What keeps an Indian liberal awake at night?

The biggest, nay the only, thing that keeps the Indian ‘liberals’ awake at night is the complete lack of political opposition to the juggernaut that is Narendra Modi. Not only does it lack leaders to spearhead a campaign against Narendra Modi, they do not even seem to have issues to highlight. Deft handling of both, governance and politics, by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has all but annihilated NDA’s political opposition.

Think about it this way. Narendra Modi became the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate in September 2013 or thereabouts. But he had first come into the nation’s gaze due to the attention showered upon him by the mainstream media during the post Godhra incidents. This was in 2002. Even Modi’s harshest critics will agree that, at the very least, here is a man of extraordinary political acumen and intelligence. His ability to sway a crowd, whether in India or abroad, of masses or classes, in person or over a social media platform, is unparalleled in recent history. 

It took someone of this stature and intelligence over a decade to become a serious contender for the Prime Ministerial office. Now look at the opposition’s ranks today and try to identify who they have today that is of the stature of Narendra Modi in 2002. The Bookkeeper sees absolutely no one. As such, I am unsure if UPA has a PM candidate for 2024 even, much less 2019! One of the key reasons for this vacuum one surmises  is that UPA was hamstrung by having to project only one family as the panacea for all the ills of the country. They spent time, inventing, reinventing and re-reinventing ad nauseam a candidate who is quite frankly unelectable to the august office to which he aspires. No one else was developed or identified as a ‘plan B’.

But elections will be held and candidates will need to be put up. The question then is how the UPA will strategize in this situation. For this, The Bookkeeper makes one assumption about the UPA’s stand on 2019. The Bookkeeper believes that UPA has accepted that it is going to lose. Now they need to work around it. 

The Bookkeeper does not think that Rahul Gandhi will offer himself up as the general of a losing army. This would completely take him out of any post poll power equations. The myth of Priyanka Gandhi has also been busted in the minds of many. These are no longer the times when mere resemblance to a past PM will carry anyone through to the PM’s office. As such The Bookkeeper has ruled the siblings out.

Readers can themselves figure out why old stalwarts like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh, Laloo Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Kharge, Kejriwal etc are also not in contention of the post of PM. The Bookkeeper will then not belabor himself.

The two pieces on the political chess board that mildly interest The Bookkeeper are Captain Amarinder Singh and Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar has had a blow hot – blow cold situation with the NDA and Laloo for the past few months. The Bookkeeper believes that politically, the correct move for Nitish would be to consolidate his position in Bihar and replace Laloo. Going head to head with Narendra Modi is not his priority. He may be seeing himself as more of backroom boy who will step in after the polls perhaps. But he is in no hurry whatsoever. He has time to wait, and wait he will. Thus The Bookkeeper believes that Nitish will not accept to become UPA’s PM candidate for 2019.

Captain Amarinder Singh is someone The Bookkeeper has come to respect among the current crop of his alternatives in Congress. As one of the few people in Congress who can win polls, I am sure he has immense clout within the Party. This makes him a serious contender to become UPA’s PM candidate. His biggest strength is his demand from both sides of the aisle which gives him strong bargaining power. Captain saab has not a lot to lose. If UPA loses badly, his position in Punjab will not be impacted. In his position, I would have been happy to become the Leader of Opposition as well and raise my national stature. In fact, The Bookkeeper would prefer having someone like him as LOP rather than the current crop. If Captain takes over the reins in 2019, it will thus to expand his hold in Congress, rather than Congress’ hold in India.

But I’m afraid, he too will be disappointed.

Assuming that the Opposition has given up on 2019, I believe they will use the opportunity to create a fertile ground for 2024. Lacking issues and personalities, the thrust of the Party will be to create narratives that can help launch a personality in time for 2024. 

What are the conditions that the narrative must satisfy for it to be chosen by liberals to vanguard their revival? First of all, it should have global appeal. It is easier for donation dollars to flow in that way. The second thing, it has to be a massively emotive issue. The sort of you cannot argue against even logically without looking like some sort of a bigot. They will smother you with political correctness. Thirdly, the issue must be one where the new ‘leader’ of the opposition must squarely fit into.

There are three main issues that The Bookeeper identifies:

1) Caste divide

2) Language divide

3) Women’s rights

The Bookkeeper believes that the liberal establishment will proceed on all three paths above at the same time and then based on whichever gains traction, decide their candidate. 

Narendra Modi has effectively cut off the “caste divide” angle by making Shri Kovind as the Presidential candidate (deservedly so). An astute choice of a Vice Presidential candidate has ensured that there is not North-South divide either. 

