MAKE IT HAPPEN IN RIO,2016 OLYMPICS

                                                                         -By Milan K Sinha

  

Finally,  face-saving news for a country of 1210 million people -and the news is about  International Olympic Committee (IOC)  agreeing in principle to lift the ban imposed last year. In fact, IOC agreed to pave the way for India's return to Olympic fold after  the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)  agreed to have fresh elections and hold another Annual General Meeting (AGM) within a month to select their representatives.        

It is still  live in our memory how  London 2012 Olympics  Grand Finale ended with all fanfare a few months back. India  did register an improvement in its   medal tally - total six medals- two Silver and four Bronze. India ranked 55th among the participating countries numbering 204.  At the end of the 17 day long Gala sports event, only 85 countries had the honour of winning at least a single medal. USA topped the medal count with 104 medals followed by China with 87 and  host Britain with 65.  The Indian players, by and large  tried their best within the well known constraints to bring laurels for the country.

    

Yes, soon after the game was over, every authority and analyst took stock of the country’s performance and registered  their view point on expected lines. No doubt, the protagonists of Indian  performance which might seem very shameful in absolute terms,  had  at least following three reasons to highlight and rejoice on the occasion based purely on comparative position:

· We doubled our medal tally from 3 in Beijing 2008 Olympics to 6 in London 2012.

· In 1996 Atlanta Olympics, India could bag only one Bronze medal whereas it is now   whooping six. To say, six hundred per cent improvement.

· Our immediate neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal couldn’t win even one medal in London 2012.

             But, the table below showing medal count of top 15 countries  in London 2012 with population of that country would definitely provide us enough food for thought for deciding our action plan: RIO 2016 Olympics, right  now.

S.N.	Name of Country	Gold  Medal	Total Medals	Population of country    (in million)
1	U.S.A	46	104	312
2	China	38	87	1350
3	Britain	29	65	62
4	Russia	24	82	142
5	S. Korea	13	28	50
6	Germany	11	44	82
7	France	11	34	65
8	Italy	8	28	61
9	Hungary	8	17	10
10	Australia	7	35	22
11	Japan	7	38	128
12	Kazakistan	7	13	17
13	Netherland	6	20	17
14	Ukraine	6	20	46
15	Cuba	5	14	11

     

I hope, most of the right thinking nationalist Indian who might not be good at playing politics (our de facto National Game) must wonder seeing the table above, why our top ten populous as well as relatively prosperous states namely Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka & Gujarat ( UP has a population of 200 million & Gujarat 61 million) can’t compete individually with most of the top ranking countries in the above list. Each of these states and a few more  in Indian Union has the potential and also the resources to show to the world that next forty months from now   would be dedicated towards motivating, identifying and grooming  the energetic as well as  enthusiastic young population in all possible and sincere manner for becoming one of the top ten countries of the world in medal tally in Rio 2016 Olympics  and thereafter Olympic after Olympic.

Hope, IOA(Indian Olympic Association), Central as well as State governments and all  sports organisations are listening. 

# Published in Patna Daily.com

                                                   Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

STRESS MALADY- WHAT'S THE REMEDY?

                                                                                        - By Milan K Sinha

       The world is changing fast - socially, economically, technologically & culturally,  and so is our country. The pace of this change has been faster in corporate world with the advent of the famous concept of LPG -Liberalisation, Privatisation & Globalisation. Everybody, even those who don't understand fully the meaning of GDP talks in terms of this term. Creating a compelling work environment for achieving, at times even seemingly unachievable,  business targets more by crook than by hook is becoming the order of the day in many companies, more noticeably in Indian IT as well as Financial Sectors. As a corollary, the natural character of our daily routine undergoes changes for the worse, more particularly for our urban working population. The reasons may be many and may also seem to be genuine and compelling, but in the bargain we are confronted with stress, stress and more stress. Obviously, changing the natural course of life at will or worse under compulsion, doctors opine, creates a highly  stressful situation which affects not only our health but also the health of our family at large since it has multi -dimensional impact on our life. Believe it or not, it is a very big and serious issue for all HR managers and wellness consultant across the world. 

