Prakash Kumar

     Gandhi Setu (bridge), the lifeline bridge connecting Patna with North Bihar is one of the longest river bridge in India on the Ganges. It was planned in 60s , construction started in 72 and finally two lane western flank was completed in 1982. Before this bridge the common mode of transport was with passenger  steamer from Pahleja Ghat on Hajipur side and Mahendru in Patna and also a ship for carrying vehicles runs from Pahleja to LCT ghat in Patna. And by road only connection was through a bridge on down stream  Ganges in Mokama (Rajendra Setu) opened in 1959,75 km from Patna. The Ganges during that time used to be flowing through out the year.       I fondly remember that Indian Railways used to run regular double storey medium size steamer from Pahleja to Patna. Pahleja ghat was railway and bus terminal on northern side connected from Muzaffarpur and Sonepur side. The other company which runs both passenger and vehicle steamer was of ...

I remember one of the poll promises of BJP was to revamp the education sector and a high level committee was set up under the leadership for Mr. K. Kasturirangan , eminent scientist and educationist in 2018 for a thorough look at the current system and suggest a new education policy for the country. The new policy should take into account  aspiration of country after 1992 liberalization, subsequent transformational changes and  emerging need of the country for both knowledge and economy super power. The policy should also be in line with the ambition of India in 21st century , synchronize with educational pattern in developed countries , integrating the generational changes after the last policy change 34 years ago, focus on  all round development of childhood education , emphasis on research, higher education , attractive destination for foreign students and supporting many regional languages from extinct. In line with above the NEP 2020 is a bold policy initiative and f...

It is a old custom/tradition in almost all Hindu families in India to worship their Kula-Devata in the month of Sawan ( July-August). Sawan is also known as the month of Shiva and every Monday special worship of Shiva being done by all Shaivites across the country in Shiva temple  but particularly very important in North India. The Kula-devata or Kuladeva or Kuldevi puja takes place every year in the  month of Sawan and thats'why also known as Sawani puja. The kuladevata is actually the ancestral patron God worshiped by successive generations of a clan and treated as the divine protector and guardian of the family. The Kuladevata is different from the personal God ( Isht-Devata) or village deities. This year I got an opportunity to be part of Kuladevata puja at my ancestral house which is  more than 100 years old and the Kuladevata worship place is at same place since the construction of ancestral house by our forefathers. I don't remember my last  Kuladevata puja bu...

Corona is teaching very important lessons in all  walks of life and it is going to effect each of us in some  or other way. We already started talking of new normal post corona where there is going to be excessive focus/shift on new emerging digital technology armed with AI and robotics. IOT would get further boost. Some sectors like banking & finance , education, process automation, home entertainment,mechanized production, online marketing ,healthcare,transportation will see major change. Work from home (WFH) is going to be new normal for many sectors and this big shift in work from home or remote working with newer technology/interface without physical presence will give new boost to women employment. In all likelihood share of women workforce in WFH is going to increase exponentially and it will help in reducing the gender gap in many important sectors. So it is time for Women to gear up world wide for increased share in work force post Corona.

I don't know how many times I miserably failed in building a good  descent portfolio due to several reasons, mainly  not enough information, slow in reaction, emotional attachment etc.  This year also my pre-corona portfolio was battered badly and I tried to shuffle it but again the shuffled portfolio were poorly selected. After too much back and forth finally I decided to do it again and this week picked seven stocks out of 20  with glancing whatever the information available on net for long term , minimum two years. It is a mix of large , medium and small cap companies with moderate risk. My choices are: 1. Bharat Dynamics (large) : Public Sector  2.Jubilant Science (medium) 3. Torrent Power (medium) 4. Deepak Nitrite (medium) 5. Birla Soft (small) 6. IRCON (small ) : Public Sector 7.Garden Reach Ship Builders (small) : Public Sector

Once upon a time, not too distant, we thought that  China is fully cut off , Iran  far off , France far away , Spain out of the way and Italy unimaginable. But we crossed all and looking to close up with UK and then unthinkable USA. I am talking about corona cases and mortality during early days in March/April and our reaction to corona cases in above countries. In terms of cases currently India is at number 3 and in terms of number of  deaths at number 5 by surpassing Italy.  This is the status after successful  nation wide lock down of 70 days and after several local state wide lock downs, some still going on. The narrative about the corona changes significantly every week since march 22nd 2020. We were only doing comparison with above countries and finding a sense of relief in early days that India has defeated Corona whereas developed countries fall prey to it. Where we have failed ! We primarily  gave Corona too much attention, chest thumping  and...

I don't have any memory of such a wonderful summer at Patna in last three decades. Through out the season the weather was so pleasant and tolerable that during this period only 3-4 days in third week of May there was some discomfort due to heat. Otherwise the weather was pleasant. There were several days when in fact one do not require even fan forget about cooler or air conditioner. It is easy to notice its  linkage  with complete lock down due to Corona which gives the much needed breathing space to our environment.   Less pollution, less movement, less toxicity in air  and also less outing, it all added to this once in a life time feeling of natural tolerable summer. It certainly remind me of our childhood days in 70s without cooler/A.C and also absence of consistent electricity to run fans. Summer were manageable without too much fuss till late 80s or early 90s but suddenly after the opening of Indian economy in 92 and rush to cities situation got out of control ...