The ‘Language divide’ can also be tackled through negotiations. Honestly, apart from a couple of states it really isn’t a big issue for anyone else. There will be sporadic shop-board blackenings, a few book burnings etc., but apart from these, the BookKeeper doesn’t see this becoming the next vote bank.

While both above are viable narratives for the Left, the Bookkeeper believes that the third one, Women’s Rights, will be the sharpest arrow in the Left’s quiver. Expect a massive increase in news coverage of crimes (real and made up) against women. There will be sustained efforts to show that women are unsafe in India. In fact some basic spade work has already started months back. Why, even Indian’s refer to Delhi as the rape capital of the world. There will be a massive push, burkha marches, slut walks, etc for women’s rights in India as 2019 polls approach. Demand for more and more laws will be made, marriage as an institution will be severely targeted. In fact it would be the ideal platform for the Left if they can pitch a disgruntled Woman leader against Narendra Modi, who has a fairly ‘macho’ image.

Development will no longer be an issue. It will be a ‘men vs. women’ mandate in 2019 and afterwards. The Left has no choice but to do this. It is up to the Indian electorate to be vigilant and observe the strategy pursued by the Left. Within the BJP, it would be incumbent upon the powerful lady leaders and supporters to thwart any attempts at creating this parallel narrative by the Left. This is a narrative that simply cannot be countered by Men.  

The base case for this massive churn remains it happening in 2024. But it is tough to predict how a headless chicken driven to desperation will behave.

Will I get into Harvard?

This was a question from a friend of mine whom I've known since my college days. She's one year my junior and currently a successful analyst in an investment firm. She wanted to go for an executive management programme at the Harvard University and had applied for the same. The question asked is in the title and the chart and significators are below:

In essence this question is "will I get admission to a school of my choice". A question that I had examined earlier and it had caused me a sleepless night! So with some trepidation I proceeded to study this chart.

Moon signifies 2 4 9, which are houses connected with education and as such the question is adequately represented in the chart.

The ongoing DBA, within which the result was expected was Mo-Me-Ve.

Mo has 2 4 9, all positive houses, but not super positive as '11' is not present. Also, no negative houses are present and that is a relief.

Me is markedly positive it has 5 9 10 11 (5 11 is wisdom, 9 11 is higher education, 10 11 is gain of reputation). There is a solitary '8' that may cause some problems, but it cannot derail the admission.

Ve has the full education combination of 2 4 5 9 11, it also has 10. This is an extremely positive planet for the selection.

See how beautifully the DBA has lined up. Moon signifies travel. Mercury signified education and Venus signifies beauty, or rather ornamental nature, which in this case Harvard is. Same education can be obtained elsewhere, but 'Harvard' adds an ornament or decoration to a person.

Other planets are also positive for education. It must also be noted that while Moon is not a super positive (as mentioned earlier), I considered it to be strong enough, because this is an executive program, where the ability of the person to pay fees is primary and not some competitive examination like CAT or JEE. If there was a competitive examination then I doubt the houses signified by the Moon would have been enough to let this candidate through.

Anyway, so my answer was that you will get into Harvard. And I was right. The person called me a week after saying "I got in".

The '8' played an interesting role as the person was not offered a course of her choice. Instead they offered her a lower course. There were a lot of discussions and finally they agreed to let her take the original course and upgraded her. So the '8' caused some arguments, some delay, a little disappointment, but the ultimate result was positive.

Readers who have seen my exasperation when analysing a similar question earlier will remember the rule I had finally looked at to arrive at the right answer:

"If we have to see chosen school then another rule needs to be applied which is: 4th CSL and 11th CSL must be direct planets, posited in direct stars AND both should be posited in Sthira (fixed) signs"

In this case, 4th CSL is Rahu. Rahu signifies both 4 and 11. Rahu is posited in Ketu.  Retrograde rules do not apply to nodes as they are almost always retrograde. Rahu is posited in Leo, which is a fixed sign.

11th CSL is Venus. Venus is direct. It is posited in the star of Moon. Sun and Moon are never retrograde. Venus is in its own sign of Taurus. Taurus is a fixed sign. Venus signifies 4th house of education.

As such even the rule of Shahasane is satisfied and supported my belief that ultimate result of the question would be positive.

Chinese belligerence belies internal rumblings

Over the past month, The Bookkeeper's Whatsapp feed as also his twitter feed has been inundated with news of an Indo-Chinese military standoff at the Doklam Pass in Bhutan. The Bookkeeper is loathe to describe the issue again as there is no dearth online of material on it. What strikes The Bookkeeper as interesting is the news that local Chinese media is increasingly playing up the issue, threatening India, warning to open new fronts and even reminding India repeatedly of their military victories against the Jawaharlal Nehru government. 

