chakravarthy

[ Based on article written by Ritesh Kumar Singh, business economist, published in The Times of India dated 18th October, 2018 (Thursday) ]. We Indians love to compare ourselves with China. However, when it comes to textiles and clothing. India's export of $40 billion lags far behind China's $269 billion despite its long history and obvious advantage in raw material and labour. Forget China, India is now behind Bangladesh and Vietnam. Between 2000 and 2010 China doubled its global export share in apparels from 18.2% to 36.4%, but India's share inched up from 3% to 3.2%. Again, between 2010 and 2016 China was able to retain its global market share at 36%, Bangladesh could increase it from 4.2% to 6.4%, Vietnam almost doubled it from 3.2% to 4%. Many argue that industrial wages in China have been rising, so its time for India to move decisively and seize the global opportunity of $284 billion of textiles and another $443 billion of clothing that's knocking on its door...

(1). What is the meaning and origin of 'go against the grain' ? (1). This expression was in existence long before Shakespeare started writing his plays. According to scholars, however, it was the dramatist who popularised the use of the idiom. He first used it in his play Coriolanus . When you tell someone that he is 'going against the grain', you mean that he is doing the exact opposite of what he normally does. He is not doing what is expected of him. "Shwetha doesn't like asking people for help. It goes against the grain". "He is going against the grain by trying to be an honest politician". According to one theory, the expression comes from the world of carpentry. The fine lines that you find on a piece of wood are called 'grain'. If you wish to smoothen wood, for best results, you should run the tool you are using 'along' the grain, and not 'against' it. (2). Why is a woman sometimes referred to as 'black wi...

Two male penguins who paired up as a 'same-sex couple' have successfully incubated a baby chick and are 'doting' on their tiny off-spring, an Australian aquarium announced on 26th October, 2018 (Friday). Gentoo penguins Sphen and Magic are happily 'taking turns caring for their baby chick', born on 19th October, 2018 weighing 91 gms, said Tish Hannan of the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. Sphen and Magic had caught the attention of aquarium workers when they were constantly seen waddling around and going for swims together. They then began to build a collective nest of pebbles, prompting the aquarium to provide a dummy egg for them to look after and, when they proved up to the task, a real egg. The pair have bonded, Hannan, Sea Life's penguin department supervisor, said. "They recognise each other's signature calls and songs. Only bonded penguins will be able to successfully find their partner using their calls when they are separated. Unlike many mam...

[ Based on article written by Padma Rao Sunderji, fomer South Asia Bureay Chief of Der Spiegel and a senior Global Affairs Analyst. The article was published in Deccan Chronicle dated 25th June, 2018 (Monday) ]. Delhi woke to some good news in June 2018. The city's stately, two-storeyed Town Hall of 1863 vintage was dying a slow death, due to callous use by municipal officials from Independence up to 2009. Its museum and library too must be in their last throes, if rodents, seepage, white ants and pigeons have left any book or artifact intact at all. Still, and after nine more years of dithering, it's final - the august building will soon be leased out to bidders for  a heritage hotel. One dismaying thought persists. What if the government 'does an Air India' on the Town Hall by retaining a stranglehold through the hobby interior designer-wife of an official or someone else it wants to ;favour' with a paid consultancy? Instead of leaving it to professional archi...