EUROZONE CRISIS// The people of Greece have rejected a plan proposed by other European countries that would give their country new money through loans, but would require their government to cut back on expenses such as pensions given to old people. As a result, the country now owes billions of dollars to international banks with no way to pay them back.

It all began in 2008, when Greece began borrowing heavily from banks to fund the activities of its government and banks. By 2010, it had run out of money. At that point, financial institutions in the EU stepped in and gave Greece money in return for a promise that the government of Greece would raise taxes, cut expenses and run the country more efficiently. Greece is a part of the European Union (EU), which is a cluster of European nations that share the same currency (euro), and have porous borders. By 2010, it had run out of money. At that point the EU stepped in and gave Greece money in return for a promise that the government of Greece would raise taxes, cut expenses and run the country more efficiently.

Five years later, Greece is not doing too well. The money given by the EU went towards paying off old loans. Thanks to higher taxes and low government spending, companies and businesses aren’t doing well either and many Greeks don’t have jobs or money to pay for college. Greeks blame the tough new rules (high taxes, low expenses) set out by the EU in 2010 as the reason they are doing badly and as a result most of them voted “No” in a referendum on whether Greece should accept a new set of loans from the EU.

Without the money, Greece will not be able to pay back the EU and it may force the country to leave the EU and go back to its own currency, the drachma. Will that save the Greek economy and improve the lives of its people? The jury is out on this one.

IPL// Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), two of the Indian Premier League's (IPL’s) most popular teams are in a fix as their owners have been banned from the world’s most watched T20 league. In a recent order, a panel of former judges appointed by the Supreme Court of India said the companies that owned the two teams stand banned for two years. This is the punishment meted out to the team owners who have been accused of betting on the results of cricket matches, despite being direct participants in the game.

The committee has also banned for life Gurunath Meiyappan, a former team official of CSK, and Raj Kundra, a former RR co-owner, from any involvement in cricket matches. With their owners banned, the teams cannot play in the IPL in their current state. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which manages cricket in India, is studying the order. The Board is also in a fix since the two teams are extremely popular (CSK is headed by M S Dhoni, the India ODI captain). Moreover, removing two teams will reduce the scale of the next IPL tournament, which will be played in April-May 2016.

a unit. Else, the teams may get broken up as individual players are picked by other teams – after all, no player would like to sit out of the tournament for two years.

Reports in newspapers say that CSK will appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court. However, given that the panel was headed by Justice R M Lodha, who used to be Chief Justice of India, it seems unlikely that the punishment will change.

ACHIEVEMENT// Twenty-three-year-old twins from Sonepat, Haryana — Nungshi and Tashi Malik -- have gone where few have managed to reach before. The sisters completed the Explorers Grand Slam, which involves reaching the North and South Poles, as well as scaling the highest peaks spread across seven continents. The girls took to serious climbing only in 2009, but in six years, they have accomplished what many veteran (experienced) explorers have failed to do. After completing an advanced course in mountaineering in 2010, the twins scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), in February 2012. They then set their sight on Mount Everest, which they scaled on May 19, 2013. This was followed by expeditions to Mount Elbrus (Europe) in August 2013; Mount Aconcagua (South America) in January 2014; Mount Carstensz Pyramid (Australia) in March 2014; and Mount McKinley (North America) on June 4, 2014. Perhaps the toughest leg of the Slam was the last – a 120-km ski trip to the North Pole, where they were weighed down by 45 kg of gear and had to ski 10 hours a day in freezing weather against strong winds. The twins emerged victorious, completed the Slam, thus earning a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records and making India proud.

DIGITAL INDIA// As Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Digital India Week”, India Inc committed an investment of Rs 450,000 crore (some $75 billion) for the initiative that seeks to empower citizens by deploying IT and associated tools. Choosing no less than a sports stadium to launch the initiative where the who’s who of India Inc packed the rows, Prime Minister Modi said industry captains have committed investments and create 1.8 million new jobs. The prime minister also unveiled a logo for Digital India — an umbrella programme that seeks to transform India into a digitallyempowered, knowledge economy, with a host of initiatives for a synchronised and coordinated engagement of the government and its agencies.