The one thing that I would like to stress it that this theater is one where India has an undisputed advantage in military terms. In fact China would require a 10:1 superiority over the Indian army to make even a dent here, and both parties to the conflict know this. The strategic importance of this piece of land is such that some experts opine that India would even risk a full blown conflict to protect its interests there. The visit of the top command of Indian armed forces, the recent financial carte blanche given to the army to handle short skirmishes also send across the message that India is serious about defending this area.

It is in this context that the belligerence displayed by Chinese media regarding this stand off is extremely interesting, more than the stand-off itself. While conventional analysts have focused on the relative military might, the strategic importance of the region etc, the political fallout in China is something that has not been covered at all.

To understand the 'politics' of the issue it is important to take a brief look at Xi Jinping, the current 'paramount' leader of China. Xi was elected to the post of The General Secretary of the Communist Party and the Chairmanship of the Central Military Commission in November 2012. In his inaugural speech he made special mention of corruption and the need to weed it out.Thus in 2012 he started a 'campaign against corruption" with a stated goal of targeting "tigers and flies" (meaning he would target both high officials and low level functionaries). The Bookkeeper has read of over 100,000 officials being indicted for corruption, including 120 high ranking officials across military, political spectrum and leaders of State Owned Enterprises. 

The biggest move in this campaign has been Xi's breaking of the unwritten rule of not investigating any present or former members of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). Stories of Bo Xilai and Ling Jihua are well known, but the campaign has not even spared General Xu Caihou, a former politburo member. Xu was also the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the highest position that can be occupied by a military officer in China. However, the biggest 'fish' has been Zhou Yongkang who is a former PSC member and national security chief. Zhou was convicted in June 2015 and has been sentenced to life in prison. 

The Bookkeeper cannot speculate as to the intention of such a bold move on part of Xi. Was it out of noble interests or was it a 'great purge' disguised as an anti corruption drive to remove all opposition and meddling from others. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that Xi is now described by some as the most powerful leader in China since Deng Xiaoping. The number of seats in the politburo have been reduced to 7 from 9 and decision making has become increasingly centralized in the hands of Xi. There are internet restrictions and 'defamatory' articles can be taken down and people who share them can even be arrested with a jail term for up to three years.

Without meandering over the morality or otherwise of these actions (it is never wise to use morality to analyse politicians anyway), The Bookkeeper does not find it hard to imagine that these actions can create enemies if Xi within the Chinese polity. 

Now coming back to the Chinese media's belligerent coverage of a conflict it is likely to lose. The Bookkeeper sees this as a tactic by Xi Jingping's political contemporaries to weaken his position and perhaps even seize power. Perhaps by exerting influence on newspapers to continually 'threaten' India about things they know Xi simply cannot do, they are hoping Xi will lose face. This can also be inferred by the difference in the intensity of coverage of the border issue in Indian and Chinese media. Indian media is hardly reporting it! If China indeed wanted India to back down, The Bookkeeper can imagine several publications in India that are friendly to China that it could have used to forward scary stories. 

China is like a bully child. They first lay claim to something and then if the other side does not object, it will keep pushing for more till a bigger bully stands up to them. Like in this case, they tried to expand militarily in an area they know they have no right to. India stood up and now they have to back down. Anyone who has even a passing friendship with Chinese knows how important the concept of "saving face" is to them. The Bookkeeper believes it is socially acceptable even to lie if the reason was to "save face". People will 'understand'. 

The accepted tactic was that the PLA would carry out some exercises at the border and then slowly withdraw after testing its limit with the Indian army. However, the coverage in their local media has made it impossible for the army to back down. They cannot back down, and they cannot fight. This has put the head of the armed forces, President Xi Jinping, in a very difficult position. He is now unable to "save face". And if he loses face, he will be left with no option but to resign. In the interim he has no option but to leave his army at the border and wait for winter which will give him a face saving excuse to bring the PLA back to barracks, 

So, while two armies stand-off at the border, the real bullets are flying in Beijing. The Bookkeeper sees political machinations intensifying after the winter sets in. I will not be surprised to see several heads roll as those who fed material to the local papers are identified.  

Pregnancy woes

First the chart and significators:

This lady has been trying to conceive for the last 8 years or so but has been unsuccessful. The chart came to me yesteday and I examined it at 2:31 PM when the RPs were, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun and Jupiter. Since the question pertained to conception, I saw the 5th cusp sublord which is Jupiter. Jupiter features in the RPs and so I concluded that the chart timing is correct.

