Banyan Tree to Dalal Street

We, human beings as a group, are realising the true value of trees rather vey late. Of course, one can always say better late than never. Trees are worshipped for a long long time in India and some other countries as well. Among the many trees, Banyan tree and Peepul tree are two trees that have fascinated and found value in human lives. Both belong to the broad "Fig Family" though not of edible variety. In India especially, both these trees are considered sacred and highly respected and valued. Peepul or Pippala or Sacred Fig as it is also called, is worshipped for various reasons. It is considered as very important in maintaining biodiversity. People travel far to see the "Bodhi" tree in Bodh Gaya. 

Banyan tree is known for providing thick shade and shelter to many birds and other animals. The accessory trunks that develop from prop roots help it to grow horizontally as well. The tales of the big banyan trees in Calcutta (Shibpur, Howrah), Chennai (Adyar) and Bangalore (Ramohalli) are well known. They have been tourist and picnic spots as well. Calcutta tree is said to have more than 2800 supplementary trunks. It covers about 5 acres of land! Adyar banyan tree is said to be five centuries old. As college students we have seen the fight scene of Dr Rajkumar in the film "Jedara Bale" (Spider's Web) some fifty years ago, filmed in the vast area of the Ramohalli tree.

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This is the season for filing Income Tax returns. Last date for filing is fast approaching. We still remember the times when one had to wait for years after filing returns for getting a refund from the IT department. Fortunately, good days are here for refund seekers. Nowadays refunds are coming within weeks of filing returns, There are also cases of the lucky ones who got refund within three days of filing the returns. This is most welcome by Non-Residents even more since they would have paid 31.2% TDS and plenty of withholding tax as well. 

Tax returns are generally filed by people who have incomes as it is "Income Tax" as the name itself suggests. But there was a very peculiar report last fortnight of a Chartered Accountant in Assam having filed an income tax return on behalf of a 3rd Year B Tech student. That in itself is no big deal. But the issue is that the boy did not have any income at all! Even with zero income he has filed a return. The secret is that he has suffered a loss of Rupees 26 lacs during the year 2023-24. How does a student who does not have income lose so much? He had incurred such huge loss by trading in F&O (Futures and Options) segment of the stock market! It has further been revealed that he had suffered a loss of Rupees 20 lacs last year as well on similar lines. 

Carry forward of losses is permitted in the tax laws of all countries to enable adjustment of such losses against income of the coming years. Tax laws provide for a maze of provisions for setoff of losses suffered in earlier years against future income subject to some monetary limits and time limits. The types of losses that are allowed and not allowed are also given in the acts and rules. This student may be able to adjust some of the losses against his future earnings, but it is most likely that he will not be able to cover all the losses when he has lost so much in two years. 

This is one instance that has come out in public. There are thousands who suffer such heavy losses by falling into the lure of making fast bucks using their perceived skills in forecasting things.

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A big banyan tree near Town Hall in Bombay (present Mumbai) did something more than all other banyan trees. It had a big role in the development of trade and commerce in India. When "The Native Share and Stock Broker's Association" was started in 1875, stock brokers met under this tree for the daily activities relating to buying and selling etc. In due course it got converted into Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). BSE is now 147 years old. It remained the top stock exchange in India till the incorporation of National Stock Exchange (NSE) in 1993 and started operations a year later. BSE is presently housed in P J Towers in Dalal Street, Mumbai. Banyan tree to Dalal street has been a very eventful and historical journey for BSE as well as growth of trade and commerce in India. 

From the time brokers met below the Banyan Tree near Town Hall to present trading from the tech based trading platform, from the comforts of the house or office, many people have made fortunes below the Banyan Tree or P J Towers in Dalal Street. Probably even more people have lost money!

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Last Friday (19th July 2024) which also happened to be the 55th anniversary of Bank Nationalisation in India, Smt. Madhabi Puri Buch, Chairperson of SEBI stated that F&O segment has become a "Macro Issue" now. She expressed serious concern about household savings going into speculative bets and youth of the country are losing tonnes of money in these trades, The 3rd year B Tech student who has lost Rupees 46 lacs in two years is a classic example of such cases. 

