Potholes on the Roads and their costs to our Economy.

 

All State govt should have Pot and Man holes maintenance minister. Economic costs and loss of human lives due to road accidents especially that of Breadwinners of the family are humongous. Govts should take-up modern tech of repairing potholes in a jiffy as National Priority.

Maintenance &repair of our roads, often ignored ,lead to huge loss of priceless lives ,&deprive the nation of productivity of youth who fall victim to potholes and otherwise bad roads.

"Road accident victims largely constitute young people in the productive age underscoring major implication on economic cost of road accidents, apart from their emotional and psychological impact.(Page 62 of Report on Road Accidents in India-2021 by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Table 4.2: Age profile of Fatal Road Accident victims during 2019 to 2021

 

Age-group	Number of Persons killed			%-age change in 2020 over 2019	%-age change in 2021 over 2020
	2019	2020	2021
Less than 18	11,168	6,998	7,764	-37.3	10.9
% Share in total	7.4	5.3	5.0
18-25	33,206	27,612	31,750	-16.8	15.0
% Share in total	22.0	21.0	20.6
25-35	39,023	34,947	39,646	-10.4	13.4
% Share in total	25.8	26.5	25.7
35-45	32,509	29,379	32,741	-9.6	11.4
% Share in total	21.5	22.3	21.3
45-60	22,612	20,938	26,085	-7.4	24.6
% Share in total	15.0	15.9	16.9
Above 60	9,004	8,380	11,739	-6.9	40.1
% Share in total	6.0	6.4	7.6
Age not known	3,591	3,460	4,247	-3.6	22.7
% Share in total	2.4	2.6	2.8
Total	1,51,113	1,31,714	1,53,972	-12.8	16.9

In this regard, GOI should look at options like including Maintenance & Repair of Roads using Modern Technologies by our Public Limited Companies under Corporate Social Responsibility under Cos Act. and encourage  especially Automotive Companies to involve themselves more in this Road Maintenance and Repair of Potholes

Companies can take up Repair of Roads in and around their Offices, Factories, Warehouses etc. wherever it is possible by entering into suitable PPP Agreements with the respective Govt agencies including Panchayats, Municipalities, Corporations etc.

"Potholes account for nearly 0.8 percent road accidents, 1.4 percent of road accident deaths and 0.6 percent of injuries."as per Report "Road Accidents in India -2021 " published by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways(Page 95)

Continued from previous page in the Report there is a table giving Potholes causing No. of Accidents ,Fatalities and Injuries in 2021 :(page 96)

Road feature	Number of accidents	Persons killed	Persons injured
Potholes	511	213	338
Share in Total	0.8	1.4	0.6
Steep Grade	908	219	725
Share in Total	1.3	1.4	1.2
Ongoing Road Works/ Under Construction	1,886	639	1334
Share in Total	2.8	4.2	2.3
Others	11,482	2,037	10,778
Share in Total	17.1	13.3	18.3
Total Million Plus cities	67,301	15,350	58,758

In the below table you find Accidents due to Potholes in Million Plus cities in India in 2021.

To your utter surprise you will find that Mumbai, Chennai,Coimbatore, Faridabad, Pune, Aurangabad, Kochi etc. have recorded Zero Accidents , Deaths, Injuries due to potholes!!!

What a farce!This data has to be immediately updated by Ministry on war footing pl.

Ministry should also do the maths on Economic costs of Accidents and Fatalities etc and look at reducing them as a % of our GDP.