Jupiter is in Rohini Nakshatra, which is owned by the Moon (in fact Rohini is considered by puranas as the favourite wife of the Moon). As once can see above significator table, Jupiter is not signifying either 2/5/11 needed for conception. It does however signify 9 which is the 5th from 5th and is considered by some to be almost as powerful in giving a child. Additionally, Jupiter is aspecting the 5th house thus signifying by aspect. Also if one closely observes, Jupiter is in rapt conjunction with the 11th house, in fact if the birth time were to be fixed at a minute earlier, Jupiter would have fallen in the 11th cusp instead of the 10th. Readers must also know by now that Jupiter is in fact the natural significator of child birth and is placed in the star or Moon (signifying motherhood). The 5th cusp also falls in Scorpio which is a fruitful sign and the 11th cusp and 5th CSL in Taurus which is a Semi-fruitful sign. Only the 2nd cusp falls in Leo which is barren. Giving all this due consideration, I concluded that a child is not 'denied' to the native. But given the lack of a clear cut 2/5/11 signification it is no surprise that conception has not been easy so far.

The native has been trying for 8 years, so roughly from 2006 onwards. Her Mars dasha ended in July 2005 and after this Rahu has started. Rahu is a natural malefic and thus it is no surprise that it is troubling her in his own way. Rahu has the full combination of no child at the planet level (1 4 10). But it also has 5 9 11 there. It has 5 9 in the star countered by a 10 and then 9 at the sub level. While this would normally be considered good enough to give a child, it has been rendered weak due to the full no child combination being present in the planet. But perhaps a good bhukti might do the trick. 

Now we know Ra-Ra will not work due to the compromised nature of the north node. This took up time till 14 Mar 28, thereafter there was Jupiter Bhukti. As already seen above, while Ju is a natural child giver, the strong signification of 1 8 10 at star and sub level means it cannot overcome an already ambivalent Rahu dasha to give a child. This took up time till 7 Aug 2010. Then Saturn bhukti started, lets look at Saturn. Saturn has a 9 but stronger signification of 1 8 12 (this suggests a defect and indeed the lady was diagnosed with endometriosis) and so no chance till 13 June 2013. Then Mercury Bhukti started. Mercury is better than Saturn and Jupiter but similar in strength to Rahu for child birth, which will not do. This took up the period till Jan 1 2016. Ketu is also similar, 1 8 10 12 defeating the 5 9s. This took up period till 19 Jan 2017. Now she is in Venus Bhukti till 19 Jan 2020. Venus has a 4 signified but has a 9 11, 9 and 9 11 at the planet, star and sub level respectively making it a strong planet for child birth. Now this can be looked at! Notably, Venus is in the RPs as well. 

To figure out the Antara, obviously Venus antara is good and Sun may also give child, so current till September 2017. Sun and Venus are both in RPs. Moon is not a strong child giver as seen from the significators table. Mars is a possibility, so the period from 13 Dec 2017 to 15 Feb 2018, followed by Rahu is a possibility. So the first 7 months of 2018 is when conception will happen at the latest, after a nearly 9 year wait. I will post the news as I am informed.

Given the overall stature of the horoscope, I will also say that chances of a natural conception are slim (not impossible), and most likely conception will happen via IVF, sperm donor, or similar such medical procedure. 

Note: the lady also asked me a prashna and that chat was incredibly positive suggesting chances even in the current year! However her husband works abroad and is home only few weeks every year and so I will stick to my longer term prediction so that he can plan a trip accordingly. But in event of him coming earlier, even July-August 2017 is a good time as per the Prashna chart.

May Bhairavi give her, what is best for her!

The Shashi Tharoor case

There was an expose by a newly launched channel called Republic on the suspicious death of the wife of  the then cabinet minister Shashi Tharoor on Jan 17, 2004. The channel had accessed certain tapes that they claim to to prove that Tharoor had returned to meet his wife around the same time that she is supposed to have died (as per the channel). While I have no love lost for the previous government I decided to take a look whether Mr Tharoor could have been directly involved in the alleged murder of his wife (a case that is incidentally not solved till date).

I took the birth data from the web and used it to cast a KP chart. I tweeted to Mr Tharoor to confirm the birth details but he has not responded. Anyway.

