Sunday, July 30, 2017

Are your interests and their interests really the same?

You wanted a leader that doesn't get bogged down by what others say,
that pushes ahead, come what may, and does his own thing. Your
assumption all this time has been that his own thing is the same as
your own thing.

That could have been so, had his rise not been actively aided by your
enemies. But they were involved, right from the beginning.

His own thing never was same as your own thing.

It isn't.

It never will be.

You put a leader into power who will do not his own thing, but the
bidding of those who majorly funded and supported him. His interests
will co-incide not with your interests, but their interests. And they
will run contrary to your interests, your safety, your family's
safety.

You felt there was no other way, because the people in the middle were
messing everything up and something had to be done.

You intentions may be noble, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

What has happened instead is that those people in the middle now no
longer need to worry about their real no.1 threat : you and others
like you getting in their way. They STILL have their control, and
their power has only gone up by bringing in a leadership that silences
the one thing that could have checked the middle people : the bottom
rung, people like yourself.

The shortcut of just bringing in someone at the top who won't get
swayed : only results in that person being unable to get swayed in the
good direction by you. It's not a good shortcut because it does not
lead you to your destination; it only leads you backwards.

There are other ways to strengthen your voice and disempower those
pesky people in the middle who are messing up everything.

Disclaimer : This is a work of imagination. No association to real
life people. If something IS coming up in your head, then that's just
your business.

sharing a note on a home buying scam happening in India

Saw this on FB, re-posting it here as backup, and for search engine
friendliness:

https://www.facebook.com/jain36/posts/10209710632859156

By Sandeep Jain:

Great Indian Banking Scam:

I want to bring attention to a disturbing nationwide organised scam
that you are a familiar with, but most don't quite understand the
"fraud" part of it. And like some of my answers do, it may ruffle some
feathers. But truth must be told. Here it is:

Do these pictures seem familiar to you? Go to the outskirts of any
major city in India, (for example take Noida & Gurgaon which are on
the outskirts of Delhi), you see miles & miles of semi built
structures that just stay dead still & never get completed. All these
buildings started in different years, but surprisingly, they all face
"financial trouble" just after the basic structure is built. Why don't
we see buildings that stop in-between, say after 4 floor or 8 floors?

The answer is an organised scam played by the state governments,
builders, banks & accounting bodies. This is how it works -

The builders sell you construction linked plan. You assume that it's a
fair plan as the builder will charge money as and when the
construction progresses and it is in builder's interest to complete
the project with speed. Looks fair for all. This is where the catch
is! The so called "construction linked plan" is a sham designed by the
agencies listed above, backed fully by the government and banks. Let's
look at the reasons:

What is the scam here ? The payment plan is designed in a way that you
have to pay 90% of the price of flat "at the laying of the top floor
of the building". By this time the builder has spent only 50% of the
project cost. Most of the money is needed later in the finishing work
- electrical wiring, plumbing, flooring, paints, lifts / elevators,
external work, parking, basements, government permissions for water,
sewage, power, etc.

You get the logic here. Now the builder is sitting on neat 40% profit
(90% - 50%) and all that he is left to "earn" from you is 10%. Why
would he spend another 30% money just to recover 10% from you? He
stops work right here!

You're thinking — he should not stop because there is a timeline to
deliver the project. But wait, what if he misses the deadline of
delivery? There must be some penalty, right? Check the agreement - ah
well,……… keep searching! So if developer delays the project, there is
no penalty due on his part (or at best its princely sum of Rs 5 per sq
feet per month…. which comes to a meager 1% interest!).

But if you delay his payment, interest charged is 12% to 18%. Ever
heard of one sided agreements? Which business would not seize this
opportunity to "borrow" free money without interest?

Why did the banks & RBI support it The befitting supporting actor
award here goes to the banks & RBI.

They lend "you" the money on "your" credit report. Banks don't finance
the builders for land purchase. They are also very shy on financing
the builders for construction(rates are more than 15% to 18%). But
wait, consumers can always borrow at 10% & "pay" the builder. So
essentially, the consumer is "financing the builder" in the name of
"purchasing the apartment".

Oh, did I tell you the best part? This money is without any interest
for the builder as we see above. So a developer to whom no bank lends
money below 18% and that too is seen very risky, can "get easy finance
from the same banks" at 0% interest rate, all in the name of
consumers!

While RBI could have set this right just by changing the construction
linked payment schedule through banks, it chose to sit with eyes shut,
while the banks & builders continue to fleece customers.

