Co-op movement - Silver tongue Srinivasa Shastri and jewel of Triplicane - "TUCS"

A cooperative  is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically owned by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors.

I studied in the famous Hindu High School – the Red Building on Big Street is an imposing landmark of Thiruvallikkeni. Hindu High School (now the Hindu Higher Secondary School), founded in 1852 as the DravidaPatashala metamorphosized big and produced many scholars and famous persons. In 1897 the school moved into a present premises which is a red coloured three storeyed building in what can best be described as the Indo Gothic style.  Atop the School HM room is a big hall where many sangeet performances, kathakalakshepams were held with many hundreds attending them.  Amon the many doyens was  ‘silver tongued orator’ of Madras, the Rt. Hon. VS Srinivasa Sastry whose English was praised even by Winston Churchill,  was once headmaster of this school. Yet another illustrious alumnus was S Chandrashekhar, the Nobel laureate.

Ages ago, in 1975,  I graduated from Samarao school and joined 6th Standard in the Hindu High School, that grand Red building in Big Street.  From my house in TP Koil Street, (nearer Azhagiyasingarsannathi / MahakaviBarathiyarillam)  would walk via – NKT National Boys School, Sri Raghavendra Mutt, Vadivudaiya Amman ghee store, Uthukulivennaikadai, Gangaikondanmantap and vegetable market, winding Big Street, passing the old Post Office building, TUCS, big and small shops,  Bank branches [Syndicate, Canara,  IOB], tea stalls – cross carefully Pycrofts road (on which PTC buses would run]; ArasadiKarpagaVinayakar temple (more famously Big St Pillaiyarkoil) .. .. ..  and reach my school.

ValangaimanSankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri was born ten days ahead of the Mahatma — a fact Gandhi never let him forget, always calling him ‘Anna’.    Born in a poor family near Kumbakonam, Shastri  rose to what his social limits allowed him to — a school teacher. He was trained at the Saidapet Teacher Training College, where he reportedly corrected the pronunciation of the English principal himself and a Standard English Dictionary from the library adjudicated that Srinivasa Shastriyar was right and the principal congratulated him for his meticulousness.Sastri considered the teaching profession as the noblest. For half a century, he served from a humble school teacher to the highest position of vice-chancellor in his career. A South African school he started in Durban still exists as ‘Sastri college’!  After 17 years of teaching at various schools including the Hindu School of Triplicane (the only Madras school to count a Nobel laureate as an alumnus), Shastri  resigned and threw himself headlong into politics. Surprisingly, this was after reading just one pamphlet written by Gokhale as part of Servants of India Society. He served the society admirably and on Gokhale’s death became the President, a position Gokhale had earlier groomed Gandhi for till their footpaths to freedom differed.

Srinivasa Sastri served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1913 to 1916, Imperial Legislative Council of India from 1916 to 1919 and the Council of State from 1920 to 1925. Sastri also functioned as India's delegate to the League of Nations, as member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and agent to the Union of South Africa.

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumer co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement.Although other co-operatives preceded them, the Rochdale Pioneers' co-operative became the prototype for societies in Great Britain. The Rochdale Pioneers are most famous for designing the Rochdale Principles, a set of principles of co-operation that provide the foundation for the principles on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. The model the Rochdale Pioneers used is a focus of study within co-operative economics.The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was a group of 28 that was formed in 1844.On 21 December 1844, they opened their store with a very meagre selection of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and a few candles.  By the end of their first year trading, the Pioneers had 80 members and £182 of capital.  By 1900, the British co-operative movement had grown to 1,439 co-operatives covering virtually every area of the UK.

Back home at Thiruvallikkeni, the great literate – Srinivasa Shastri established the Madras Teachers Guild during his term as headmaster of Triplicane High School.He was one of the pioneers of the Co-operative movement and started India's first co-operative society, the Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society in 1904.  TUCS as it is known is very famous and the building stands majestic at Thiruvallikkeni Big Street.   TUCS,  one of the first cooperatives of the country, was founded in Big Street in 1904 by VS Srinivasa Sastry, M Singaravelar and others. The Society began one of the earliest examples of retail in the city and flourished for several years. Dotted around Big Street are several properties belonging to the TUCS including its headquarters  at Triplicane.

TUCS now owning more than 40 buildings including some Departmental stores is more than a century old now. The consumer cooperative society predates even the First Cooperative Credit Societies Act of 1904, which officially ushered in the cooperative movement into India, points out an official.Business started at 7.30 a.m. on April 9, 1904. "Our establishment numbered two, a manager and a salesman, each on Rs 8 a month. The manager was new to business but the salesman, a Chetti by caste, had good experience in the grocery line. Through the latter, we got a loan of a pair of scales and a set of weights and measures for the opening day," recalls the history of the TUCS published on its silver jubilee.

