “I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.”

The looming disaster in the earth's climate in the very near future will be the number one talking point in the new year. 2020. And its high time people start looking at the facts right. Our nation is burning, and the world is doomed. The adults in power seem to behave like children. So it is now in the hands of children, that the world now sees a better future.

Fitting. When adults behave like children; children have to behave like adults.

Heres hoping the sky is a little more clearer, and bluer, and forests are a little more greener, and briming with life, in this new year. That you see more of pleasant rain and calm suns, and less of storms and fires, in this new year.

Why no protests ?

Its been months now, since the Indian media first started reporting of an apparent slowdown in the country's economy. After bigger media houses, economists and investors picked up and magnified the story, external rating agencies have downgraded the country's prospects. Nobel prize winning laureates double checked, and confirmed. Banks are shutting down, and companies are downsizing.

After all of this, the question that is troubling me is: why isn't anyone protesting ?

In a country known to protest the slightest increase in fuel prices, it is ironical that Indians have not put forward an organized effort to call the government's bluff. All those people now unemployed, where are their protests ? The industries affected, why are their stocks still up ?

The severe lack of protests in the world's largest democracy is chilling. There is no validation for the reported slowdown. Has this democracy lost its voice ?

The public nuisance that is TikTok

There are, hundreds of thousands of people publicly embarrassing themselves on TikTok. In the mad race to gaining 'likes' and 'followers', it is amazing how many people are willing to be the laughing stock of the word.

It is actually pathetic. And in a way, sad.

Why are they doing this ? Is it for money ? Does the playform pay ?

I looked it up. The answer, it turns out, is a humongous NO.

The service itself makes money, by placing ads. But the poor actors/dancers/jokers on them, can only gain virtual hearts.

Unless they are able to get sponsorship from brands, or move their subscribers over to a paying platform like youtube, it is just virtual fan worship.

There are a few, a handful of creators on the site, who have some originality. Are able to approach a challenge in a new , or different way.

But most of them are just ape-shit copy cats. And not even very good copy cats. The site, and its actors are just public nuisance.

I wonder if it is worth it all, becoming the butt of jokes that is the internet, all to enjoy that 10 second hall of fame.

The Vices of Malayalis, and how the state lives on it

Came across a much needed, and nicely researched article on how the state of Kerala, India, feeds off the taxes paid by its poorest citizens. Keralites, you see, have a penchant for alcohol, and lotteries. And both of these are controlled largely by the state government. A third vice is finance instrument called chit-funds, a remnant of a once stronger economy. Some of the figures being reported in this article is truly scary; and its all debt !

Kerala’s is an interesting, if not curious, economy.  The cash-strapped state -- it has a debt ratio of over 30 per cent -- the highest and most deteriorating debt among all states since 2013 -- is keeping its finances alive through the vices of its people - heavy alcohol consumption and penchant for lottery tickets. The state government has the monopoly to sell alcohol, through the Kerala State Beverages Corporation or Bevco, while the ‘gambling-type’ addiction of buying lotteries of its people is fed through the Lotteries Department, which sells lakhs of lottery tickets on a daily basis. At over 8 litres per person per year, Kerala has alcohol consumption per person per year compared to the national average of 5.7 litres per person per year. The sales tax on alcohol has been going up from 20 per cent in 1960-61 to 210 per cent now.

As per the latest data, the income from the lottery for 2017-18 stands at Rs 9,034.16 crore while the revenue from liquor sales (state excise + sales tax) stood at Rs 12,937.09 crore in the same period. Add to this is the bumper sales during festivals like Onam. In the pre-Onam week alone, Bevco sold a whopping Rs 487 crore worth liquor while the lottery tickets offer eye-popping prize money of Rs 16 crore.

“The entire approach of the state government is flawed and regressive. To manage its coffers, Kerala Government is not only punishing the poorest but it is also encouraging them to buy an addictive product like lottery by selling dreams,” said Jose Sebastian, who teaches at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation.

“It’s no secret who’s consuming most liquor and who’s buying the lottery tickets. It’s mostly the poorest sections of society. Gujarat neither sells liquor or lottery, yet it is the top-performing state in the country,” he said.

According to a study by Sebastian, Kerala has a wide tax base covering various sections of people and different kinds of economic activities. This is not reflected in the revenue collection. “Virtually, the effective revenue base has been getting narrowed down to four items -- petroleum and petrol products, liquor of all kinds, motor vehicles and lottery,” he said.

