Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Budget Trivia
"Budget" is the hot word for the day. With markets on a roller coster ride today(600+ points down in the morning!!!) and everybody glued to either their television sets or the websites, here are some budget trivia which I managed to collect from the net.
The word Budget is derived from? According to the Webster dictionary the word Budget was derived from the Middle English bowgette, which came from Middle French bougette, which in turn is a diminutive of bouge, meaning a leather bag.
At what time were Indian Budgets presented earlier? Earlier, Budgets were presented at 5 p.m. from 1924-1998. The timing was initially fixed keeping in mind the convenience of the House of Commons in London, which convened round that time. Yashwant Sinha, shifted the Budget speech to noon in 1999.
The Budget process has its roots in the Bombay Plan of 1944. Bombay Plan was authored by John Mathai, GD Birla & JRD Tata.
Initially, budget papers were printed in Rashtrapati Bhavan In 1950, budget papers were leaked. This changed the printing venue to Minto Road located security press Since 1980, budget papers are being printed in the press at North Block. The finance ministry has its own press in the basement of the building. It employs 30 employees who, during the week before the Budget, stay in the ministry itself and have no means of communicating with the outside world.
On November 26, 1947 R.K. Shanmukham Chetty had presented the first budget of Independent India. But actually it was a review of the economy and no new taxes were proposed as the budget day for 1948-49 was just 95 days away. In an explanation he had said that the budget for April 1946 to March 1947 was adopted by the then interim Government in March 1946. But that budget was for undivided India and as the budget for 1947-48 passed by the legislature had ceased to be operative with the division of the country it was felt that it would be in accordance with the public wish if a budget be placed before the representatives of the people at the earliest possible moment. Chetty began his budget speech for 1948-49 saying "when I presented my interim budget for free India’s Parliament a few months back…" From then onwards an interim budget began to mean a budget for a short period. Chetty resigned a few days later due to differences with Prime Minister Nehru.
How many Indian FMs went on to become PM? Four.
- Morarji Desai, was twice the finance minister of India -- 1959-64 and 1967-70. He served as
the prime minister from 1977 to 1979.
- Chaudhary Charan Singh became the prime minister in late 1979, having held the finance
portfolio earlier the same year.
- V P Singh was finance minister from 1985 to 1987 and prime minister from 1989 to 1990.
- India's first prime minister (1947-64) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had also held the finance portfolio
from 1958 to 1959.
- Indira Gandhi too held the finance portfolio from 1970 to 1971 while she was still the prime
minister. Her tenure as PM was from 1966 to1977 and again from 1980 to 1984. So far, she
has been the only woman Finance Minister
- India's new prime minister Manmohan Singh also was the finance minister in the PV
Narasimha Rao government.
Morarji Desai was the only Finance Minister to have had the opportunity to present two budgets on his birthday – in 1964 and 1968. He was born on February 29. Desai resigned in July 1969 in protest against the nationalization of major banks by an ordinance on a Saturday evening. He felt social control of banks was enough.
Pranab Mukherjee presented the annual budgets for 1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85. He was the first Rajya Sabha member to hold the Finance portfolio
Yashwant Sinha became the Finance Minister in 1991 and presented the interim budget for 1991-92. In the election held in May 1991, the Congress returned to power and Manmohan Singh became the Finance Minister. He presented the final budget for 1991-92 in July 1991. This was the first occasion when the interim and final budgets were presented by two ministers of two different political parties.
The word Budget is derived from? According to the Webster dictionary the word Budget was derived from the Middle English bowgette, which came from Middle French bougette, which in turn is a diminutive of bouge, meaning a leather bag.
At what time were Indian Budgets presented earlier? Earlier, Budgets were presented at 5 p.m. from 1924-1998. The timing was initially fixed keeping in mind the convenience of the House of Commons in London, which convened round that time. Yashwant Sinha, shifted the Budget speech to noon in 1999.
The Budget process has its roots in the Bombay Plan of 1944. Bombay Plan was authored by John Mathai, GD Birla & JRD Tata.
