DK Kapila The Oracle

  Manufacturing within India of Technical Aids for the Visually Impaired I am sharing my personal view on this. Based on the feedback I am getting. Mostly when I inquire about an equipment we require such as a brailler embosser, I am advised that computerized braille embossers are not manufactured anywhere in India. To acquire a brailler embosser, we had to request a major PSU which kindly helped out. The machine is manufactured in Europe. The pricing itself puts it out of reach of most institutions. Maintenance is also a concern. Even manual embossers (Perkins Make) which are a typewriter sort of machine are also imported from Perkins (USA). Pertinently, the spare parts for such equipment are also made available on orders by the dealers/distributors. Then software for the laptops / PCs, developed specifically as a vital technological aid for better usage by the visually impaired, is from Europe. It’s costly and requires us to seek assistance from donors. Even updates are priced...

  GM Financial Frauds including calls to actually defraud. Requesting all concerned. 1. The telecom dept Cannot close your account 2. The electricity dept does not send a sms saying they are disconnecting your connection 3. ⁠if some caller says your son or daughter is in dire need of financial help have the presence of mind to disconnect. Tell your children to be always accessible on phones and have them compulsorily give you alternative numbers to be contacted in an emergency. Do not transfer money to unknown people. 4. ⁠No insurance company rings up to say take back your premium plus a hefty mark up. 5. ⁠Do not click on any link if they entice you that the Govt or someone is giving extra pension or money, nobody does this. Thy publish notices or send formal communications. Or check with fellow retiree’s. 6. ⁠No insurance product can assure fantastic returns. Period. 7. ⁠Nobody can guarantee returns from the stock market. Do not transfer money to any such person, even your relati...

  So many faces and modes Over a lifetime !! Of an individual !! One during success One during failure One during a crisis One at the Office One at Meetings One at Social Gatherings One with acquaintances One with friends One with family One with close family One with the self when happy One with the self when sad One with the self when angry Who is real ! What is real !! DKK A Thought The Book of Knowledge and the Book of Life. If you seek to work on social and economic aspects and projects, know the Book of Life. Meet people. Connect. The Book of Knowledge and the Book of Life are complementary. Do not deprive yourself of knowing life firsthand.

  What if a Start up fails and / or the start up founder loses financially This thought just came to mind after a recent online interaction with some founders and some thoughtful people. This point came up. Call it ambitious or over ambitious. Founders may tend to resist taking a call on a business idea and investment which may not be catching traction. In any case business ventures fail. But how do we revive a start up which has failed. With huge financial liabilities. And the second point. What if he had invested his personal wealth.  Where does he or she go now. A person, highly qualified, good background, earned wealth abroad. As did his wife. Herself high profile in education and wealth. The person in question returns to India, organises a team and organises a start up. Gets a band of good investors. They even build a vision of an IPO after five to seven years (don’t ask how so). He invests his own wealth too. The start up makes losses. They pivot, fire staff, invest more...

 Start ups should have A Legal Advisor from the Inception preferably. Dinesh K Kapila I was talking to my son, Prashant Kumar Kapila, a practising advocate. The young man has had an association with some start ups at varying stages. My association has been more of what is the sector all about but it has led to many founders reaching out to me for advise. On partnerships gone sour, key personnel quitting and setting up their own enterprises, being accused of fraud, tiffs with investors, missing out on key clauses in agreements etc. Patents and IPR too. Well we the father son duo one day discussed this and came to the conclusion each start up should preferably have a competent (not necessarily expensive) legal advisor or consultant who is in practice. Pay by the hour or case or a retainer is their decision. Even if an in house legal associate is there, a competent lawyer in practice can offer straight professional advise. As Prashant says, that is my value and similarly with other su...

  The Cultural Indoctrination Against Women and Girls -A few thoughts Dinesh K Kapila This issue is now again occupying our minds and thoughts, every now and then an unfortunate dastardly event triggers our thoughts and conscience and then we go back to the status quo. Perhaps not exactly status quo, the situation is much improved then it was just a few decades ago. Data is misleading as many a family chose in earlier times to cover up or brush an incident aside. And stating that as women have stepped out of the confines of their houses, such incidents can happen. This is totally illogical. But to go back to cultural issues, an acquaintance just shared that in HP, which we consider a socially progressive state, there are still cases where the son is admitted to a private school and the daughter to a government school. The cultural indoctrination I find is deep rooted and starts with the ladies themselves. Exceptions are there but repeatedly I find post marriage, for example, the mo...

Note - Let me say in the beginning, I only seek to state, stop building romantic hued dreams on Pakistan and Bangladesh. Accept them as they are and live with it, including their important stakeholders, specially the religious elite, harbouring deep rooted biases. I only wrote this off hand in response to some people I know espousing deeply philosophical and idealistic thoughts about Bangladesh and Pakistan, while we have just lost troops in JK. Simply live with what it is. These people were asking about the context.       Sir I will give you the context. My father Maj Gen Rajendra Nath, PVSM (Retd) commanded 62 Mountain Brigade in 1971 in the Bangladesh Theatre. His first draft of Military Leadership in India had this aspect in detail but the book was already too lengthy. I helped in editing it. 1971 War Refugees The first wave was primarily Hindus. From then East Pakistan. The instructions were from the Pakistani Army - one rifle, hundred rounds, chase out the men ...