Where did the money go ? Well, democracy is an expensive way to run
governments, especially in developing countries. Every state
government has been enjoying the party with builders & this was a
"legal" way to pull huge credit money from the banking system on the
books of the "reasonably wealthy middle class" who was sold the idea
of buying a house as it "appreciates forever" with tax breaks.

Builders diverted money to the political parties to get further favors
on land & permits. Secondly, the builder has used this surplus 40%
"profits" to buy new land parcels so as to launch more projects &
collect even more surplus interest free money.

The land prices were assumed to be appreciating forever as more and
more money was being pumped out of the banks. The music has to stop
some day.

What about the consumers? The "middle class" consumer will continue to
pay his monthly installment to banks, while their money has been
siphoned off by the builders, political parties, government officials
and the banks.

The apartment that was sold as 40 lacs will eventually cost 60 to 70
lacs considering the delayed possession, not to mention some cases
where money is lost forever.

You dare not default since you are just a retail consumer. Don't dare
to become an industrialist who can default & live happily ever after.

State governments are all hands in, trying to keep existing projects
out of RERA. Even if these are included, try fighting the legal battle
to get decision from regulator first. Then move to Appellate Tribunal
(yes, this comes before the High court), then the High Court & finally
Supreme Court. Can you hold till 20 years or rather take the apartment
on builder's terms whenever he feels like offering the same to you?

Talk of organised banking loot by the government, this is it. If it
feels like your story also, you're not alone. But please never assume
that property prices don't fall. Staying on rent is not that bad. And
don't you ever buy into the hype !

Monday, July 24, 2017

Let's put the textbooks on GitHub and collaboratively transform them there

https://eduminister.blogspot.com/2017/06/my-letter-to-honble-hrd.html

My Letter to Hon'ble HRD Minister/Chairman (NCERT) Prakash Javadekar today
- Manish Sisodiya, June 27 2017

Comment posted:

Respected Sir, suggesting an idea from the IT world : Github.com is a global platform for open sharing of programs and also data. It has excellent mechanisms by which people can copy over a project (fork), make the changes they want to, and then start a process called "pull request" to re-integrate these changes back into the original. All changes are meticulously tracked. There is also a rich discussion system where there can be elaborate discussion on the proposed changes. Please upload the NCERT textbooks' content (text, images, formatting) to GitHub and let's have an open sourced way of transforming these books to make them much better suited for our kids! If we have word file versions of the textbooks then it's very easy to get the content online. I'll be glad to help in setting this up. Reach me on [censored] -- Respectfully Yours, Nikhil, Pune





Maharashtra’s open school to start from 2018.. and connection with a PIL filed by open learners' guardians

Crossposting from https://www.facebook.com/mavenik/posts/10159236063540195 :

The state of Maharashtra has recently announced starting its Open School and this could not get more awesome! The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), a central government body, has existed before unschooling and home schooling were cool. But now we have our own state run Open School to design and implement a more relevant and context based curriculum that focusses on skill development!

In July 2015, some of us had filed a PIL with the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. It was regarding amendments in the modus operandi of the Maharashtra State Government w.r.t. the Right To Education Act and the mandate to attend 'schools' to impart basic education for kids belonging to the age group of 6 to 14 years. We had also demanded the formation of a state level Open School, as directed by the NIOS.

We engaged with the system to recognize open learning as an alternative means to education. This was applicable in various scenarios such as with kids of migrant labour, tribals, children below the poverty line, home schoolers, and open learners. We read and understood the Ground Rules (GR) for a survey of out-of-school students, worked in tandem with the Municipal Corporations, and even went out to survey with the government staff and submitted our findings. Following the survey, some of us continued to write to the Ministry of Education and Hon. Governor of Maharashtra.

It all has started to yield fruitful results and education is only going to get exciting from here!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/states-open-school-to-start-from-2018/articleshow/59601613.cms
Maharashtra's open school to start from 2018

A recent AAP newsletter

Sharing because you don't get to see anything on this on mainstream media, do you?
Newsletter | June 2017

Let's Build the Future Together
BY ARVIND KEJRIWAL

Arvind Kejriwal's speech at Delhi State Office Bearer's Convention on May 21

When we were contesting the elections in 2015, we knew that to change the lives of ordinary citizens in Delhi it was essential to improve government schools. It was essential that every child had access to high quality education irrespective of whether they were rich or poor. But I have to honestly admit that when I became CM in February 2015, I did not know how we would do this.