The 1st CSL is Mercury. Such people have a wide variety of interests and are well read. Jupiter and Mercury as Asc sublords generally give a studious temperament. Mercury is placed in Aquarius. Aqu gives tall natives. Oval face, fair complexion and a handsome appearance. In fact of the 12 signs, the signs owned by Venus, and Aquarius give the best looking natives generally speaking. While this combination, 5 6 8, is considered to be a hindrance in ones intelligence, I have seen it, it atleast one more case to give exceptional success in academics. Why? I will need to research. But the other native too was a PhD and so is Shashi Tharoor, and in both cases at a very early age. The '8' allows deep study leading to a PhD and the '5' gives wisdom. However, the 5 6 8 does manifest in the native making some wrong decisions, in Shashis case it might be his weakness for the opposite sex, after all Venus has a square aspect from Mars. The 3rd house is also prominently signified in this chart, The sublord of the 3rd house is Mars, making Shashi a forceful speaker. Mars is posited in Jupiter's Sagittarius sign giving wisdom to his words and the ability to speak forcefully but not aggressively, in hitting his mark. Oddly there is a combination of 3 6 8 in his chart which results in the native losing interest in studies despite being intelligent and all facilities being provided. That doesnt not seem to have happened in this case (or if it has I do not know). Perhaps the 8 got used in the research and the 3 got used up in his stay abroad allowing Shashi to power through his education and getting it done with ASAP. Notably 6 8 is also suggesting legal, courts etc. So perhaps his study subject was law-related allowing him inadvertently to divert the negative implications of the combination to a positive purpose. This 3 6 8 also has another implication, which is the prospect of being cheated, especially in documentary matters. While the natural Virgo carefulness might protect Shashi in documentary matters, there is distinct possibility that he has been fooled in personal life, especially in what are his weaknesses. Since this ties-up with what we see of Tharoor, I continued to read the chart further.

It is not easy to take a human life, it requires a certain fire, a certain anger. Thus murderers tend to have a firey ascendant. Even within firey ascendants, I would not include Leo, as it is ruled by the Sun and such natives are generally fair and just and will kill only if they feel its justified, after all Leo is the king of the planetary cabinet. Leo is also a sthira rashi and thus tends less to get 'carried away'. This leaves only Sagittarius and Aries. Another possibility is if Mars is in Ascendant to give a person a temper (its not in Shashis case), or is Mars conjunct with Rahu or Saturn? Its not.

Shashi's Ascendant is in Virgo. Virgo is ruled by Mercury. Virgo Ascendants are analytical creatures. While it is a dual sign just like its counterpart Gemini (also ruled by Mercury), Virgo is a Prithvi Tattwa Rashi, which means that unlike Geminis who may live in their own La-La land, there is a lot of stability to the Virgo mind and the patience to carry out their plans. But Virgos are also over thinkers. That person who locks the door, and then double checks, then triple checks and then spends the rest of the day wondering if he has locked the door or not are usually Virgo types. Can such a person kill and then go about their lives as if nothing has happened? It is unlikely.

During the time of Sunanda's alleged murder, Shashi was in the DBA of Sa-Ve-Ve. Sa and Ve do not signify 7 8 12. It is a concern that Venus (B and A lord) is in the 8th house of hidden work/ disrepute in Shashi's natal chart and it does strongly signifies the 8th house through its star lord Ketu. But it also signifies the full combination of 2 5 9 11, which is of a loving and caring person. As such I do not think Venus can cause a Mercury dominated, earthy individual to take a rash decision like murdering his wife, especially when no planet signifies the combination of aggression!

Will Tharoor get arrested and put in jail for his wife's murder. If this chart is correct, then no! The full combination of going to jail is 2 3 8 12, and that of going to jail for murder is 2 3 8 12 + 7 + Mars + 8th lord (also Mars in this case). While one can see enough 2 3 8's in Shashi's significations, the absence of the 12 makes his going to jail impossible. Since jailing is not a usual case for most people, I prefer to see the full combination in the chart before concluding that jail is possible. It it worth nothing that in fact, 12th house is the primary house of confinement and as such, if these birth details are correct, I can confidently say that Shashi will not go to jail. The 2 3 8s may result in a lot of fear that he will go to jail, or even calling in for prolonged questioning away from his residence, but I do not see a jail term. 

Caveat: Shashi's birth details being correct. If anyone has more details please send to bhairaviuvacha@gmail.com

A Thematic Budget 2017

He who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction,

Is wise among men

                                                     Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 18

Budget 2017 has evoked somewhat of a mixed response from the people I managed to interact with over the last 24 hours. While some complained about tax on individuals not being reduced, others were dissatisfied with corporate taxes not being changed. For myself, my first immediate response as a common Indian was that the budget appears ‘status quo-ist and incremental’, and in many ways, it is. But is that necessarily bad?