      

  Mr. Hans Selye, the famous American Stress Management Expert, has identified the top stressors at one’s workplace as urgency of achieving the periodical business targets, excessive work pressure, demanding and aggressive  bosses, less performing and sometimes non-performing colleagues, competitive peers and excessive touring. The long office hours mainly due to late sitting habits resulting in very little time   for the family especially children is a major cause of domestic disharmony. And on  top of everything, the increasing uncertainty in today’s corporate life as regards job security, transferability, career progression etc. leads to so much of executive stress. This kind of situation, in turn, affects the behaviour pattern of an individual, sometimes fatally.

      

    An individual who tries to build up a big business empire or to go up in career path very fast but forgets to Organize, Deputise and Supervise in a positive and transparent manner usually ends up with heart, kidney and liver problems in his early forties itself – majority health problems caused by strain and stress, tension and worries.

    

   It is no denying the fact that over the last couple of years, old but fundamentally sound Indian value system not only in the corporate world but also in our day to day life has generally collapsed and stress is nothing but the direct repercussion of this collapse, of course coupled with our so-called modern and ostentatious fast lifestyle. That is why sane people suggest that in today’s scenario, stress will almost be a constant companion demanding continuous and serious attention. And surely, there are many ways to control stress by adopting different positive life styles, by adopting suitable stress management principles/techniques.

       

   In order to tackle stress a three pronged approach is normally  practised in corporate world by being (i) Curative for employees who had already reached high levels of stress and were developing insomnia, symptoms of nervousness and other psychosomatic problems, (ii) Preventive by creating open networks for senior-junior communication to get suppressed feeling out without fear of a backlash and (iii) Promotive by building a culture supported by uniquely Indian values.  

 # Published in Bihar Times 

                                                   Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

LIFE INSURANCE SCENE IN INDIA

                                                                            - MILAN K SINHA

       Of late,  in a written reply to parliament on dwindling  number of life insurance policies  in the country, minister of state for finance, N.N. Meena said, "IRDA has informed that there has been a decline in terms of number of policies in the last three years. The decline can be attributed to fall in sale of (life insurance) policies in ULIP (unit linked insurance plan) segment which contributed to the growth earlier and other general prevailing market conditions in the country." Statistically speaking , in 2011-12, number of policies dipped by 8.2% to  4.41 crore , whereas  during first nine months of financial year 2012-13, i.e. upto December 2012, the number of polices were down by 0.1% at  2.69 crore. 
        
      A few weeks earlier, while delivering  his budget speech on 28th Feb,2013 the finance minister P. Chidambaram said,"All towns in India with a population of 10,000 or more will have an office of LIC and an office of at least one public sector general insurance company."  He has set a deadline of March 2014 for achieving  this target. 
       
      Presently LIC has more than two thousand  branches and equal number of  satellite offices in the country. Moreover, it has  a strong network of around 14 lac individual agents besides hundreds of  corporate &  referral agents, brokers/ banks  for soliciting life insurance business across the length & breadth of the country. But, at the same time, it is also a  wellknown fact that despite having mammoth organisation like LIC which has been operating for decades under Govt.'s  umbrella, the insurance penetration is dismally low and so is the insurance awareness & education, more particularly in Rural & Semi-Urban areas of this vast country.  May be that is one of the reasons behind the idea of opening branches in smaller places which is definitely good and if implemented sincerely within the set deadline, it is going to have visible impact on many aspects of insurance business in the country. 
      
      Undoubtedly, there has been improvement in Indian insurance scene after liberalisation in this sector  which paved the way for entry of dozens of  private players in this hugely potential market, but still the large insurable population which comprises the poor and disadvantaged section of society, though in dire need of  life insurance policies, are  destined to live without any cover. This issue needs to be taken care of very  urgently  by IRDA & the central Govt., to make the dream of financial inclusion a reality in true sense. 
        
      One aspect namely mis-selling of insurance products  has polluted the  life insurance market during the last couple of years & hence needs to be addressed by regulator  seriously  to instill back  the confidence of both existing as well as potential customers. It is heatening  to learn in this regard  that the new chief of  IRDA  (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority), T S Vijayan has, of late, asserted by saying, 'Certainly, addressing mis-selling and protection of policyholders' interests is a priority.' Some other aspects of life insurance business such as  persistency ratio and servicing of orphan policies have also been a major cause of concern and so has been the death claim settlement ratio which must be given due emphasis while monitoring and then rating the overall business performance of any insurance player in this evolving market.        
     