Modi said it was not enough for India to say that it is an ancient civilisation, and a country of 1.25 billion with favourable demography. “Modern technology needs to be blended with these strengths,” he stressed. He laid emphasis on useful technologies and said at one point India was criticised for launching satellites but today these were helping the common people. Farmers, for instance, are able to access weather forecasts. “Similarly, the Digital India initiative is aimed at improving the lives of the common people,” Modi said, adding that while India may have missed the industrial revolution, it will not miss the IT revolution that is transforming peoples’ lives. The Prime Minister assured full support to young entrepreneurs who wished to launch start-ups.

SPACE// Nine years after it left our planet, space probe New Horizons has safety reached its destination – the dwarf planet Pluto, which is at the far end of the solar system. To get there, the probe has travelled 3 billion miles at a dizzying speed of 34,000 miles per hour.

On July 15, New Horizons whizzed past Pluto, after safety clearing the Kuiper Belt, an area in space that is filled with rocks and other debris (remains/rubble) of the solar system. It was the first spacecraft to reach Pluto, and the United States (US) has become the first country to send a mission to all eight planets in the classical solar system (Pluto was traditionally considered a planet. It was demoted to dwarf planet status months after the probe launched in 2006).

New Horizons was launched by US space agency NASA. The probe reached within 7770 miles of Pluto’s surface. The probe carries machines and instruments for capturing images and information about the dwarf planet. A lot of the data has already been captured but it will take around 16 months to download due to the slow connection over the very long distance between Earth and the probe.

Images beamed back from New Horizons so far have shown Pluto in shades of red and orange, with hints of valleys, mountains and craters. Other measurements taken by the probe have found that Pluto is larger than previously thought, at 1,470 miles across. That means it contains more ice beneath its surface and less rock than scientists had anticipated.

After its Pluto flypast, New Horizons will continue its mission into the Kuiper belt. The spacecraft is powered by a nuclear generator that runs on plutonium, a substance named after the dwarf planet and this power source can run the probe until the 2030s, when New Horizons will be 100 times further away from us than Earth is from the sun.

SPACE// Kepler 452b is an alien world recently examined by astronomers that may be a near-twin of the Earth. Researchers from NASA and other scientific organisations believe this explanet may, however, be older and larger than our home planet. Kepler 452b is the first Earth-like planet ever discovered orbiting an alien star within that body’s habitable zone. This region, also known as “The Goldilocks Zone”, is the distance from a star where conditions are neither too hot, nor too cold to make life likely. Analysis of Kepler 452b could bring astronomers one step closer to finding life in an alien solar system.

A little knowledge of the language and knowing how to find your way about can prevent you from enjoying meat in disguise

AS A STUDENT, any student, not studying in their home country will tell you, life isn’t all alcohol and night-long parties. The average student juggles part-time jobs, a hectic study schedule, and an active social life. In between all this, we find the time to miss family, food, and friends from back home. For an exchange student, this time/ space quandary is bearable. But for those like me, who are permanent students abroad, any manifestation of home is like the smell of rain on Delhi’s roads after a long summer — tantalising, nostalgic and simultaneously bliss-inducing and heartbreaking.

I have lived in Korea for two years now, calling two very different cities my home. Daegu, with its shimmering heat, warm-hearted people and distinct local dialect; and Seoul, the packed, noisy, bright, ever alive capital of Korea. For a girl who could not be hailed as particularly well-travelled or independent, the leap from India to Korea was exhilarating, frightening and very welcome. Thirsting for adventure and a taste of the world, I couldn’t wait to get away, not realising that I was leaving behind things I would crave more than I could ever imagine.