Today, two years later, I can say with great pride and confidence that a remarkable transformation has taken place in the government schools of Delhi. This is nothing short of an education revolution and the results show it. Last week, we celebrated the performance of Delhi's government schools which achieved a pass percentage of 88.3% in CBSE Class 12 results – a clear 6% higher than all CBSE schools nationally and substantially higher than Delhi's private schools. For two years now, government schools have performed better than private schools in Delhi. Last week, we also celebrated the achievement of 372 students from Delhi's government schools who cleared IIT-JEE examinations this year – a 700% rise over last year.

There is so much poverty in our city and our country. There is only one solution to this and that is high quality education. If every child from a deprived background gets good education, then within one generation, every family can pull itself out of poverty. This is the change that our nation needs because only an educated nation can become a developed nation.

AAP government's achievements in education, health and several other areas are also the achievement of every single volunteer and supporter who has sacrificed immensely to make AAP what it is today. Our work has only begun and as we march forward to deliver on the dreams and aspirations of crores of people, we ask for your support and participation in every single step. Beginning with this monthly newsletter series, we will communicate regularly and directly with you and we promise to listen carefully to what you have to say. Start today by making a small contribution to AAP to build the India of our dreams.

Donate ₹500 or More Now to AAP to Build the Future Together
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj demonstrates 'EVM Tampering' in Delhi Assembly

BLOG

AAP's Stance on EVMs

BY SAURABH BHARDWAJ

The sanctity of the election process is the bedrock of Indian democracy. Over the last few years, and especially in recent months, the faith in this process has been shaken due to serious allegations of tampering the EVMs.   Read More »

MINT

AAP in Striking Distance of National Party Status

BY PRETIKA KHANNA

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may have suffered defeat in the just concluded state assembly elections, yet it is within striking distance of the elite club of national parties—with seven members..  Read More »

AAP in Delhi

BLOG

Delhi Government's Historic Outcome Budget

BY MANISH SISODIA

Our government believes that the relationship between a government and its citizens is nothing short of a sacred contract. A contract to deliver the best possible outcomes and benefits to society...  Read More »

PRESS RELEASE

Mera Booth Sabse Majboot campaign launched in Delhi

The Delhi unit of the Aam Aadmi Party held a state convention on 21st May in the presence of National Convener Arvind Kejriwal and newly appointed Delhi Convener Gopal Rai. During this convention, the party announced...  Read More »

BLOG

Understanding Delhi's Education Revolution

BY ATISHI MARLENA

When the Aam Aadmi Party formed the government in Delhi in 2015, we knew we had inherited a public school system that was in shambles. What we did not know was how deep the rot ran. Subject to decades of neglect and intentional subversion by... Read More »

THE KEN

Can AAP's insurgent government deliver the universal healthcare holy grail?
BY RUHI KANDHARI

In a first such experiment in India, 150 mohalla clinics have been set up in Delhi and 850 more will come up by year-end. How is Arvind Kejriwal's prescription working?  Read More »

AAP in Punjab

PRESS RELEASE

AAP's 'Punjab Yatra' connects with people before Assembly session

The Aam Aadmi Party launched the 'Punjab Yatra' from 1st May onwards to consult the people of the state on the issues they want...  Read More »

CATCH NEWS

Arvind Kejriwal makes first trip to Punjab post elections

As National Convener Arvind Kejriwal visits the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the party unites to take on the corrupt government of the ruling Congress party...  Read More »

In The News

 

The Media Wants to Mainstream Kejriwal
The Hoot  |  28 April 2017

The Anomalous Rise of Mr Kejriwal
The Dawn  |  18 April 2017 

CBSE 12th result 2017: Govt schools take 9% lead over private institutions
The Times of India  |  29 May 2017

Over 700% Rise in Cracking JEE by Delhi Govt School Students
The Pioneer  |  24 May 2017

Summer camps begin in over 1,000 govt schools
The Hindu  |  12 May 2017

At leadership camp, Delhi government school students discover their potential
Indian Express  | 23 May 2017

Real estate, liquor out of GST as influential people run them: Manish Sisodia
Indian Express  |  29 May 2017

CM Arvind Kejriwal promises to make Delhi mosquito-free
Financial Express | 13 May 2017

Kapil Mishra's Comedy Show
Firstpost  |  19 May 2017

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Thursday, July 20, 2017

Breaking heart vs wrecking life

Dear males, esp the blokes in their 30s and up, esp the blokes who do have a life partner.

Standard response when a girl way too younger than you approaches you and reveals that she is attracted to you:

I think I'm better off breaking your heart right now than wrecking your life later.

And mind, i'm not asking the ones stuck in loveless situations to not seek love outside. Please seek it in grown up women rather than taking advantage of a young girl's immaturity. All youth will have crushes; that gives you no license to mess with them. If you are your age then exercise the maturity and restraint appropriate to it.

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