      A lot many initiatives at the ground level for creating awareness about the need for purchasing life insurance products based on one's needs and financial affordability together with more enabling and customer friendly service offerings, are the urgent need of the hour which IRDA chief has also accepted and appreciated. But, all said and done, implementation and execution has been and will be the key to success of any policy/decision.   
     
       Hopefully,the big brother in Indian life insurance space,LIC of India,would justify its famous slogan, "Yogakshemam Vahamyaham" which means ' Your Welfare is Our Responsibility' in far better manner in future for others,mainly private players to emulate. Of course, IRDA is there to guide, support and monitor for ensuring a more customer friendly and inclusive  life insurance scene in the country in days to come.

Published in Udaipur Times.com
   

                                             Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

P.S. : I shall be discussing in detail the issues related to non- life insurance separately.

CAN ABSENCE OF ILLNESS GUARANTEE WELLNESS ?

                                                                                      By MILAN K SINHA
  "Just because you're not sick doesn't mean you're healthy."  ~Author Unknown

     Who doesn't wish to live well.  And the first step is no doubt what  Seneca says,'To wish to be well is a part of becoming well.' What next? Or only wishing will do? To quote a famous saying here is not impertinent, "If wishes were horses, everybody would ride it." Obviously, the next and the most important step is to act and to act well to live well. It is no denying the fact that some of us do take some efforts consistently or inconsistently in this direction but, a large number among us do know, think and contemplate, still fail to act. They set an alarm to get up early, but put the alarm off to continue in bed for more hours later to repent may be for hours but unfortunately  repeat the same routine next day and day after. Just see what Terri Guillemets says, 'When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no "I'll start tomorrow." Tomorrow is disease.' 

        

    Interestingly, however, one thing is common for all of us, exceptions apart, is our not right a notion that absence of illness is the prerequisite to have the feeling of wellness. Literally, wellness may sound to be opposite of illness but it is not so and is conspicuously different. WHO statement is worth mentioning here which goes as follows: Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  

       

   Well, let me elaborate it further. Hope, you too have watched the great Hindi movie, "Anand" directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee where the actor Rajesh Khanna, the first super star of Hindi films, though suffering from the dreaded disease Cancer, lives his life very happily as if he enjoys the feeling of wellness every moment. On the contrary, one must have come across the situation where in the person is physiologically fit and healthy, having all the inputs of comfort and luxury at his command, still not enjoying the wellness feeling. Why?  It is primarily because of a simple but common fact that we don't know what we really want to feel happy and well. No doubt, the definition of wellness may vary from person to person, still being a social human being we share some common interests and longings. By having something or not having those can guarantee us a feeling of wellness or absence of it. 

     Undoubtedly, this is a thought provoking as well as a complex issue. Some of us may say that wellness is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. What do you say? Think over it and oblige me by sharing  your thoughts on this subject.

                             Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIA* : A COMMON UNCOMMON MAN

                                                                                  By MILAN K SINHA

      
  For some years now, the politics of our country has been passing through a difficult phase as politics of power has occupied the centre stage replacing  the politics of service. High standards of morality and high principles have little place in Indian politics now.  No means are too debased, no methods too degrading and no tricks too mean. Actually, the end justifies the means today. Obviously, the common man is perplexed to notice all these changes. Simultaneously and consequently, the hardships of the mango masses (Aam Aadmi) have been mounting and mushrooming despite the tall talk of impressive GDP growth after the economic  liberlisation was set in motion.The impact of this worsening political situation is clearly noticeable in every sphere of our life. Naturally, at this critical stage the name of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia comes to our mind. 

         

    Before moving further to discuss the life and work of Lohia in some detail, it is pertinent to share with our 550 million youths that a number of famous present day political leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav are known well for claiming to be the true disciple and follower of Lohia who are ,naturally, taking his  legacy and political philosophy forward. Political analysts and research scholars may be requested to examine the claims of these socialist leaders in right perspective. 

         

     Coming back to our day's discussion on Lohia, it is very inspiring to note that he  always laid emphasis on moral values in all our affairs, private as well as public, on means as well as on ends and also on democratic institution as well as individual freedom. He left memorable impression on the Indian political scene because of his moral stature, his rugged personal integrity, his tremendous sacrifices and his remarkable human qualities. He was a great revolutionary both in thought and in action who worked tirelessly for the poor, downtrodden and disadvantaged section of the society  without any lust for power or fame.