Korean food and Indian food are very different. Korean cuisine is essentially simple. Only a couple of ingredients are used to make an array of food items, with pickled and fermented items forming the crux of what is consumed on a regular basis. The palate ranges from sweet and sour to “spicy” food that makes Indians like me laugh when we’re asked if we’re ok with the spice level. And unlike the sheer multitude of fare back home, food across the Korean landscape tends to remain the same, with only slight variations. However, one of the biggest problems you may face here may come from unexpected quarters — vegetarian food is hard to come by.

Almost all Korean food contains some form of meat or seafood or uses stock made from the same. An unsuspecting vegan or vegetarian may not see chunks of meat floating in their broth, but unless they’ve confirmed beforehand, there is a very good chance that you are consuming non-vegetarian fare. As someone who was pescetarian back home, but a fan of Korean food in general, this problem quickly became a predicament of gigantic proportions. However, as anyone living here long enough will soon learn, a little knowledge of the language and knowing how to find your way about can prevent you from enjoying meat in disguise.

While my knowledge of Korean was sufficient from my time studying in India, it is an entirely different thing trying to convince Korean people to not add meat to your food, or trying to find out if your food is vegan or not. What adds to the confusion is the line that separates white/ red meat and seafood. “Does this item contain any meat?”You ask. “No no! No gogi!” (Gogi is the Korean word for meat) and then when the bowl is set on the table, you gingerly fish a few shrimps and mussels out of your soup and sigh. For Korean people seafood is seafood and meat from animals is meat. So if you’re picky or vegan, you need to make sure you phrase your question properly, or ask all the questions necessary to ascertain there are no creatures with shells swimming about in your stew.

Hilariously, ham causes similar problems here, which can be problematic for people who follow Islam. Ham innocuously makes its way into most foods here, and spam, which is considered waste meat in the West, is considered gourmet food here. Even asking if your food contains any meat may not save you from the ham disaster, unless you tailor your question specifically. As Korean people joke sometimes, “Ham is an honorary vegetable (here in Korea)”.

Is eating out even an option then? Yes, it is, as long as you do your research. Pure vegetarian meals are available as part of the programme at temple stay programmes, where you can meditate in the mountains and live the life of a monk for a small fee. Additionally, a lot of “banchan” (side dishes) are vegetarian, and you can ask to be served only those. You can also ask for regular dishes with the meat removed. “Bibimbap” (mixed rice), for instance, is a bowl of steamed rice served with individually stir fried vegetables smelling fragrantly of roasted sesame seed oil, and is often served without any meat in it.

Soybean and soybean products can also come to your rescue. Soybean, in multiple styles and forms is used across Korean cooking — as fermented bean paste, as sprouts, as processed tofu (soft or hard) and as soybean milk. Try experimenting with the flavour and texture and you will find nothing beats the crunchiness of soybean sprouts in a salad, or the particular tangy, hearty flavour of “doenjang” (fermented soy bean paste) soup on an empty stomach, and a bowl of soft tofu stew is like a little bit of heaven on a cold winter day. Sweet potato is another vegetable that Korean people do magical things with. You didn’t know it could be used in pizza, cake or lattes, did you?

For those of you who refuse to risk eating out, fending for yourself on a student budget can be a tricky thing. Korea is where the vegetables are as expensive (if not more) as the meat, and alcohol is cheaper than water. Moreover, the variety can be rather limited, unless one can shell out a lot of money at bigger marts.

My recommendation would still be to talk to locals and head out and explore. There are a number of vegan cafes and restaurants sprouting up across Korea and it is becoming easier to find likeminded people who can point you in the same direction. There are a lot of adventures to be had here, and if you are anything like me and like those of the gastronomic kind, then you will let the flavour lead you.

At first glance, Huawei’s Honor 3C smartphone looks a lot like any other midrange phone with a not-so-huge display and a lean design. However, things change when you hold the phone and actually start using it. Honor 3C surprised me with its ergonomics and user-friendly design. Its plastic back cover is silky-smooth and will let you hold the phone without feeling any weight at all while watching movies.