Instead of judging the budget as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ using the narrow prism of personal interest, I think a more intellectually rigorous study should be made. A budget can be broadly seen from four perspectives:

a) Maintenance or tweaking (usual allocations to defence, etc. are adjusted)

b) Problem fixing (sections addressing issues of the day, e.g. bad loans)

c) Large, tectonic changes (like the liberalization budget in 1991)

d) Thematic portions

Admittedly The Bookkeeper is not as interested in points a and b above as he is in points c and d. This is likely the case for most observers of the annual policy document. In fact, the quality of the budget is indeed judged on these two metrics only.

It is now clear that there are no tectonic changes in the current budget. A country the size and potential of India should not aim to shock (pleasantly or otherwise) in its budget every 3-4 years. It has to give a semblance of continuation to allow businessmen and other governments to take long term decisions. The heady days of massive liberalization, takeover of industries, are hopefully behind us and barring a few exceptions it would serve us well to adjust to the “new normal” for what a budget should be.

It is in the thematic portions that the budget has impressed The Bookeeper and gives us a glimpse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand vision for India. Indeed instead of a dry rattling off, of numbers and allocations in the budget (which should be easy for anyone to get), The Bookkeeper believes that a look at the Budget in the context of the PM’s vision would prove truly enlightening.

It is my contention that a pithy summary of PM’s governance philosophy, which is well reflected in this budget, would read:  Integrate & enable

Integrate:

A disconnect exists at various levels in India, between regions, villages vs. cities, formal vs. informal, government vs. poor, etc.  The often discussed disconnect between ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’, in its various avatars, is responsible for significant leakages and inefficiencies in the system. Rajiv Gandhi had famously quipped about the system he presided over where for every Rupee sent, only 17 paise reached the beneficiary. Nearly 25 years after he made this statement, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had corrected the late Rajiv, saying that the beneficiaries gain was in fact 16 paise/ rupee and not 17.

It is for this reason that integration of the various parts into a functioning whole has been high on Prime Minister’s agenda since the day he took office. Linking the Aadhar card to bank accounts, using incentives of zero balance, free insurance, direct benefit transfer, etc. to get the poorest of the poor to open bank accounts, promotion of a digital economy, strides toward e-governance, are all steps towards integrating disparate portions of the economy on a common platform. The Bookkeeper would argue that the drastic step of demonetization was also a move towards Integration of the “Un-Inc.” economy with the mainstream.

Consider the budget proposal to computerize and integrate over 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies with their respective district central cooperative banks. This will enable the government to plug leakages and ensure that credit is flowing to the small/ marginal farmers instead of just the large stakeholders in each region. Integration will ensure that the record Rs10 lakh crore slated for agri-credit will be disbursed efficiently.

To allow farmers easier price discovery and standardize the quality of the produce, the National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) has been extended to 585 markets from 250 earlier. e-NAM is an electronic trading portal to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. Further it is planned to integrate spot and derivative market for commodity trading using the e-NAM platform. Fruit and vegetable growers are to be linked with local agro-processing units to check post harvest losses.

Even a programme like MNREGA, which the PM once touted as a symbol of the Congress’ failure, has been realigned with the larger objective of doubling farmer’s income in five years. The government is now also using space technology to geo-tag assets created by MNREGA workers to ensure that a) Work is actually done and, b) Work does not happen in a silo but only where gaps exist. An integration of disparate work into a combined whole will ensure that the highest ever allocation to MNREGA (Rs48,000 crore) will be spent transparently (geo-tagged assets will be in the public domain), and intelligently.

Other examples of virtual integration proposed in the budget include the linking of 150,000 village panchayats using broadband optical fibre by FY18. The Government will also launch ‘Aadhar pay’, the merchant version of the Aadhar enabled payment system which will allow those who do not have debit cards, mobile phones or eWallets to make/ accept digital payments. In fact the government has a target of 25 billion digital transactions for FY18.

The budget has also tackled one of the main sources for political corruption by integrating political party funding with the mainstream traceable economy. Cash donations have been effectively outlawed by restricting the per donor contribution to Rs2,000 only. Additionally a system of election bonds has been introduced to allow anonymous, but not illicit, donations. Under this system a donor would purchase bonds from a bank using a cheque or digital payment and hand the bond to the Party he/she wishes to donate to. The bonds will devolve into money, ONLY in the designated bank account of a registered political party. This will bring about greater transparency and accountability in political funding.