Initially, budget papers were printed in Rashtrapati Bhavan In 1950, budget papers were leaked. This changed the printing venue to Minto Road located security press Since 1980, budget papers are being printed in the press at North Block. The finance ministry has its own press in the basement of the building. It employs 30 employees who, during the week before the Budget, stay in the ministry itself and have no means of communicating with the outside world.
On November 26, 1947 R.K. Shanmukham Chetty had presented the first budget of Independent India. But actually it was a review of the economy and no new taxes were proposed as the budget day for 1948-49 was just 95 days away. In an explanation he had said that the budget for April 1946 to March 1947 was adopted by the then interim Government in March 1946. But that budget was for undivided India and as the budget for 1947-48 passed by the legislature had ceased to be operative with the division of the country it was felt that it would be in accordance with the public wish if a budget be placed before the representatives of the people at the earliest possible moment. Chetty began his budget speech for 1948-49 saying "when I presented my interim budget for free India’s Parliament a few months back…" From then onwards an interim budget began to mean a budget for a short period. Chetty resigned a few days later due to differences with Prime Minister Nehru.
How many Indian FMs went on to become PM? Four.
- Morarji Desai, was twice the finance minister of India -- 1959-64 and 1967-70. He served as
the prime minister from 1977 to 1979.
- Chaudhary Charan Singh became the prime minister in late 1979, having held the finance
portfolio earlier the same year.
- V P Singh was finance minister from 1985 to 1987 and prime minister from 1989 to 1990.
- India's first prime minister (1947-64) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had also held the finance portfolio
from 1958 to 1959.
- Indira Gandhi too held the finance portfolio from 1970 to 1971 while she was still the prime
minister. Her tenure as PM was from 1966 to1977 and again from 1980 to 1984. So far, she
has been the only woman Finance Minister
- India's new prime minister Manmohan Singh also was the finance minister in the PV
Narasimha Rao government.
Morarji Desai was the only Finance Minister to have had the opportunity to present two budgets on his birthday – in 1964 and 1968. He was born on February 29. Desai resigned in July 1969 in protest against the nationalization of major banks by an ordinance on a Saturday evening. He felt social control of banks was enough.
Pranab Mukherjee presented the annual budgets for 1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85. He was the first Rajya Sabha member to hold the Finance portfolio
Yashwant Sinha became the Finance Minister in 1991 and presented the interim budget for 1991-92. In the election held in May 1991, the Congress returned to power and Manmohan Singh became the Finance Minister. He presented the final budget for 1991-92 in July 1991. This was the first occasion when the interim and final budgets were presented by two ministers of two different political parties.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Say "I love you" now !!!
I was watching Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna on VCD. Not that its a gr8 movie and thats the reason I haven't finished watching it. But there was a scene which actually caught my attention. Amitabh throws a party with 60's theme where there's lots of dance and music. At the end of the party he makes a speech. What he said moved me. "If you love someone don't wait to tell that person. Don't think that you have enough time for that 'cos you never know that by the time you realise it, it may already be too late. And then you will regret that forever. Don't let that happen to you. Because time is now. So go and tell the people in your lives that you love them"
Thats what I'm gonna do now. Tell my mom that I love her so much and will continue loving her forever. And tell that one person whom I dream of , that I love her. But how do I tell her. She's not talking to me. She's actually got incommunicado to me. But still I will tell her. And wait for her as I have been always.
Thats what I'm gonna do now. Tell my mom that I love her so much and will continue loving her forever. And tell that one person whom I dream of , that I love her. But how do I tell her. She's not talking to me. She's actually got incommunicado to me. But still I will tell her. And wait for her as I have been always.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Emotions are for Fools
Yes thats what I think now. The more you get emotional about someone, the more you are hurt. The only place where you should have emotions are for parents. They're the only people whose love is unconditional. Rest of the world is on the lookout to take advantage of your emotions. You get emotional at office place and you are doomed. You get emotional for someone you love and they take you for granted. That brings me to love. Another recipe to hurt yourself. Reminds me of a quote which I read
"We fall in love when our imagination projects nonexistent perfection upon another person. One day, the fantasy evaporates and with it, love dies."-- Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset
I always thought this was so such a stupid thing to say. How can someone degrade love to such an extent. But probably the philosopher is right. Love does you no good.