S. No	State/UT	Pot Holes
		Number of Accidents	Persons Killed	Persons Injured
				Greviously Injured	Minor Injury	Total Injured
1	2	25	26	27	28	29
1	Agra	6	1	4	6	10
2	Ahmedabad	1	1	0	0	0
3	Allahabad(Prayagraj)	149	74	36	47	83
4	Amritsar	0	0	0	0	0
5	Asansol Durgapur	5	5	1	0	1
6	Aurangabad	0	0	0	0	0
7	Bengaluru	15	4	9	3	12
8	Bhopal	0	0	0	0	0
9	Chandigarh	0	0	0	0	0
10	Coimbatore	0	0	0	0	0
11	Chennai	0	0	0	0	0
12	Delhi	56	9	5	63	68
13	Dhanbad	11	9	2	3	5
14	Faridabad	0	0	0	0	0
15	Ghaziabad	0	0	0	0	0
16	Gwalior	0	0	0	0	0
17	Hyderabad	19	1	1	17	18
18	Indore	0	0	0	0	0
19	Jabalpur	90	46	15	13	28
20	Jaipur	1	0	0	0	0
21	Jamshedpur	0	0	0	0	0
22	Jodhpur	0	0	0	0	0
23	Kannur	0	0	0	0	0
24	Kanpur	6	3	3	1	4
25	Khozikode	0	0	0	0	0
26	Kochi	0	0	0	0	0
27	Kolkata	14	2	10	3	13
28	Kollam	0	0	0	0	0
29	Kota	0	0	0	0	0
30	Lucknow	50	15	22	15	37
31	Ludhiana	0	0	0	0	0
32	Madurai	20	4	12	3	15
33	Mallapuram	0	0	0	0	0
34	Meerut	13	5	0	8	8
35	Mumbai	0	0	0	0	0
36	Nagpur	0	0	0	0	0
37	Nashik	0	0	0	0	0
38	Patna	0	0	0	0	0
39	Pune	0	0	0	0	0
40	Raipur	0	0	0	0	0
41	Rajkot	0	0	0	0	0
42	Srinagar	0	0	0	0	0
43	Surat	0	0	0	0	0
44	Thiruvanthapuram	0	0	0	0	0
45	Thrissur	8	1	6	4	10
46	Tiruchirapalli	0	0	0	0	0
47	Vadodra	0	0	0	0	0
48	Varanasi	47	33	11	15	26
49	Vijaywada city	0	0	0	0	0
50	Vizaq	0	0	0	0	0
Total		511	213	137	201	338

Two verses of Bhagavat Gita

 Two verses of Bhagavat Gita

IMHO, Dharma,artha, kama are wordly karmas and the Universal laws are Sathyam(sathyam bhoothahitham priyam) and Ahimsa(Ahimsa paramo Dharma) guiding these karmas, for its(Universe'/Nature/Prakriti's) self preservation. If you think deeply ,all these immutable laws including Laws of Karma are for its(Universe/prakriti) self adjusting and balancing and therefore for its preservation , survival and continuity.If these rules are violated in some instances ,then the self-balancing kicks in.These violation of eternal principles are Exceptions proving the Universal Rules of Sathyam and Ahimsa. But When Rakshas like people,do gross violation of these first principles,huge fight back by Dharma happens killing Hitlers to restore the Universal Balance for its survival , preservation and Continuity.This happens due to Bhagawan's sankalpa of Dharma rules, when he created this prakriti.-Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah- and bestowed these Rules to it.

Above is a kind of explanation to Bhagavat Gita sloka, Chapter 4 Verse 8

"paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam

dharma-sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge".

Another of Bhagavat Gita verse of Chapter 5 Verse 18 which reads: 

vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini
shuni chaiva shva-pake cha panditah sama-darshinah

A Brahmin, Cow,Elephant,Dog,Dog-eater are all same and equal, if only we realise that He dwells in each and in all of them and He also says only the truly learned and humble who practises this can be called a Pandit.

This is another example ,IMHO, demonstrating unequivocally that Bhagawan has created all the creatures in this Universe on Equal footing and if we practise the Sama Darshinah as enunciated by Him, we become One with Him.

A Brahmin and a Dog-eater are on same pedestal!!- BG does not propagate anything to the contrary.It is only about practical,day-to-day Spirituality and the clarification based on Satyam and Ahimsa- Dharma- for common doubts encountered by all humans.

If this is not a statement of true Inclusivity and Universal Commonhood then what else can be called?

IMHO, this is the sum and substance of Shaswata ,Sarvodaya,Sanatana Dharma .

திருப்பாணாழ்வார் வாழி !!

 திருப்பாணாழ்வார் வாழி !!

பத்துப்பாட்டு பத்துமா ?

பட்டபாட்டினால் பத்தாதெனில் ,

பத்து(பற்று)போட்டால் பற்று விடுமா?

பத்துப்பாட்டு எட்டுத்தொகைவிட்டு 

இப்பத்துப்பாடியே பற்றுக  பற்றினை;

,

பற்றற்ற பாணன் வாழியே !

அமலநாதிபிரான் பாடிய  பாணன் வாழி !

இறப்பு-என் எண்ணவோட்டம்!