“An unintended consequence of the evolution of Kerala’s revenue structure is that it places a disproportionately high burden on the poor and marginalised sections of society. They are the major consumers of liquor and lottery. The share of these two in SOR increased from 14.77 per cent in 1970-71 to 34.46 per cent in 2016-17. Motor vehicles like three-wheelers, pickup vans and taxis powered by petroleum products are the source of livelihood for many of this class,” he said.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said the LDF Government and its Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac have been adopting a policy of borrowing and continued borrowing to meet the day-to-day needs. “Hard decisions such as hiking education fees, concessions for students travel or the property tax, which have not been touched for several decades, are not taken as it will backfire politically,” he said.

Vijayakumar pointed out that property tax has not been hiked since 1995 while students continue to travel at nominal rates though they have no qualms in spending thousands on mobile bills or on autos/share cabs every month.

Another big consumption by the state is gold, but it now comes under the Goods and Services Tax. Recently, the Finance Minister lamented that the state government gets less than Rs 200 crore as tax from gold sales while under the scrapped Value Added Tax (VAT) regime it used to fetch Rs 750 crore. Kerala is the top consumer of the yellow metal and Isaac blamed lack of preparedness and absence of invoices for the ‘huge leakages’ in GST revenue. Economist K V Joseph pointed out that the tuition fees in government medical colleges are as low as Rs 25,000 while in private colleges it is Rs 5.5-6.5 lakh yearly.

“While lower-income bracket people and SC/ST category can be exempted from higher fees, the government should look at hiking fees for those from higher-income families,” he said. Joseph advocated similar hike in taxes from forestry and land/property registration and taxes.

Geojit’s Vijayakumar blamed the state government for spending recklessly when the state coffers are drying up. “The state’s debt is Rs 1.5 lakh crore. When the state is in deep debt, the government has spent Rs 5.90 crore on politically accommodating VS Achuthanandan in Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission. Our Public Service Commission has 21 members while Madhya Pradesh PSC has just four members and Gujarat seven. All these members are paid over Rs 1.5 lakh per month. The government would do well to cut its unnecessary expenditure first when the state is in deep financial crisis,” he said.

Will Finance Minister Isaac think out of the box to find new revenue models? Will he bite the bullet? No chance when the state is heading for an election season -- the byelections followed by the local body polls in 2020, and the Assembly polls in 2021.

Another addictive habit of Malayalees is joining money-saving scheme or chits or chitties, which combine the advantages of both investment and advance. No wonder, while most Kerala PSUs are loss-making or white elephants, the Kerala State Financial Enterprises or KSFE, which runs chitties of several sizes, is flourishing. Compared to unofficial chits run by individuals, which are illegal, the KSFE chits are risk-free safe haven for the public as the institution conducts only chitties fully governed by provisions of the Central Chit Fund Act 1982.

Deluge.

Cold. And wet. Not the best of seasons, but the cities here are better equiped and designed against such extreme weathers. When the majority of the planet is suffering droughts, it is fortunate that it rains here.

One part of the city NOT designed for rains is…the public transport. Specially the trains. Today morning too, there are cancellations and breakdowns, and thousands of commuters are stuck on the way.

Surprisingly, one of the best places online to keep upto date on Victoria's public transport system is Daniel Bowen's twitter feed.

Great quote: "Interchanging is a transport planner's dream, but a passenger's nightmare.

A few more months of this and the sun will shine again.

Closing thoughts: Here is the corrected map of Australia.

Marvellous Nonsense

Ill be very glad when this is over. The new Marvel movie is hitting theatres this week. Endgame. Fans are going crazy around the world. Fans are speculating non-stop. Fans are frustrated. Because fans cannot get enough tickets.

But I have never been a fan. Of these superhero movies.

For me , there is something weird seeing grown men wearing spandex and capes and cosplaying. And I am talking of the fans here. Its even worse seeing the actors playing these 'comics' on screen. Sure, they are getting paid hundreds of milllions for standing in front of green screens. But it is still weird seeing all this hype about superhero movies.

And now I see people discussing scenes and dialogues from the movies as if they were the classic movies from the fifties. Makes me puke, when I see them discuss charachter arcs and emotional vulnerabilites.

Its also amazing seeing the marvellous marketting machinery of hollywood at work. They are able to get crazy fans pay through their noses for first day tickets for these CGI-action movies, when movies with real stories, inspiring and memorable characters lie in the dust. They just don't make those kind of fun movies anymore.

Its also amazing when you realize that real superheroes don't really wear capes. I see them everyday. They were uniforms, and hats, and are always around to protect and serve.

Just get this over with. Until they think of the next superhero movie they can write up.