In addition to the virtual integration efforts described above, significant investments are planned for physical integration using roads, rails, waterways and airways.

Thus a broad spectrum approach to bring various interests and mechanisms on a tech supported common platform will go a long way in ensuring the crucial leakages, slippages and corruption conduits would be stymied.

Enable:

Enabling and empowering the population is one of the main functions of a good government. An adequate enabling environment allows people to lift themselves up from poverty instead of depending on hand-outs from the government. Creating skill, infrastructure, health, risk mitigation and financial incentives are key cornerstones of an enabling mechanism, and these have been addressed in the budget.

For example, the Fasal Bima Yojana (failed crop insurance) has been extended to 40% of net cropped area in FY18. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that the amount insured under this scheme has risen from Rs69,000 crore to Rs141,625 crore. Additional support to farmers has come in the form of a Long term irrigation fund with a Rs40,000 crore corpus. The system of soil health cards, to be supported by 1000 minilabs run by local entrepreneurs offers opportunities and mitigates risks for farmers at various levels.

Road construction under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is at a rapid clip with 133 km of roads being added every day, vs. only 73 km during the period 2011-2014. Also, power infrastructure is being added to target 100% village electrification by May 2018.

The budget has committed to provide safe drinking water to 28,000 arsenic and fluoride affected habitations in the next 4 years. Additionally, the Budget plans to eliminate kala azar, filariasis by 2017, leprosy by 2018 and measles by 2020. Sanitation coverage in rural India has gone up from 42% to 60%. Villages that are free from open defecation will be given priority for piped water supply thus creating a reward system for rural India to join hands with the clean India mission. To augment the supply of doctors, 5,000 new post graduate seats are to be added in the coming year.

The government also proposes to construct 1 crore houses by 2019 to house the homeless and those living in 

kuccha houses. Affordable housing has been given infrastructure status and tax incentives have been announced for players in the affordable housing space to encourage supply.

The Bookkeeper is also pleased with the tax cut (30% -> 25%) for the MSME space for companies with a turnover less than Rs50 crore. There are 6.67 lakh such units (96% of Indian companies) and this cut is estimated to bring about Rs7,200 crore in benefits to them. MSMEs (corporate + non corporate) are an important constituent of the Indian economy providing employment to over a 100 million individuals and accounting for 37% of the GDP. This tax cut would allow MSMEs to be more competitive vs. the larger players and increase their innovation and employment potential.

Despite the “Mann ki baat” initiative by the PM and the odd surprise appearance on TV to address the nation, the Budget remains the primary policy document in India. Indeed, The Bookkeeper is not aware of any other large country where the budget is the cynosure of so many eyes. This year’s budget was even more so, given that the plan-non plan division was made irrelevant and that the Railway budget was subsumed within the general budget.

In conclusion, The Bookkeeper is impressed not just with the quality of the budget, but also the changed tenor of it. Conspicuous by its absence is the usual tweaking of indirect tax rates, which used to be followed by the customary news headlines of which consumer goods became dearer or cheaper. The third budget of the Modi government has built on the earlier two and as emerged as a policy direction platform for the economy.

Why are there only 12 houses in a chart? And who decides House matters?

Most astrological texts that I have come across start off with the 12 signs and 12 houses as a ‘given’ and students then learn how to construct these charts and give readings with them. I am not sure whether anyone has wondered why there are only 12 houses or 12 signs. Why is the cosmos not divided into 11 or 13 or even 24? Another question that I have hardly heard asked, is why does x House denote so-and-so matters?

While I am sure there are many explanations out there, I am going to give my understanding of why a chart would be divided into 12 parts and not 11 or 13. I will also attempt to demonstrate why certain houses are considered for certain aspects of human existence. I am not an astrophysicist or a rationalist, so I will be flexible in my views if I am wrong and encourage readers to write here or email me with their insights.

For understanding the 12 divisions of the chart it is necessary to take a quick look at the concept of platonic solids. A platonic solid is a three dimensional figure/ shape whose each side exactly resembles every other side. 

The name comes from Plato who is supposed to have believed that nature could be described in five shapes. The five shapes are believed to have been in existence long before but it was Plato (in recorded Western thought) that first tried to link the shapes to the material world. Only five platonic solids are mathematically possible, and perhaps this is the reason that Plato thought of linking it to the five building blocks of the material world.

Hindus reading this will be well versed with the five elements: Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Space. However, most of us seem to think Earth is the physical earth below them and air is the air that we breathe. This is not the correct understanding. By Earth, it was solids that were being referred to, by Water: liquids, by Air: gaseous and Fire is that energy that sits in and in between these elements acting as a conversion mechanism. And space? Well space is the vessel/ area in which these elements and their inter-conversion can occur.