 

இனி என் மூச்சுக்காற்று இந்தப்புவியை மாசுபடுத்தாது;

இனி என் உடல் இந்த பூமியின் வெப்பத்தைக் கூட்டாது;

இனி என்னுடைய நாற்ற வியர்வை வெளியே கொட்டாது;

இனி நான் துப்பும் எச்சிலும் தெருவைக் குப்பையாக்காது;

இனி என் மூத்திரமும் மலஜலமும் அழுக்காக்காது;

இனி என் இரத்தமும்,விந்துவும் பயன்படாது;

இனி என் அன்பும், பாசமும் உபயோகமாகாது;

இனி என் அகந்தையும், ஆணவமும் அசுத்தப்படுத்தாது;

இனி என் பெயர் எழுதிய தான்யங்களும் கிடையாது;

இனி ஒரு துணியும் என்னை மறைக்காது;

இனி எந்தக் கூரையும் என்னை எதிர்பார்க்கவில்லை;

இனி தனியொரு தூக்கமும் எனக்கு தேவையில்லை;

இனி என் எண்ணங்கள்கூட யாரையும் கட்டுப்படுத்தாது;

-ஏன்

இனி நான் விடும் மூச்சுகூட இப்புவியை மாசுபடுத்தாது

Risk Management- a Case Study approach

 

Sustainability of Business-ROCE(Return on Capital Employed) & new ROCE(Return on Climate & Environment)-an Integrated approach

 

Sustainability of Business-ROCE(Return on Capital Employed) & new ROCE(Return on Climate & Environment)-an Integrated approach

 

ROCE(Return on Capital Employed), according to Warren Buffet, is an important Financial Ratio that is used for measuring the combined effect of Profitability of the Business and the Productivity of the Business assets which can sustain its value. 

Profitability is measured in terms of  Return on Sales and Productivity is measured in terms of how well the Assets of the Business are put to use by looking at Assets Turnover.

(1)The formula used for calculating Return on sales is PBIT less Tax/Net Sales.

(2)The formula for calculating Turnover on Assets is Net Sales/(Net Fixed Assets+Net Current Assets i.e(Current Assets-Current Liabilities)

(3) the formula for calculating Return on Capital Employed(ROCE) is obtained by Multiplying (1)X(2)- (calculated for every year separately in the example given below)

The following is a real example of a trend of ROCE of a Business over the years ,that has three Verticals:

Belts, Oilseals and Engineering.The composite business is called Polymer.

 

Now for this Business ,an analysis is done and the ways of how to improve the ROCE of this Business have been identified. This is as follows:

                               

                            How to Improve ROCE of the Business

 This ROCE improvement Plan can be built through Balanced Scorecard Methodology.(The Balanced Scorecard;Measures that drive Performance-HBR-1992 by Dr.Robert S.Kaplan and David P.Norton )

EVA Ratio-"Economic Value Added"(Stern Value Management) of the Business, which is the Economic Profit of the Business can also be considered as the Ultimate Financial goal of a Business . The EVA is NOPAT(Net Operating Profit After Tax)- (Invested Capital*WACC) where Invested Capital includes both Equity & Debt and WACC is Weighted Average Cost of Invested Capital. In this WACC, the cost of Debt i.e Borrowed capital is calculated Net of Taxes, where the local Income/Corporate Tax policies allow deduction for the Interest paid on Borrowed Capital and the Dividend payable/expected by Shareholders is considered as the Cost of Equity.When EVA is integrated with Value-Based Management that becomes the key to Sustainable Value Creation by any Organisation(Stern Value Management-1993- “The Real key to Creating Wealth”).

 

A sample of Strategy Map developed with EVA &ROCE Ratios being tracked on Quarterly basis by comparing Actuals vs Target ,under Balanced Scorecard Methodology for a Co. in India is given below:

 

The benefits of drawing out a Strategy Map like this on Financial perspective built on Financial Ratios at the pinnacle, and Customer ,Operational and Learning & Growth perspectives are many due to interplay of cross-functional interactions and improvements flowing through the entire organisation. When this happens the organisation functions as a one whole being with all its parts working in Sync, Synergistic & Sustainable ways.

On an external environment, it is like all the players of a Team planning a carefully laid out Strategy in a tournament for winning a World cup in Soccer or Cricket!!

Since, the world has already moved into Sustainable Business models with 3Ps as the focus-Profit, People and Planet, and is now rapidly moving into Sustainable business through harmonious assimilation of Environment,Social and Governance values into Business Sustainability(The Investor Revolution-HBR-May-june 2019 bySvetlena Klimenko and Robert G.Eccles).

Now, we have reached a point where we need to integrate traditional ROCE-Return on Capital Employed with the new Return on Climate and Environment.  ESG reporting in India started in 2009 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) issuing the Voluntary Guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility, since then the reporting landscape has come a long way with the introduction of Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), IR, National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC) and the newly introduced Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) (introduced through a SEBI circular dated 10th May 2021).

World Economic forum on its part has come out with set of 21 core and 34 widened metrics and disclosures in its report “Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism:Towards Common Metrics and Consistent Rporting of Sustainable Value Creation “(WEF report,2020), as an extension of Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics standing on 4 pillars-People,Planet,Prosperity and Principles of Governance.

For future growth of the Sustainable Business Value Creation the integration of these metrics with Financial Metrics, is sine-qua-non.