        

    Indeed Lohia was a person who during his lifetime continuously and indefatigably fought for the well being of the poorest of the poor. He often gave a clarion call to the people to rise in protest against all sorts of tyranny and dictatorship. Time and again he voiced the demands of the poor in and outside the parliament to make the rulers realise their duties towards the nation. In 1958, during the Socialist Party convention in Siroha(M.P) he said,"India is going bankrupt and if the government continues its present policies any more, the situation would be even more deplorable. after independence the government has exhausted nearly 1800 crore rupees  in a few years. Nevertheless, the vicious cycle of poverty and inequality has been moving speedily. Thus, to stop this devastating trend, we will have to make arrangements immediately in such a way that the difference between the income of the richest and the poorest comes to 10:1."

       

     Being the son of a freedom fighter and Gandhi follower, Lohia was involved in freedom movement since his early childhood. The little boy of only 13 years was present at the plenary session of Indian National Congress held in Gaya, Bihar in the year 1923 as a congress volunteer. As Lohia grew up to pass through engrossing experiences of academic, social and political life, he found himself very close to Bapu in many respect. In 1940, Lohia was sentenced to jail for two years for writing an article called "Satyagraha Now" in Gandhiji's newspaper, Harijan. Bapu reacted sharply on this and said in  a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, "I cannot sit quiet as long as  Lohia is in prison. I do not yet know a person braver and simpler than him. He never propagated violence. Whatever he has done has increased his esteem and his honor."    There used to be long discussion on various topics of both private and public importance between Bapu and Lohia. On that fateful day when Bapu was assassinated he(Bapu) had called Lohia for a very important discussion. But, it was the misfortune of Lohia and the poor people of India at large that the meeting did not materialise. Lohia was obviously very upset on that day(January 30, 1948). He was feeling very lonely. He thought that Gandhiji used to listen to all, the rich and the poor alike. There are many to listen to the rich, but now who would listen to the poor and fight for their cause. As such, Lohia himself marched in that direction with more intensity and not only listened to the masses but also identified himself with them. 

         

      Having seen the plight of common man while travelling various parts of the country, he minced no words to express his dissatisfaction about  the state of affairs of  our society. He propounded revolutionary ideas and tried to follow these in his day to day life till his death on 12th October,1967. Regarding the system of education in our country, he said, " The system of education requires revolutionary overhauling so that it ceases to be expensive, becomes useful and impresses upon the students the need to integrate the mind. Among the necessary changes, he suggested that Primary and Secondary instructions(Education) must be placed under the control of municipal or local board. Expensive schools of snobbery obstruct social cohesion and add misery to the life of middle classes who try beyond their means to send their children to them(Such Schools). These must be closed. The children of the highest in the land must go to school with those of the lowest and that will ensure among other benefits one sure way to improve the quality of school  education. Should private charities or religious endowments still want to run Primary and Secondary schools , they must be required under the law to maintain the same standard of free education or with nominal fee  and same curriculum as that of municipal or board schools. Further, a large part of initial instructions must be woven around some form of agriculture or industrial activity. One of the most nefarious aspect of school instructions is the changing text books, which also err in glorifying living party leaders, militarism and sordid conventions. Children's text books must both be classical and sources of general knowledge. There is no need to change them so often and the author- publisher racket must stop. In any event, a one year course of national service on farm or factory should be made part of the curriculum for a bachelor degree. New outlay of  expenditure should be concentrated on technical and poly technical institutes. A system of people's  college and universities may also be instituted so that grown up persons with a few years' experience in some profession can make use of them when they are ready and willing."

      

    Lohia was a versatile genius having very sharp intellect and exceptional analytical mind. His speech used to be very logical and full of relevant facts supported by sound data. Even though, Lohia graduated with English honors and later learned German while pursuing higher studies in Berlin besides knowing French and Bengali very well, yet  he used to speak in Hindi while addressing public meetings as he was of the opinion that the use of English was  a hindrance to original thinking... 