Unhealthy country

I have been binge watching the second season of 'Laakhon mein Ek' on Prime over the long weekend. Never knew about it. Don't care about the first season. Its one of those new millenial online docu-drama series. This one places a young, extremely positive, and a little out-of-touch young student of medicine in the middle of a political imbroglio. I was hoping for a happy ending. Alas, like anything else Indian , this one too does not have any.

The sad reality is that the story in this series can never be tagged historic. It will be contemporary , even about 50 years from now. By the way things are going, hardly anything is going to improve. Therefore one can't say that the timing of such a story is relevant. Any Indian will be able to relate to this story, anytime.

Students of medicine in India have to undergo what is called 'rural service'. After 5 years of theory, and 1 year of internship, they have to serve 1 or 2 years working at remote hospitals or health centres deep inside Indian villages. Sometimes these places are in or near reserved forests, or up in the hilss, with no easy access or communication with the outside world. It is the exact opposite of a plush seat job, in an air conditioned clinic. The education is considered complete only after completion of this service, and is required to secure the degree. And this way, the system ensures that there is always a steady stream of young healthy energetic young doctors standing by to serve the section of population who are in most need of dependable health care.

The students hate it. The administration struggles with it. But milllions depend on it.

I have met my share of shady quacks and doctors deep in Indian villages. Have been very fortunate to escape the system. With the government providing the medicine, and them providing the hospitals and doctors, one would think it would all go along swimmingly. One could not be more wrong. The system corrupts everyone involved. And the patients are most affected.

Its pathetic. And there are thousands of stories of people trying to fight the system. Legally and otherwise.

And this is one of those attempts.

I hate being micromanaged

There is nothing I hate more than being micromanaged.

Regardless of whoever is attempting that.

Just be mindful.

GMail’s confusing icons

 

For a long time now, I have hated GMail’s icons on the main toolbar. Specially on the app. It doesn’t make sense, and they are confusing. I wonder who are the numbnuts who came up with them, and on what basis.

Thankfully, others too have felt the problem. And somebody else wrote about it. Read on.

India’s education mess

Today I saw a full two page ad in the national newspaper from Byju, the online student’s coaching startup. A full two pages about their free conselling session at home. This is despite the fact that their ads were recently blocked by ASCI in January this year for un-substantiated claims.

The Indian education system is a collage of contradictions. Its surprising that the world's largest democracy does not have a stable, self-sustaining system of eduction which can cater to the needs of millions of youngsters seeking education in the country. Successive governments have tried to 'reform' the education scene, whatever that means, but every time they have attempted so, something else has been broken. I  have been reading all kinds of news relating to India's education these past months, and they remind me of the hurdle I myself had to go through to reach where I am today.

These are the weeks of student winners, it is the time when various education institutions in the country announce the results of the 'toppers' in their examinations. It starts with the central government's CBSE announcing the names of students who scored highest in each of India's 29 states. There are two sets of exams, for 10th and 12th grades. I never understood why the 10th grades are so important, seeing that it is the 12 th grade marks which act as the qualifier for college admissions.

But wait, these are just central board. Every state has their own 'board' of education, and have students enrolled for 10th and 12th grade exams. And with 29 states, that is a lot of student toppers ! And then there is one more private, central school education board called ICSE, but no one seems to care about them.

Admissions to India's public colleges are based on the marks students score in these 'board exams'. Arts, science and language colleges setup a cut-off mark as the minimum marks required to gain admissions to their subsidized education courses. But simply scoring these minimum marks does not automatically guarantee admission, frequently parents arrange 'recommendation letters' from ministers and high profile officers and even religious heads as additional assurance. colleges also arrange for their own admission tests inorder to screen candidates. And some of those screening test are the toughest to crack in this country. 

The two streams of education most sought after after 12th grade education are Engineering and Medical courses. Students who pass out of these courses are trained engineers and doctors. And because of the demand and the overwhelming population of students applying,  the central and state governments have been organizing these 'entrance tests' at central and state level. Objective style reasoning tests with negative marks help screen the best of the best of millions of science graduates attempting to gain entrance to subsidized education. And there are so few seats up for grabs that there is immense competition.  For instance, only 4 of the 100 candidates attempting The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medicine will win a seat. It is a little better for engineering seats, but that is only because there are more seats available.

And so, when the results of these entrance exams are announced, the toppers are again celebrated in the media. There are long interviews of the students, with their families and teachers, to understand how they cracked the system. And what are their tips and tricks to similar students who are attempting these tests in the future. Hell, some even appear on national TV, speaking about their experiences and giving out advise. Probably no other country parade their top scorers in TV like India does. In India, toppers are celebrities !