Multi-tasking: With a 2GB memory, the Honor 3C works extremely fast for a mid-range phone. You can easily switch over between heavy apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook, without having to patiently wait for a new app to rise from its sleep. Opening new files within apps, typing and uploading photos or songs won’t stretch the phone’s limits either. The RAM works with an ARM 1.3GHz quad-core processor, which is excellent at multi-tasking and in terms of performance, but not as much in terms of graphics. Even though the phone might be able to handle HD gaming and heavy gaming apps, seasoned gamers won’t find it as much fun as they would on a premium smartphone.CaMera: Honor 3C’s 5MP front camera worked really well when I tried out Skype on the phone. My face on the screen appeared bright and didn’t blur out too often. On the other hand, while the 8MP rear camera did fine in bright sunlight, its ability to recognise faces or take perfect shots in low-light conditions is suspect. For an 8MP camera, we’ve seen better.

Display: The phone’s display is perfect for those who chose to buy a smartphone for its price. At five inches, it provides enough surface area for users to navigate and place their apps; and a 294ppi resolution is the best in its class, surpassing the likes of Moto E, Zenfone 4, ZTE Blade L2 and Nokia Lumia 630, which are all priced similarly.

storage: The Honor 3C’s internal storage stalls at a disappointing 8GB, which means you’ll get to use around 5GB at best — a situation where you would need to transfer your photos, music and videos almost every week to free up space for new content. However, you’ll get to add an extra 32GB via a microSD slot, which should offer some breathing space for those who hate to delete their movies and TV series.

Battery: A 2,300 mAh battery seems enough for a mid-range phone that won’t have to support hi-res displays or fuelguzzling apps and features. However, the Honor 3C could have done better with the battery. The phone’s charge usually dries up overnight, leaving you with around 60 per cent charge in the morning. There’s also no feature in the phone that would let you close down active programmes, giving you a helpless feeling while you watch your phone die.

We would love the phone to come up with new battery saving features or even wireless charging that would let us keep the phone alive for longer hours while on the go. I’m sure Huawei would be working into this feature in the follow-up phone.

overall value-for-Money: Honor 3C — in spite of certain limitations in terms of camera, storage, battery and graphics — will be an excellent phone in its price range, owing to its user-friendliness and ease of usage. The phone hardly keeps you waiting for anything and can be a longterm companion given Huawei keeps offering periodic updates to keep it young.

No one, including the PM, should deny armed forces their due pay, pensions

No oNe in this country, including the political executive, should ever think of denying the armed forces personnel and the currently-onprotest veterans what is justifiably due to them.

The issue of pay and perks disparity between the civilian services, including police forces, and the defence personnel dates several decades back, beginning with the third central Pay Commission of 1970, which, for the first time, recommended the de-linking of military pension from military service, resulting in the termination of OROP (one rank one pension) for defence forces by the then Indira Gandhi government. There is more than one reason why the defence forces deserve the best— while in service and after retirement.

The first and the foremost reason, which is an emotional one, is that nobody other than the armed forces personnel will ever be ready to get into a job, knowing they are entering the jaws of death.

For this reason alone, the Narendra Modi government should keep its 2014 Parliamentary poll promise of implementing the OROP immediately. If he chooses to do so during his Independence Day address from the capital’s Red Fort on August 15, he will have only salvaged his image and kept up, albeit belatedly, the trust that the patient 2.5-million strong exservicemen community had reposed in him over a year ago.

There are several anomalies in the defence personnel’s salaries, allowances and service conditions that are not commensurate with the hardship, risks and sacrifice they make. Here are some disparities, drawing from the present set of pay and perks, which the Modi government and the Seventh Pay Commission can look into and do justice to the serving and the retired armed forces community:

Increments: The Indian administrative service (IAS) officers get three increments for each promotion, until the nonfunctional selection grade, during their service life. But the armed forces personnel get only one promotion increment. Defence scientists, on the other hand, get up to six variable increments on their first promotion.