Source: Frank Wilczek, pbs.org

While why Plato decided upon a dodecahedral representation of the universe is a study for another time, it is interesting to note that scientists have indeed examined this issue. In fact, an award winning mathematician Jeffery Weeks collaborated with French cosmologists in studying cosmic background radiation observed by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and hinted at a possible answer:

“The universe is finite and bears a rough resemblance to a soccer ball or, more accurately, a dodecahedron, a 12-sided volume bounded by pentagons”

As such, this student surmises that it is using the dodecahedral representation of space that the chart is divided into 12 parts. It has nothing to do with the signs as visible in the sky, so the discovery of the 13th or 14th sign will not impact the manner in which a chart is divided. 

Now coming to the second question as to why a certain house is considered for a certain matter. For that I will have to postulate a theory and then see if it fits or not. The significance of 4 houses in a chart is symbolically very strong. These are the houses 1, 4, 7, and 10. It is no wonder then that these houses are known as kendras or cardinal houses. The meaning of the word cardinal is ‘fundamental’. As such, these four houses are the rock solid foundation on which the chart significations are built. 

Each of these cardinal houses impact one house ahead of them and one house behind them. So, the 1st house (Ascendant) will impact the 2nd house and the 12th house. The 4th house will impact the 3rd house and the 5th house. The 10th will impact the 9th and 11th and 7th will impact the 6th and 8th. The rules to interpreting these impacted houses remain similar, the house before is negative to the house and the one after is positive to the house. While this is similar to what some schools of astrology teach, it differs in that while 2nd house will add to Asc and 12th will deduct from Asc, 2nd will not deduct from the 3th and 12th will not add to the 11th (how does house of loss add to the house of gain anyway?!). In this, I differ with the adage that “EVERY house destroys the significance of the house ahead of it and adds to the house behind it”. 

 Lets take an example of 4th house. The 4th house is that house which physically exists on the other side of the planet earth from the place where the native is born. In other words, it is buried deep below. It is this attribute that gives the 4th house its controlled aspects in the life of the native. The native lies buried deep within his mother’s womb. As such the 4th house represents the mother. The ‘buried deep within’ also translates to secrets. Most people divulge secrets to their mother.  Mother also means mother land, i.e. the place which the native considers home. So it includes house property and things allied to it. The first lesson a child learns is from his mother, so it is also the house of education. 

Now how does the 4th house impact the 5th house? As discussed earlier, the 5th house adds to the 4th house. If 4th was the house of a parent (mother), the 5th is house of the child of a native. If 4th house was the house of receiving love (from mother), then 5th is the house of giving love (either to child or romantically to a partner). If 4th house gave education, 5th house is intelligence. If 4th represented motherland then 5th will give connections to foreign lands. If 4th is curricular, 5th adds extra-curricular (hence entertainment, sports, etc)

How does the 4th house impact the 3rd house? If 4th house signified home, mother, etc. the 3rd signifies staying away from home. To stay away from comfort requires courage. Thus the 3rd house is the house of courage. Since 4th house is the house of secrets, the 3rd house becomes the house of communication. 4th house represents mother, so 3rd house will represent things that take mother’s attention away from him…siblings. 

This way we can see how the 4th house’s significations make symbolic sense and using these significations how one derived the significations of the 5th and 3rd.

We can take the example of the 10th house, another cardinal house. The 10th house is the topmost point in the sky above the native at the moment of his birth. Thus if 4th was the secret, then 10th will be how the native will behave in the world outside. It is the opposite of the 4th house. As such the 10th will govern the native’s professional achievements, the natives mark on the world, authority, fame, promotions. 

Now how does the 10th house impact the 11th house? If 10th showed the natives hard work, the 11th will show the gains, the results of the 10th house. 

Now how does the 10th house impact the 9th house? The 9th house shows higher education, like PhD etc. People leave work to pursue higher education like PhD or MBA. Even if they do a part time course, the studies encroach upon their work impacting the quantity or quality. If 10th shows work done for worldly achievement, 9th shows work done for spiritual achievement, like pilgrimages. 

Thus a student can use symbolical references to derive the meaning of the cardinal houses and then use the positive and negative impact of the cardinal houses to derive the significations of all the 12 houses in a chart.  Why a house impacts the next house positively and negatively impacts the house before it is something that I do not have an answer for, yet. I will be working on the question though. Readers do write to tell me of your discoveries. Learning is after all a collaborative process.