But again, these are the subsidized education seats we are talking about. The mafia in the private colleges are at an entirely different level. Education has turned to business in India, and if you don't have the wits to get a seat, you can definitely buy one. This is where the picture starts to turn bleak. Anticipating huge number of students who will not be able to clear the national tests, private colleges have mushroomed across the country, offering the same courses for a much higher price. In a way, private education is for the rich, but not academically gifted. The fees being charged at some of these institutes is so high that in recent years, majority of the seats remain unfilled.
Recently there was a directive to shut down as many as 150 colleges across India how had less than 50% of their seats filled. Just let that sink in.

Instead of trying and subsidising these additional seats in some way for the poorer students, the government simply wants to shut them down. Amazing governance.

But no test, repeat, no other is as tough and prestigious to crack as the Indian Civil Service exams. IAS exams. These are not education courses, but actual jobs people are applying for. Candidates need to have college degrees, and have to study additional subjects which are not covered by their college education. The civil services exam has among the lowest success rates among competitive examinations in the world, with a success percentage of less than .1 percent. Less than .1 percent of the applicants will land a job. Only one in every 10 candidate succeeds in the first attempt. There are people attempting upto 6 times, and some candidates can keep on trying until age 37 ! 

And as always, the IAS toppers are the media's favourites. The sheer prestige and security of the jobs means that anybody IAS topper is seen as the hardest, most hard-working and able minded of students. I think the assumption is that they will never have to face any problem in their life from that point onwards. They have cracked the system. Now they can sit back and reap the benefits, while the rest of us fight it out among ourselves.

The tale of getting into the civil services is one of hard work and dogged perseverance. That’s why it is all the more baffling how the Indian bureaucracy, which comprises such hard-working and committed people, earned the disrepute of running what is considered an inefficient government machinery.

They say history is written only by the winners. And this is in fact , true. Nobody talks about the trials and tribualations of the losers. Those who put in whatever they could, but failed to clear the system. Despite all these ‘free seats’ or subsidized seats, millions of students fail to get a chance to pursue their choice of education in this country. India also has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, one student kills self about every hour in the country. 

Yet, no one talks about them. They are just the collateral of having a skewed public education system, one which relies on intense competition. It is a broken system, and somehow the authorities have managed to make it even worse everytime they try to change something. I had it much better and easier 15 years ago. The future generations are going to have to struggle very hard to just maintain the pace.

It is case of textbook Darwinism: survival of the super-ultra-mega smartest.

India’s GST is so complex, its a joke

 

And that is not my opinion, it is of the World Bank.  Their annual India development report paints a fuzzy greyish image of India’s  financial governance, not too patronizing, but not too harsh either. Here is the graph:

 

Its very weird seeing India featuring on the wrong side of the graph, while all the developed countries have a lower rate !!

The World Bank’ report provides that 49 countries employ single tax slab of GST, 28 countries use dual tax slab of GST, 5 nations including India apply four non-zero slabs of GST and rest of the countries (in list of 115 countries) enforce four or more slabs of GST. It was detected that as a consequence of the GST, firms are forced to bear increased administrative costs at a burdensome rate and the snail process of tax refund caused the firms to lock up the working capital.

The reason for high compliance costs is the prevalence of multiple tax rates mandating the firms the necessity to classify inputs and outputs based on the applicable tax rate.

Unfortunately, its already too late. They cannot make the system easier by adding more rules. Moroever , it is now a matter of political pride for the incumbent government to maintain the new rates system.

Communal chaos in South Asia

 

Communal chaos is brewing in South Asia. After centuries of ‘peace’ and ‘co-existence’, religion is now coming in the way of peaceful governance. India has always had it, like the 1992 Bombay riots.  Pakistan had it. Then out of nowhere, Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis got world attention. And then, just when everyone thought things cannot get any worse, Sri Lanka has declared an emergency due to communal clashes.

 

If anything, this is proof that there is no God. Only religion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good show

 

Good show, India. Nice going at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Our school children will have no problems if these questions are asked to them.

By the way, do you know who was the first Indian at the Winter Olympics ? It was Jeremy Bujakowski.

Rough start

 

This is crazy. Its only been a week into the new year and things are already to a rough start. Lets see..

First thing in the new year, this thing happened. First tweet of the new year !

Trump tweeted that he has a "bigger" and "more powerful" nuclear button than North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

A new book says Trump never planned on winning the election.

Closer home, there were multiple fires in Indian capitals.

Access to the aadhaar database has been leaked. And UIDAI is crucifying the messenger. Lead by example.

The US is mulling changes to its visas. And this has got India rattled.

There has already been 34 terrorist incidents this last one week.

The US is freezing up, and it is simmering down under.

 

 

 

Way to go, world ! Just 51 more weeks left.

 

Does quikr , olx work ?