Promotions: IAS officers get promoted to the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) after 15-16 years of service, become joint secretaries after 18-20 years and additional secretaries after 25-26 years. Group A officers of the government, too, get SAG after 21 years and additional secretary pay after 32 years through nonfunctional upgrading (NFU). Whereas, a major general of the Army or his equivalent in the Navy and Air Force, get to SAG only after 30-33 years of service. They become lieutenant general or equivalent after 34 years. The forces’ officers never get to enjoy the NFU at all.

Pay and seniority: Civilian offices enjoy the pay and seniority, the day the first officer in their batch of service gets promoted to the next rank. Their seniority and pay fixation is done for the entire batch on the same day. In the armed forces, the individual officer’s pay and seniority is fixed only on the day he personally gets appointed or promoted to the next post and rank.

allowances: While the customs and excise officers get `2,500 annually for their uniform, the defence forces officers get `1,000 annually, and only once in three years. While civilian staffers and police forces personnel get Rs 4,000 as headquarters allowance, the defence forces personnel get zilch. Even in the case of fight against Left wing extremism (LWE), the central police personnel get a risk allowance of Rs 4,800 to Rs 6,000 every month. The armed forces get nothing when they serve in LWE-hit areas. In the Kashmir valley, the police personnel get double their housing rent allowance, but the armed forces personnel get nothing, again. In tribal areas, the police forces get a special compensatory allowance at par with the hardship allowance, whereas the armed forces personnel get nothing of the sort.

commando allowance: The CoBRA commandos fighting the Maoists get a special allowance of Rs 7,200 to Rs 11,200, based on their rank. Armed forces’ commandos get a para-allowance of Rs 800 to Rs 1,200.

Training Period: In the case of civilian services and police forces, their period of training before they join their cadre is counted as service period. This is not so in the case of military personnel and this is a great injustice done to them, resulting in loss of seniority compared to their civilian counterparts.

Superannuation: Civilian government officers and employees, and Central armed police personnel, all retire at 60 years. The retirement median ages for non-officer ranks in the armed forces is 35 to 38 years; for junior commissioned officers it is 52 years; and for officers, it is 54 years for those up to the rank of colonel in the Army, and their equivalents in Navy and Air Force. The soldiers are a well-trained and disciplined lot, who could be put to gainful employment in several industrial and service sectors. Unfortunately, even a proposal to provide these young men and women lateral entry into the central armed police and para-military forces has faced stiff resistance from the civilian bureaucracy and from within the respective police and para-military forces.

Disability: In case a civilian employee is disabled, the government is duty bound to retain her/ him in service until 60 years of age, as per the Disability Act, 1965. Armed forces personnel, however, will be booted out of service, as the Act is not applicable to them. They merely get a disability allowance, which is, again, not commensurate with their disability.

Orop: The government expenditure on pensions for defence personnel this fiscal is Rs 54,500 crore. This expenditure is inclusive of the pensions for defence civilians, who approximately number 4 lakh. They aren’t going to be eligible for OROP anyway. The argument against OROP that it would result in exponential rise in government expenditure is fallacious, as year-on-year, the government expenditure for defence pensions is falling as a percentage of the country’s GDP. In the last three fiscals, the defence pension expenditure has been 0.43 per cent (2012-13), 0.40 per cent (2013- 14) and 0.38 (2014-15) per cent, respectively, of the nation’s GDP.

Lessons from the Greek debt crisis

Greece, a small country in South Europe, has not only defaulted on loans, and but has also threatened not to stick to the austerity measures suggested by its creditors — the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union and the European Central Bank.