Its better not to fall in love or to get emotional for someone.
"We fall in love when our imagination projects nonexistent perfection upon another person. One day, the fantasy evaporates and with it, love dies."-- Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset
I always thought this was so such a stupid thing to say. How can someone degrade love to such an extent. But probably the philosopher is right. Love does you no good.
Its better not to fall in love or to get emotional for someone.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Tonite I can Write
This still remains one of my favourite poems. Written by Pablo Neruda, had read it first in Class 7 during school days and still remember it so well.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
Write, for instance: “The night is full of stars,
and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance.”
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
On nights like this, I held her in my arms.
I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her.
How could I not have loved her large, still eyes?
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
To think I don’t have her. To feel that I’ve lost her.
To hear the immense night, more immense without her.
And the poem falls to the soul as dew to grass.
What does it matter that my love couldn’t keep her.
The night is full of stars and she is not with me.
That’s all. Far away, someone sings. Far away.
My soul is lost without her.
As if to bring her near, my eyes search for her.
My heart searches for her and she is not with me.
The same night that whitens the same trees.
We, we who were, we are the same no longer.
I no longer love her, true, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched the wind to touch her ear.
Someone else’s. She will be someone else’s. As she once
belonged to my kisses.
Her voice, her light body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, true, but perhaps I love her.
Love is so short and oblivion so long.
Because on nights like this I held her in my arms,
my soul is lost without her.
Although this may be the last pain she causes me,
and this may be the last poem I write for her.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
Write, for instance: “The night is full of stars,
and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance.”
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
On nights like this, I held her in my arms.
I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her.
How could I not have loved her large, still eyes?
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
To think I don’t have her. To feel that I’ve lost her.
To hear the immense night, more immense without her.
And the poem falls to the soul as dew to grass.
What does it matter that my love couldn’t keep her.
The night is full of stars and she is not with me.
That’s all. Far away, someone sings. Far away.
My soul is lost without her.
As if to bring her near, my eyes search for her.
My heart searches for her and she is not with me.
The same night that whitens the same trees.
We, we who were, we are the same no longer.
I no longer love her, true, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched the wind to touch her ear.
Someone else’s. She will be someone else’s. As she once
belonged to my kisses.
Her voice, her light body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, true, but perhaps I love her.
Love is so short and oblivion so long.
Because on nights like this I held her in my arms,
my soul is lost without her.
Although this may be the last pain she causes me,
and this may be the last poem I write for her.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Can we change this?
One of the many email forwards which came to me. With all the shit of reservations going on, thought this would sum up the entire story.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OLD VERSION.....
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast alongwith other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) . Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter..
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV. Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden'. Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *****
Many years later...
The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.
100s of grasshoppers die of starvation somewhere in India..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OLD VERSION.....
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast alongwith other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) . Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter..
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV. Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden'. Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *****
Many years later...
The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.
100s of grasshoppers die of starvation somewhere in India..
Its Christmas again!!!
Its Christmas time again. Every year during this time I go down memory lane and indulge in a bit of nostalgia. For me Christmas typically signifies winters. Having spent the major part of my life including all of my childhood in Jabalpur, I miss the winters the most in Bombay.
Christmas vacations would normally start from the 19th or the 20th and schools would reopen around 2nd or 3rd of Jan. And boy did we enjoy those days!!! The day used to begin around 9 in the morning. We attired in our sweaters or jackets would go to the cricket field. And a good 3 hours of batting, bowling & fielding. We had to return home by 12.15 max since 12.30 was the time when everybody's dad would come home for lunch. So u had to get your bath and be ready for lunch with dad. And Dads were never interested in how many runs you scored that day. The question from them would be about the Maths homework he had assigned for the holidays :-). Afternoons used to be typically out there in the garden. Every house had a garden where moms would assemble in the afternoons for their round table conference and to bask in the winter sun. The best memories of those days are of women with knitting wool and needles and other accesories and discussing how a particular design would be done. I've never seen women with the knitting needles in Bombay ever. Every year I used to have atleast 1 new sweater with the latest design from the Hindi magazine Manorama woven exclusively by mom. Thanks so much mom. I now realise how much I miss those sweaters. I still have them safely stacked up inside my cupboards. Sadly I dont need those in Bombay .