NSE website says that it is the World's Largest Derivative Exchange in terms of number of contracts. Number of participants in 2019 was 7 lacs, This has gone up to 45 lacs in 2022, which is more than 6 times in just 3 years. This is a phenomenal growth in the volumes of trade in this segment. Number of contracts traded in a year is about 90 billion or 9,000 crores. This is a staggering number by any standards. Notional value of these contracts is said to be around Rupees 105,00,000 crores (105 lac crores!). The value of contracts traded in the F&O segment has doubled in the last one year.  Such massive surge in just one year is naturally a big cause of concern for the regulator. Another alarming factor is that 90% of F&O trades resulted in losses with average losses being Rupees 1.25 lacs.

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Last few months have seen massive surge in the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty. Sensex has crossed 80,000 levels which was not even thought of a few years ago. Many experts wonder whether this surge is really backed by true value of stocks or based purely on sentiments. Lot of expectations is placed by markets on the budget of the Union Government to be presented in two days time.

Weather changes very quickly during monsoon times. So does the sentiments in the stock markets. Any steep fall will erode huge amounts of savings of small investors. We have learnt from the past experience that when there is a massive surge in a short time, it also has a potential for scams. 

We can only hope that all will be fine in the coming days and will bring more prosperity to small investors.

Do you want a share?

Some six to seven decades ago, production of adequate food for the large populations was a big issue for many countries. World War II had taken its huge toll on civilized society. During the war years (1939-1945) almost all able bodied men were recruited to the fighting armies and the labour force to work in agriculture fields was had simply vanished. Large areas of agriculture lands were turned into battlefields. Bombing and destruction of bridges and canals to retard the speed of advancement of enemy armies had further cast a shadow on the agriculture infrastructure. Diverting all food supplies to armies resulted in famines in many parts of the world. An estimated 3 to 4 million people died in the 1943 famine of Bengal itself. Many parts of Asia and Africa reeled under severe shortage of food. The number of deaths due to depriving of two square meals a day killed more humans than the war itself.

The urgent need to develop and adopt progressive agriculture methods to increase food production brought in extensive research and scientific applications. Newer varieties of grains, especially in Rice, Wheat and Corn were introduced. Chemical fertilizers were developed and used in large quantities all over the world. Food production increased considerably and many countries achieved self sufficiency in food production. Unfortunately, these developments had their side effects as well. A part of the chemicals used as fertilizers found its way into flowing and ground water. Use of pesticides further compounded the ill effects. These chemicals merged with the produce and reached the stomach of the consumers. While pests themselves developed immunity against these pesticides, consumers suffered due to their effects on their bodies. Phosphatic fertilizers contributed to eutrophication due to their quality of promoting growth of algae resulting in lower oxygen levels in water bodies. Nitrates enhanced ground water pollution. An increased awareness of threat to human beings and ecology by these fertilizers brought the farming methods to a full circle. Organic farming has again taken center stage.

Organic farming emphasizes on use of green manure, biological pest control and rotating pattern of raising crops. Petrochemical fertilizers are discouraged in growing crops and use of hormones for livestock is restricted. More and more people are looking for organic fruits and vegetables. Large chain stores display organic fruits and vegetables in separate enclosures. Other items like grain and flour display the word "Organic" in bold letters. Consumers in advanced countries have started checking the "organic produce" labels before putting the items in their shopping carts. They often cost more, but the psychological relief they bring is valued high. In short, consumers are lapping up any opportunity for getting their share of organic food items. 

During my recent visit to rural Pennsylvania, USA, one special feature was noticed. Consumers around farming villages are taking more interest in organic farming. There are farms using only organic fertilizers and pesticides. Consumers of fruits and vegetables can take part in the activities at the farm indirectly. The farms encourage the consumers to pay a lump sum at the beginning of the cropping season and take a share in the produce grown in the farm. The payment is made at the begging of the summer months and they are given a share in the produce, in accordance with the advance payment made by them. Amounts are paid in April and supply of fruits and vegetables starts from May and continues till the end of October. Every week on a fixed day, say Friday, the farm places the items grown in the lands for distribution to the financing households. The items are kept in an order with a notice board displaying the list of vegetables and quantity to be taken for each share.  Consumers visit the farm and take their share of fruits and vegetables in an orderly manner. The arrangement concludes in October as winter would be setting in. Thus for a period of six months, consumers get farm fresh organic vegetables and fruits.