 

After all the buying online, it was finally time to sell something online for me. I was moving, and wanted to dispose off some things second hand , which were in fairly good condition. Being in the tech city, it was obvious the answer was online. So I installed apps of the two top reselling apps in ‘demand’. And tried my hand on trying to make a little profit instead of giving things away for free.

Well, it did not work. Some did. But mostly not. Instead of what I thought were  intelligent, careful buyers who would ask questions about what I was selling, I was greeted by a horde of deal jumping numbskulls with quick fingers. The only question they asked were: can you reduce the price to zero ? Something very low. You get the point. I had success selling a steel cupboard when I reduced the price to 50% of what I had paid originally. But for everything else, the buyer wanted the product for free. Even when I asked them to come over and inspect the goods to check its quality , to justify my asking price, they flatly refused. All they were doing were judging the quality of the goods on sale looking at the picture. And thats it.

This poses a problem. What you sell must be in good condition, or it will be returned. But if it is in very good condition, you wont get a good price for it. So basically, you can only sell off things in good condition for throw away prices. Basically its a market to dispose of good things at near zero prices.

Some years ago I was building a top CRM product for eBay. You know, the online auction company ? The site which started the whole online auction and marketplace business, now left for dust. I could see production data were customers were debating the quality of items sold. Some customers had clearly been cheaten, sellers sold a box of bricks packaged as UPS batteries and electronics. But there were also lots of complaints of ‘bad condition’ and ‘poor quality’ in them. In most cases, eBay policy meant reversing the sale, and they were loosing money taking care of the logistics expenses. Thankfully I was not a case agent, I was just building the CRM system for the agents. But I could see that they had a lot of work cut out for them, even with all the automation we built for them.

Sites like quikr and olx are quick ways to dispose off your good condition stuff you no longer need. But for dirt cheap prices. Don’t expect to make money off them, specially after their sale commissions.

Well, coming back to my problem, I found success somewhere else. Another new second hand furniture service called gozefo. These guys buy your funiture and appliaces, refurbish and sell them. They will still offer you less, but before arriving at the final price, they send an agent over to inspect the goods. The technician verifiies the goods are in good condition and then quotes a value. They take away the goods in 24 hours, and sell it refurbished via their online marketplace.

Its a much better service, if you want to talk some more sane buyers.

Media is powerless

 

While growing up, we were taught at school that journalism is one of the most important & powerful career choices open to us. Because it takes an army of truth-reporters to breakdown the days news so that it can be understood by the common man. He who wields the pen, the pen is migthier than sword pen, has more power than the forces. Or so were were told. So it is disheartening to see how journalism and media are losing the war. Politiicians, corrupt or otherwise, are growing in power and are in control of the narrative, and media has no other option but to report as mute spectators.

I first came to notice this about 2 years ago, when assaults against reporters were reported in the Indian media. Any paper critical of the party in power or government, would be served defamation cases. Then the free and fair media were denied permission to report from courts etc. Then it became clear that the people who read thorough researched journalism did not vote,  and those who voted, did not read. Every big decision of the governement was criticized, clinically, by supportive facts and figures. But people failed to take notice. And nothing changed.

Demonitization was critcized, but to no avail.

The ill affects of GST were predicted. But no one cared. And the economy fell anyway.

Communal clashes were widely reported. But what changed ?

Rising crime against women were reported. But the crime only grew.

 

Although I speak of Indian media, it is a similiar story everywhere else. The biggest dumbstruck moment in 2016 was when no US-media could predict a Trump victory. All their prediction models and alaytics failed. In the US, its painful to see virtually every channel and talk show criticizing the administrations actions, yet not being able to keep them in check.

Late night shows in US have to demean themselves by making fun of….the first lady ! . Because they are…helpless ? There are numerous jokes about the first lady trying escape. There are jokes about ties (suit ties, not russian ties), hair and makeup, and food choices (fried chicken) even fat shaming (Chris Christie) and age shaming (Mitch McConell looks like a tortoise) representatives. Yes, they do report the news, but why do they have to bow so low themselves ?

Of course they can get away with these acts because they have absolute freedom of speech. Something we can only dream of here.  Its much worse this side. Journalists are now relegated to tweet reporters, busy reporting what is happening on social media. Everybody on twitter is angry anyway, so they just report their anger. This post go these many retweets…etc etc.

Pathetic.

Now they have started reporting on a new financial law, using which failing banks can take away citizens hard-earned money. Something tells me the law will be passed anyway, with no one having power to oppose it.

Low standards of journalism could be another reason why subscriptions of newspapers have also decreased.

Why pay for nonsense ?

With no power, comes no responsibility …, right ?