   To put it precisely, Lohia was a very common uncommon man who  breathed his last at the age of 57 as a bachelor without leaving any property or bank balance except his great deeds, inspiring thoughts and political philosophy for emulation by all nationalist Indians so as to make this country powerful and prosperous, free(from hunger, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, inequality, corruption etc.) and self reliant in true sense of the term. 
*On the occasion of  Lohia's Birth Anniversary on 23rd March

                                                              Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

(Published in Bihar Times on 23rd March,2013) Link

                                                             

MY VIEWS IN 'LIVE MINT' ON HIGH FOOD PRICES

'Live Mint' story on 13.03.13 : New Delhi should take the blame for high food prices

Comments of Milan K Sinha

We know that country's millions of farmers continue to engage themselves in agricultural activities despite several odds, many of which are avoidable with proper & timely support and intervention by the officials appointed to look after the welfare of the feeders of the country's huge population. Despite having achieved annual food production of more than 250 million tonnes and also having more than adequate food stock in the country, the food prices have been rising month after month making the life of average Indians very difficult to sustain. Clearly, the basic problem lies in mismanagement of food economy of the country and the known reasons have been hoarding, middlemanship, faulty import-export policy etc. Besides this, there is another glaring problem. Can any Govt. functionary right from the concerned central/state ministers down to agriculture officers/food inspectors, give the reason for wastage of millions of tonnes of food grains in a country where every day more than 7000 people die of hunger and over 200 million people sleep hungry every night. Isn't it highly shocking and shameful that about 21 million tonnes of wheat annually perishes due to inadequate storage and distribution, equivalent to the entire production of Australia as reported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers ( IME) on global food wastage ? What for so many departments with huge work force are there in the country who fail to deliver the goods despite enjoying handsome salary and perks year after year but without any accountability worth the name. In fact, this is a problem created skillfully by a handful of unscrupulous persons enjoying the political blessings and also immunity from prosecution to a greater extent. Naturally, the common farmers and the poor masses would continue to commit suicide or die of hunger till such racket in food management of the country is not busted effectively on a regular basis.

P.S: To view full story, pl. click on Link
                                                              Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

HEALTHY WORK ENVIRONMENT FOR BETTER GROWTH

                                                                                        - By  MILAN K SINHA

Work environment.Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. - Henry Ford

India has huge population of unemployed youths, both adequately educated and inadequately educated, both skilled, semi-skilled and un-skilled. As many surveys have revealed that country has, unfortunately for more than one reason, been registering jobless economic  growth for last few years. Besides this fact that least number of new jobs are created, the industry watchers including ASSOCHAM(Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India) have claimed that over a million people lost their jobs in the Export Sector alone during the last 11 months of current financial year.Against that background, if HR consultancy firms like Mercer, Aon Hewitt  are projecting an average 10 to 12% salary hike by India inc this year, it can't be termed as a bad news for employees working here as the business growth has been sluggish across the industries in the country  which is clearly reflected in substantially  lower GDP growth of Indian economy this fiscal than the estimated one. Its encouraging, as reported by Mercer, that  the performance-based pay and rewards would  gain prominence in the appraisal cycle and hiring  would continue to be on the agenda for most companies in 2013. But, for more than anything else now, it has been a growing concern for some years among the working youths in corporate entities in India  that the working environment is becoming more and more stressful which naturally results in growing health problems including depression, hypertension etc. The progressive and employee friendly companies do feel and appreciate this problem and hence embark on Wellness Management  Programmes  as a major HR activity on regular basis for all its employees to help & facilitate them strike a balance between the job requirements and  health issues to name a few. That is why , Robert Fritz says, “The way to activate the seeds of your creation is by making choices about the results you want to create. When you make a choice, you activate vast human energies and resources, which otherwise go untapped.”

        

     The good corporates all over the world who treat their human resources as the most vital resource for sustaining  quality growth of the company's business and revenue year after year do discover to their satisfaction that by engaging the employees in wellness management activities periodically, the company is able to reduce  the overall medical expenses besides keeping the motivation level and degree of loyalty of the employees quite high. Not only this, the surveys and studies have also shown conclusively that wellness management initiatives result in creating a healthy working environment as feeling of camaraderie, togetherness and empathy have been found to be profound  among the work force in such companies. 

             

   Before signing off today, let me share the following thought of Deepak Chopra : "You can't make positive choices for the rest of your life without an environment that makes those choices easy, natural, and enjoyable."

                                             Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.
#Published in Patna Daily.com