A visitor to the farm can see the advanced farm mechanization and irrigation methods in use in them. Green houses are used for growing some vegetables. The consumers are allowed to enter some areas of the crop growing land and pluck the produce themselves as in the case of beans, mint and lettuce. Children derive great enjoyment while picking flowers from the plants they are allowed to. The whole activity goes on in a disciplined manner and it is a good outing for families on a friday evening. There are no instances of any attempts to gain by violating the norms. It is also an opportunity to see the various plants and flowers as well as get fresh fruits and vegetables within a few hours of their being harvested. 

The picture shown here is of a cone shaped cabbage grown there. The cabbage we usually see is either spherical or elliptical in shape. There is also this conical variety and the shape is like a rose bud but much bigger in size! 

This system of crop sharing has advantages both for the farming community as well as the consumers. It protects the farmers from the vagaries of crop yields. As the payment is received in advance, a part of the cost of raising the crops is already financed. If there is a bumper yield, the consumers get bigger shares of fruits and vegetables. If there is a modest crop, their share is also modest. If for some reason, crops fail, consumers also share the loss and develop better understanding of the farmer's miseries. Individual losses are small, but farmer gets relief in case of crop failure. As part of the the crop is sold before it is raised, farms save on transportation costs. The consumers are benefited by getting organic items without the necessity to check labels. They are closer to the nature here than when they visit the supermarket. 

This type of co-operative farming, if it can be called as such, deserves to be encouraged. Thee would be a closer farmer-consumer relationship and prevent middlemen who benefit at the cost of both farmers and consumers. However, basic discipline is to be ensured during the entire period of the contract by all the participants in the venture.

They also fought corruption, in their own way!

Top news in India nowadays is the support Anna Hazare is receiving from the general public for his crusade against corruption. The campaign is going from strength to strength.

Was there any corruption long time ago? When did corruption actually start? Was there any fight against corruption in olden days? Can it ever be eradicated?

Answer to the last question appears to be an emphetic NO. It may be at the best made to lie low for sometime. But it will rear its head again, the multi headed serpet of corruption.

I recall two stories on fight on corruption. The stories were told to me by my father when I was a child. The first one may be well known. The second one may not be that well known.

The first one is about a wise man who was living in severe poverty. Even though every one in his village recognised his wisdom and respected him, he was not known outside his village. He would not use his wisdom to earn money for the maintainance of his family. But his wife one day firmly told him to go to the King, please him with his wisdom and come back with some money. Or else he would not be allowed entry in to the house. Naturally. The Homemaker who runs the home knows the real difficulties of making both ends meet.

The wise man had no alternative. To maintain domestic peace he went to the King's palace.

The Dwarapaalakas (Guards at the door) would not allow him inside the palace. After much pleading they agreed to let him in if he shared his prize with them when he came back. He promised the two guards that the prize he received will be shared equally with the two guards and he himself would not take anything home.

Once inside the palace, he met the King and pleased him by his wisdom by answering the difficult questions asked in the King's court. The king was about announce a prize to the wise man. The wise man requested the King to give a prize of his choice. Though surprised, the King agreed.

The wise man asked to be given an award of twenty lashes. Everyone including the King were surprised. But as agreed the King called the Lashing-man. At this moment, the wise man requested the king to call the two Dwarapaalas. When they arrived he told the King about the commitment he had made to share the Prize with them and requested the king to reward them with ten lashes each.

No need to say that the corrupt Door-men were punished and the wise man was rewarded by being appointed as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner in the King's court.

This story is attributed by some to Tenali Rama. some to Birbal. and some others to some one else. I would like to simply keep it as The Wise Man.

The other story is for another day.