By CA. Narayan Pasari
President
Dear Members,
We witnessed an
innovative Navratri celebration in Mumbai this year. Enthusiastic dandiya
raas dancers decked in all their colourful attire were swaying to music
till the early hours in the morning. What’s unique is that they are all wearing
cordless headphones – so now they can celebrate without disturbing anyone! An
ingenious mind and a little technology have saved the day…or rather the
night. This is silent garba beating the noise deadlines !! I hope other
communities may take cue from this and pursue their celebrations without
creating any nuisance or heartburn for others.
Let me also in advance take this opportunity to extend to all of you and
your families my sincere greetings for a truly Happy Diwali and a Prosperous
New Year. May the triumph of light and truth illuminate our lives and the
future of India. And may our festive celebrations overflow with colourful
rangolis, sweet temptations, surprise gifts and a sky ablaze with sparkling
sound proof fireworks of many hues.
Across the
Pacific, there are fireworks between the US and North Korea sparked off by
North Korea’s missile and H-Bomb testing and UN sanctions. Tensions have
escalated with a petulant North Korea Foreign Minister declaring that the US
President had made “their rockets’ visit to the entire US mainland inevitable”
by calling the North Korean leader a “rocket man”. The war of words accompanied
by threats and a show of military strength from both sides have sent stock
exchanges across the world tumbling. The prospect of an all-out nuclear
confrontation looks remote but nevertheless the markets are still on
tenterhooks.
Indian markets
too have been impacted by the geopolitical pressure, but have also taken a
beating for several other reasons. India’s GDP growth rate has slipped to 5.7%
in the June quarter and demonetisation and the GST seems to have been partly
responsible. Both economic measures were very much needed but possibly their
unplanned and hurried implementation has caused the markets toreact sharply.
The proactive
government has already announced a stimulus package to arrest any further
market descent. But it is in a quandary…should it choose to spend and risk
overshooting its fiscal target which it has so carefully maintained. Or should
it reduce expenditure and add to the ferment and pessimism in the market. Both
the avenues have the potential to further unnerve both domestic and foreign
investors.
Against the
dismal economic stagnation, the Indian e-commerce market, which is slated to
touch $100 billion by 2020, is clearly the silver lining. Flagging off the
festival season, the giants in the business Flipkart and Amazon held their big
annual sales. Piggybacking on the buzz generated, several smaller e-commerce
companies too joined the sales bandwagon. The response to the sales has been
phenomenal.
Flipkart claims
that it has doubled sales over the previous year and hopes to touch Rs. 6,000
crore. The high point of their Big Billion Sale is that they sold 1.3 million
smartphones in just 20 hours of the sale. Amazon too scored high saying that it
was their biggest shopping event…the largest in terms of units, sales value,
sellers, customers and pin codes they served. What’s notable is that they
garnered 85% of their new customers from tier 2 & 3 cities. Amazon claims
sales were spectacular with 50% of the 32 categories on offer doubling in value
terms over last year.
What’s
significant is that these e-commerce companies attract a lot of funding which
goes into creation of jobs and infrastructure. E-commerce has disrupted
traditional business models and has turned into a money spinner for all and a
money saver for millions of customers. May their tribe increase!
The journey began
a long time ago…on 18 April 1966, the first protest march against triple
talaq was held. And only in 2017, the Supreme Court has finally decreed it as
unlawful. Post the verdict, activists have now swivelled their attention
towards decriminalising homosexuality and marital rape. Today the focus has
widened considerably and the debate now centres on developing and introducing a
Uniform Civil Code.
Is it possible or
practical to reconcile divergent laws and formulate a common code that is
acceptable to all communities? Those in favour believe a common code will
provide a potential platform to unite India. A stronger argument is being made
that a common code will ensure gender justice and discourage gender bias. But
after a thorough comparative study of personal laws of India’s many
communities, the sheer diversity of laws and the zeal with which they are
adhered to defies any possibility of uniformity.
Those against,
argue that there already exists an optional civil code with several acts that
may be used by those who wish to avoid the religion and custom based laws.
There is also a suggestion, which I like, that instead of trying to force a
common code it would be better to take a few key aspects such as marriage,
adoption, succession and maintenance and progressively work them into a common
code.
Before I conclude
this message, I would like to make this earnest request to all of you to join
me in the BCAS membership drive. The Society needs to increase its membership,
specially the youth. This will help us to generate more revenues, besides the
Society will be taken more seriously when it comes to interaction at all levels
of the Government. After all, numbers do matter. If all of us adopt the
initiative of “Each one brings one”, we can target to double our membership,
which will be a big step forward.
I would like to
end by paying tribute to our Past President Shri Pradeepbhai Shah who left us
this month. As a Trustee of the BCAS Foundation, he was actively involved in charity
and had organised many campaigns for the needy. The drive for cancer afflicted
children at Tata Memorial this year was one of his initiatives. A walking
encyclopaedia of jokes and anecdotes, he helped inspire people and transform
difficult situations with his effervescent optimism. We pray that Shri
Pradeepbhai may reap the abundant rewards he sowed and enjoy eternal rest.
Feel free to
write to me on president@bcasonline.org
With kind regards
CA. Narayan Pasari
President