As a result, it is on the verge of an exit from European Union, triggering fears of more such defaults and a deeper financial crisis in the global economy. As politicians and economists in Europe and across the world are busy finding a solution to the Greek crisis — aptly named Greek Tragedy — it would be worthwhile for individual borrowers to learn some lessons on managing debt from the crisis.

EXPENSES WAY BEYOND INCOME

When Greece’s GDP was growing at a decent pace (at an average 4.2 per cent from 2000 to 2007), it borrowed heavily to finance its budget deficits, which remained over 4 per cent since 2002. Lesson for individuals: Do not spend beyond your means even if the times are good for you. Do not lose sight of the debt levels. If you are regularly hitting the credit limit of your credit cards, or have too many personal loans, you should know there is a problem with your finances. Overindulgence and ignorance can lead to a debt trap.

DEBT LEVELS BEYOND REPAYMENT CAPACITY

Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio (debt as a percentage of the country’s gross domestic product), which was just over 100 per cent from 2000 to 2007, swelled to 177 per cent in 2014. The shooting of debt levels was mainly on account of its faltering GDP growth.

Lesson for individuals: There is a thin line between smart debt management and a debt trap. Do not cross that line. If you have taken loans and are paying it back in monthly installments, always try to keep our EMIs below 50 per cent of your salary. After paying all your EMIs, credit card loans and other expenses, if you are not able to save any money at the end of the month, cut expenses.

UNNECESSARY EXPENSES

Greece’s spending on public pension is 16 per cent of its GDP, one of the highest in the Euro zone. Pension is not an unnecessary expense, but Greece has been too generous with its pension beneficiaries. The country spends 2.3 per cent of its GDP on military! For a country that is laden with debt, it should have cut the defense budget.

Lesson for individuals: There are expenses you can dispense with. Look carefully at your credit card bills. See how often you have eaten outside, watched movies or frequented pubs and bars. See if there is credit card spending you have converted into EMIs. If your card bill has more entries of eateries, mobile stores and multiplexes than utility bills and grocery shops, you know you have been splurging.

LOANS: A SUBSTITUTE FOR INCOME GENERATION

There was a time when Greece was financing its huge budget deficit by borrowing money. As money was flowing easily, it did not try to improve its income generation capability. Between 2004 and 2009, the government’s expenditure increased by 87 per cent against an increase in tax revenue of 31 per cent. Lesson for individuals: When times are good, banks and other financial institutions approach you with easy loan offers — be it personal loans or credit cards. Do not get carried away by these offers. Differentiate between a good and a bad loan. Ideally, any loan for creation of assets (home loan, business loan) or a loan for learning new skills (education loan) are good loans, while loans taken for buying expensive gadgets and going for vacations are bad loans.

EXCLUSIVE CLUB? PAY THE PRICE

The problem with Greece has been its inability to devalue its currency to increase exports and investments. Greece is a part of the European Union, which follows a uniform currency. This means the member countries have no flexibility in terms of tweaking their exchange rates to attract investment or exports.

Lesson for individuals: Peer pressure often forces individuals to act in a certain way and live a life that can be beyond your budget. If you are already laden with loans, and you need to cut expenses by sacrificing a certain “lifestyle”, do not shy away from doing it. Take harsh measures — sell the expensive car, use public transport for going to office, buy clothes and accessories of cheaper brands, and if needed, avoid company that requires you to live beyond your means.

POOR DATA QUALITY, LOSING CREDIBILITY

Greece has not only shown indiscretion in managing its expenses and debt, it has overstated growth data and understated its fiscal deficit and expenses. It even hid some of the debts in its books to avail new loans. This led to drop in value of its bonds and its overall credit rating.

Lesson for individuals: Do not avail loan by forging income statements and not disclosing outstanding loans (the latter is not now less likely given better information sharing mechanism among banks). Such acts can not only land you in jail but also get you blacklisted by the banks. If you have taken a loan, ensure you make timely repayments, so as not to ruin your credit rating.