Trip to Birmingham
It was a long weekend and there was no way I was going to spend my time anywhere close to my home. I was planning to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Girish Morkhandikar, one of my close acquaintances also had been toying with similar ideas for the weekend. Finally, there was a plan.
Our first destination was Birmingham, a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the largest of England's core cities, and is the second city of the United Kingdom. It forms part of the larger West Midlands conurbation and includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as Solihull, Wolverhampton and the towns of the Black Country.
Girish wanted to see the Venkateshwara Temple and so it was. After having done that we headed to the Birmingham Mint, via the high street, just to reach there to find that it was closed and sold off to a property developer.
We then headed to our next spot to see the Chamberlain Clock at the junction of Warstone Lane and Vyse Street, not very far from where we were. This clock is a tribute to Joseph Chamberlain and was erected in 1903. The clock was intended as a memorial to his services to South Africa in 1902-3. The money for its building was raised by the local people. The clock was unveiled in January 1904. Originally powered by clockwork and hand- wound it was modernised for electricity but did not chime for years. Over time it fell into disrepair, until 1989, when private and public funds were made available it was restored.
The city's reputation was forged as a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in England, a fact which led to Birmingham being known as "
the workshop of the world" or the "
city of a thousand trades". Although Birmingham's industrial importance has declined and the factories have closed down there are some charity organizations which are trying to protect the heritage of the city, it once was. One such place we wanted to see was the Pen Room.
Birmingham was the centre of the world pen trade for more than a century, employing thousands of people, and pioneering craftsmanship, manufacturing processes and employment opportunities for women. When inside room, which once was a factory, one cannot stop but wonder how the availability of cheap fountain pens enabled the development of education and literacy throughout the world.
At the Pen Room, we met Colin and Malcolm who demonstrated how nibs were made to their exclusive audience. Interestingly, there we found a reference to Bombay's Abdul Rahiman street. As I come from that part of the world, I suggested Malcolm that I will help them in whatever way I can to get as much information as possible about the listed manufacturers of the old fountain pens. I plan to do that with utmost sincerity as making that journey would be fun.
I have been given an interesting picture and a list of rules that applied to the factory workers then. I plan to scan both these and post it on the blog along with the other pictures that I have taken.
Then we headed to Stratford-upon-Avon and I shall write about this wonderful trip in my next post.
Media and recession
Please read this interesting news article. This was published on. I am bloggin it for readers in the other parts of the world who might not get the same news.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080818/tuk-recession-within-year-say-experts-6323e80.html
IMHO, things will be ok but please continue reading.
Recession within year, say expertsThe Press Association
Press Assoc. - 1 hour 50 minutes ago
Britain's economy will enter a recession within the coming year, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has predicted.
In its latest quarterly economic forecast, the BCC said Britain was heading into a "technical" recession of two or more quarters of declining output over the next six or nine months. But a major recession similar to the downturn seen in the early 1990s was unlikely, the organisation said.However, the BCC forecast that unemployment will climb by up to 300,000 over the next two to three years to nearly two million. It could even top the two million mark if conditions deteriorate.
David Kern, the BCC's economic adviser, said: "Our quarterly economic forecast highlights a significant worsening in UK economic prospects. There is now a distinct possibility of technical recession. The level of UK unemployment is likely to increase to nearly 300,000 over the next few years, reaching almost two million. An increase above two million cannot be ruled out."
The main drivers of the UK slowdown will be a "very sharp" deceleration in consumer spending growth as households tighten their belts amid soaring bills and falling house prices, the BCC said. Another contributory factor will be much lower growth in UK investment spending thanks to rock-bottom business confidence.
Last week Bank of England Governor Mervyn King also warned that the UK economy could suffer two quarters of negative growth as it went through a "difficult and painful adjustment". Inflation hit a record 4.4% in July, and Mr King warned it could spend the rest of this year around the 5% mark before it falls away through 2009.
Mr Kern said the UK urgently needed an interest rate cut to stimulate the economy. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held rates at 5% in July, the third month in a row they were left unchanged.
