Bhujbal

1) In 1973, Thackeray helped him become a BMC corporator. Bhujbal would later go on to become Mayor twice. In 1985, he became Shiv Sena MLA from Mazagaon, which he represented twice.

2) In 1991, at the peak of Mandal agitation, Bhujbal decided to quit Sena to join Congress. saying the party was against OBC reservations. He had by then fashioned himself as an OBC politician, but those who know him always maintained that the real reason he left the party was that he felt sidelined by the rise of tactful and soft spoken Manohar Joshi. 

3) In 1999, when Sharad Pawar left Congress to float his own party NCP, Bhujbal followed him. The same year, Shiv Sena lost power to Congress-NCP coalition. Bhujbal was made Deputy CM with additional Home portfolio.

Against globalisation

1) The scepticism against globalisation is really scepticism against plutocracy.

2) Proponents of globalisation underestimated the political and cultural challenges to assimilation.

3) The idea behind globalisation was that it is possible to imagine a system of economic interdependencies which are structured in such a way that mitigated the zero sum aspects of global trade.

4) The desire for deepening global interconnections was never driven by technical economic argument. 

5) Globalisation is more uneven and complex than presented in caricatures. At its best, it had an ethical impulse, a new imagination about the possibilities of organising human society. At its worst, it was elites and special interests seeking new pastures of opportunity even when the overall benefits were in doubt.

5) As nationalism gains ground, there is a real danger that nuanced debates on globalisation will be replaced by more atavistic revolt against its possibilities.

How to enable a bank collapse

Halfway through the economic liberalisation program by the Narasimha Rao government in 1995-96, the Indian Bank losses mounted to ₹1727 Cr. Wiping out its entire capital base. Over the next couple of years, the losses multiplied, as bad loans reached 40% of its loan book.

Other banks like UCO and United Bank of India too had piled up bad loans, given the inherent weakness in their region, with many cyclical industries going through trouble and operational inefficiencies. 

By the time Vajpayee led NDA government came to power in 1999, the government had sunk a total of ₹6750 Cr in the form of capital in them.

For the government struggling with finances and with global slowdown, pouring in more capital wasn't an option. Nor was shuttering the banks, given the political sensitivities.

Then RBI governor, Bimal Jalan formed an advisory group with ex-chairman of SBI as its head. The advisory group didn't recommend any closure, merger or privatisation of these banks. Instead, operational changes were recommended like reducing operational cost, resolving bad loans, induction of technology etc.

The efforts paid off and by 2001-02, these banks were back to reporting modest profits. It helped that the indian government provided capital to Indiam bank, and as interest rates fell sharply during that period, many banks including weak ones were able to gain on the portfolio of bonds on their books.

BREXIT

1) Britain is more dependent on EU rather than other way round. The EU takes almost half of Britain's exports, whereas Britain takes less than 10% of EUs. And Britain's trade deficit is mostly with Germans and Spanish, not with the remaining 25 countries that would have to agree with the new deal.

2) The long term costs would go beyond economics. Brexit might well break up the UK itself. Scotland, more europhile than England, is again agitating for divorce. And the Irish government is among the most vocal foreign supporters of the campaign for Britain to stay in.

3) EU leaders know that brexit would weaken a club already mired in migrant and Euro crises. The EU has become increasingly important part of the west's foreign and security policy. Whether it comes to nuclear deal with Iran, threat of Islamic terrorism or sanctions against Russia.  

4) The 'Leave' campaign has proved aggressive and well financed. It has skirted past lack of clarity over alternatives to membership, instead playing up concerns over migration and loss of sovereignty to Brussels. Portraying those doubting if Britain could do better outside the EU as unpatriotic.

Questions

Him: What are you doing these days?

Me: Nothing. Just lounging at home, searching for a job.

Him: You shouldn't have left that teaching assignment.

Me: (Gasping for words)

Him: Didn't you wanted to be a teacher all your life? 

Me: (nodding my head not due to lack of words but because of the weight of thoughts I could barely hold in my head)

Him: Then what made you do something that none of us - not your friends, none is able to come to terms with.

Me: I believed that I will find myself a better teaching position.

Him: Do you remember the last time you taught students? FIVE YEARS have elapsed and you are yet to find someone and something to teach.

FiraaQ

shaam-e-firaaq ab na puuchh aaii aur aake Tal gaii 

dil thaa ke phir bahal gayaa, jaa.N thii ke phir sambhal gaii 

bazm-e-Khayaal me.n tere husn kii shamaa jal gaii 

dard kaa chaa.Nd bujh gayaa, hijr kii raat Dhal gaii 

jab tujhe yaad kar liyaa, subha mahak mahak uThii 

jab teraa Gam jagaa liyaa, raat machal machal gaii 

dil se to har muaamalaa karake chale the saaf ham 

kahane me.n unake saamane baat badal badal gaii 

aaKhir-e-shab ke hamasafar 'Faiz' na jaane kyaa hue 

rah gaii kis jagah sabaa, subha kidhar nikal gaii 

Monetary and Fiscal policy

1) In 2004, both Hungary and Poland, the two fastest growing economies in Eastern Europe were ready to join the EU. Since the 1980s, both the countries had experienced unfavourable political and economic conditions. Both had a history of hyperinflation, high levels of foreign debt and poor institutional and economic framework. 

2) While Poland was largely successful in curbing inflation (1993: 35.3%, 2002:1.9%) with an efficient interest rate policy. Hungary was struggling with high interest rates ( 2003: 12.5% p.a). 

3) In Hungary, period 1990-94 had two important weakness. The first was the loose fiscal policy leading to huge fiscal deficits and high foreign debt. The second was ineffective monetary policy. The liberalisation of forex operations and the continuous appreciation of the currency resulted in significant capital inflows, which narrowed the scope of monetary policy in controlling the money supply. 

4) In the late 1980s, Poland's economy initiated its transition process under less favourable conditions when compared to Hungary. 

5) Fiscal policy is necessarily expansionary in a developing economy. Governments always want to increase their expenditures beyond their resources in the hope that in the subsequent stage, output will catch up with increased expenditures. But the question is whether  monetary policy can achieve anything when the fiscal policy is expansionary?