Christmas Day reminds of picnics. Every year on this day people would go out in groups of 20-30 to some beautiful place close to the city and spend the day there. Food used to be cooked using firewood. Oh how much the taste of that delicious food still lingers. And the day after Christmas our visits to our teachers' house would begin. Studying in a missionary school had its advantages. Most of the teachers were Catholics and we would choose one teacher to visit everyday for Christmas. Wow, what amazing goodies they used to serve us. But I remember Miss D'Souza the most. She had a glass of home made ginger wine for us every Christmas. But she never gave us a refill. We were too young to have a second one she used to say:). And who would forget the goodies which we used to get at home from neighbours who were Christians.
But now things are different. I live in a city where time and money are more valuable than emotions. Christmas just flies by without me even realising. Probably thats how life is!
How I wish that I could turn back the clock and go back to those days when completing the homework was the biggest responsibility that we had in life. When winning a cricket match against the team from the other colony used to be reason enough to be happy for days together. When playing cricket with friends in the evening used to be the biggest priority in life. When discussing about our crushes used to make us blush so much. When television had not invaded our lives so much. When sleeping inside the quilt with the mercury around 4 degrees outside was the biggest comfort in life. When being forced to get up in the morning during winters was the only grief we had. When Christmas & New Year meant going to each house and wishing them. When life was so simple yet so great! How I wish those days were back again!!
Christmas vacations would normally start from the 19th or the 20th and schools would reopen around 2nd or 3rd of Jan. And boy did we enjoy those days!!! The day used to begin around 9 in the morning. We attired in our sweaters or jackets would go to the cricket field. And a good 3 hours of batting, bowling & fielding. We had to return home by 12.15 max since 12.30 was the time when everybody's dad would come home for lunch. So u had to get your bath and be ready for lunch with dad. And Dads were never interested in how many runs you scored that day. The question from them would be about the Maths homework he had assigned for the holidays :-). Afternoons used to be typically out there in the garden. Every house had a garden where moms would assemble in the afternoons for their round table conference and to bask in the winter sun. The best memories of those days are of women with knitting wool and needles and other accesories and discussing how a particular design would be done. I've never seen women with the knitting needles in Bombay ever. Every year I used to have atleast 1 new sweater with the latest design from the Hindi magazine Manorama woven exclusively by mom. Thanks so much mom. I now realise how much I miss those sweaters. I still have them safely stacked up inside my cupboards. Sadly I dont need those in Bombay .
Christmas Day reminds of picnics. Every year on this day people would go out in groups of 20-30 to some beautiful place close to the city and spend the day there. Food used to be cooked using firewood. Oh how much the taste of that delicious food still lingers. And the day after Christmas our visits to our teachers' house would begin. Studying in a missionary school had its advantages. Most of the teachers were Catholics and we would choose one teacher to visit everyday for Christmas. Wow, what amazing goodies they used to serve us. But I remember Miss D'Souza the most. She had a glass of home made ginger wine for us every Christmas. But she never gave us a refill. We were too young to have a second one she used to say:). And who would forget the goodies which we used to get at home from neighbours who were Christians.
But now things are different. I live in a city where time and money are more valuable than emotions. Christmas just flies by without me even realising. Probably thats how life is!
How I wish that I could turn back the clock and go back to those days when completing the homework was the biggest responsibility that we had in life. When winning a cricket match against the team from the other colony used to be reason enough to be happy for days together. When playing cricket with friends in the evening used to be the biggest priority in life. When discussing about our crushes used to make us blush so much. When television had not invaded our lives so much. When sleeping inside the quilt with the mercury around 4 degrees outside was the biggest comfort in life. When being forced to get up in the morning during winters was the only grief we had. When Christmas & New Year meant going to each house and wishing them. When life was so simple yet so great! How I wish those days were back again!!
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