"Our view is that the threats to growth are more serious and more immediate than the risks of higher inflation," Mr Kern said. "The UK economy urgently needs an interest rate cut to counter threats of recession."
BCC director general, David Frost added: "Whilst a marked slowdown in activity is likely over the next 18 months, even if interest rates are cut when inflation peaks, the correct policy decisions are still needed to ward off the threats of a serious and prolonged recession. The longer the MPC waits before cutting rates, the bigger the danger that the economic situation would deteriorate."
The BCC, which represents Britain's small and medium-sized businesses, said it was predicting GDP growth to fall to 1.3% this year and
The joy of life
It runs in my blood,
With a rhythm of the universe,
It’s a song of life
That blossoms from the very verse.
I am the offspring of the life,
In the cradle of the earth,
Rocked by the seasons,
As I pass through the birth.
The cadence of life,
Such a joyful sound,
Each lovely moment it tenders,
Till the leaf falls down.
© Mahendra Jape 2008
The rise and fall of the infation index
Inflation could touch 13 per cent in the near future, but is expected to cool down to 8-9 per cent by March 2009. The rate of inflation accelerated to 12.44 per cent in the week ended August 2, up from 12.01 per cent in the previous week. This is the provisional rate. There has been significant variance between the provisional and the actual rates in the recent past. Just to sight an example, the annual rate of inflation for the week ended June 7 was revised upwards to 11.66 per cent from the earlier provisional figure of 11.05 per cent.
The rise occurred largely as a result of a spike in prices of primary articles and oil products. The index for food articles rose by 0.6 per cent while that for non-food articles rose by 0.2 per cent. This rise was primarily because of a surge in the prices of maize, certain lentils, fruits and vegetables, marine fish, rubber, tobacco, linseed and cottonseed. The index for the fuel and power group of commodities went up by 0.9 per cent owing largely to higher prices of light diesel oil, bitumen and furnace oil and aviation turbine fuel.
Interestingly, the index for manufacturing products has gone down by 0.05. So, let us see how things shape up in India.
The information is taken from various sources but by and large the numbers seem to match and hence I thought I should share it you all the readers.
Social goal setting
I was reading about the goals that AjayJ, one of my school pal, has set for himself. I was very happy to read his blog. I too believe in setting targets and achieving them and hence appreciate people who do it.
One interesting thing that his blog did was to provoke my thoughts about setting "Social goals". When the target setting moves from "for self" to "for society" then it takes a very different form. It's very subtle. Though, prima facie it may seem to be very similar, it indeed has dramatically different consequences. At the end of the day the process of goal setting is the same. Though it is for the society, it's again for one's own self and in the truest sense for fulfilling one's own desire and the feeding the self concept with the reasons to be reckoned with. Nevertheless, while actually trying to action it, it takes a deeper meaning which transforms a vision for oneself into a cause for the masses. I see this happening for most of us in some form or the other. Without we realizing it, we are forming opinions about the social environment, defining what we collectively want and slowly making it a reality. Yes, we are transforming our environment, our society without our knowledge. Each one of us is doing it as we want to be a part of the society. It is quite natural and there is nothing wrong in it.
What if we could collectively control the social environment to make it better? What an idea. Then the question is, what is meant by "better"? For the answer, we need to understand or even (re)define "What a good society looks like".
Interesting thoughts. These will need time and focus but I will surely try and find the answers.
Bonds of life
There are some relations that are forever very special. One can't live without them yet when they are around one tends to value those a little less than what they actually deserve. Especially, our parents and the near and the dear ones. I am happy that I am doing whatever I can for my special relations and will continue to do so.
Lesson: Treat each relation in a special way.
This mantra applies to friends, acquaintances and strangers as well. I understand that world is not as good as I am assuming here but I think its not as bad either. In fact, people around me are filled with lots of goodness and I can feel that in the way I am made to feel. "Special" :)
Love,
Mahendra