The credit for the venture goes to 14 local residents, inspired by the Secretary of the Cooperative Union of Calcutta, Mr Ambika CharanUkil, who was here in 1903 to attend the Indian National Congress.The group that came to be known as the Triplicane pioneers, led by Mr V.S. Srinivasa Sastriar and Mr T.K. Hanumantha Rao put together Rs 319 - well short of the targeted Rs 1000 - to start the business. The Triplicane store registered sales of about Rs 90 on the first day. On some days sales were down to "eight annas" - about fifty paise. But then `make haste slowly' is a motto of the TUCS.

The Triplicane TUCS building now sells – groceries, medicines, vegetables, crackers during Deepavali, cooking gas retail unit and has a Ration shop inside – and at some point of time sold liquor too before State Govt took over the multi-crore business marketing. 

BUT – TUCS is famous, possesses infrastructure, known for its quality – but the sales now are far from encouraging, seen as poor middle class choice, still it is not the preferred shop for  mostTriplicane residents.  Perhaps neither the Management nor the residents have ever tried to find out the reasons and improve – meanwhile smaller and bigger shops and now other Departmental stores mushrooming in and around have had flowing business.

TUCS the unique Cooperative Society is more than 100 years old – and perhaps only the antiquity is its unique selling point.  The foundation for the present majestic building was laid by HH the Maharaja of Bhavnagar, Governor of Madras on 8.12.1949 and building opened by HH Sri Sri Prakasa, then Governor on 16.10.1952.

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
21^st Dec 2021
On this day 177 years ago, a famous Coop Society emerged in Great Britain.

 

Ashes - England surrender ! .. .. some batting record held by bowlers ? ! ?

44 years ago ! – India played a Test at Perth and lost .. any relevance here !! 

Last year, after bundled out for 36 at Adelaide, India bounced back at Melbourne on Boxing day test to win a Test.  Capt Kohli had returned; there were so many injuries – Mohammed Shami was out, Umesh Yadav limped in the middle .. yet at  MCG  India achieved  cricket folklore. There were to be more injuries, more players out of team, yet the events that followed, overshadowed everything else !!  

At the end of every test match, some of us get interested in Statistics, some trivia and more !.. .. to start with a simple Q – can there be some Batting record held by bowlers ?? 

Elementay my dear Watson ! the time, when we started watching Cricket, we used to say that the great legenday Bhagwat Chandrasekhar could be clean bowled by anyone of us and he is the person with most no. of ducks in Cricket.  Nope, he is now the 14th person in Tests with 23 ducks in 58 tests.  The current record holder is Courtney Walsh 43 ducks in 132 tests; may be Stuart Broad with 38 in 150 tests still has a fair chance to overtake him.  In the list comes, CS Martin, Glenn Mcgrath, Ishant Sharma, Shane Warne (one thought him to be an all-rounder), Muthiah Muralitharan; Jimmy Anderson (the subject matter of this post)l Zakhir Khan, Merwyn Dillon, Courtney Ambrose, Danish Kaneria, Danny Morrison (yes the same commentator who now is taking classes on how to bat) and leg spin wizard Chandra. 

This year on Boxing Day as the Ashes rivalry would continue at Melbourne, India would be playing another test in South Africa.  The news is - spectators will not be allowed into stadiums for South Africa's home series against India, despite regulations in the country allowing for a maximum of 2000 fully-vaccinated fans in sports venues. Cricket South Africa and the BCCI took a joint decision to hold the matches behind closed doors for the safety of players and the integrity of the bio-bubble. Hospitality suites, however,  will be open as CSA seeks to fulfill contractual obligations with corporate partners.  But before you comment on this Corporate culture, understand that South Africa is currently in the midst of a fourth wave of the pandemic, fuelled by the Omicron variant, and was recording more than 20,000 positive cases a day last week. That number has since come down to under 17,000 but the bulk of positive cases remain in the Gauteng province, where two of the three Tests against India will take place. 

Getting back to down under, before the start of the 2^nd test,  Josh Hazlewood had been ruled out with a side strain and then on the morning of the match captain Pat Cummins was deemed a Covid close contact. Australia had lost half their first-choice bowling attack and their captain. Even with home advantage and a brittle opposition, it would have derailed many a team. Suddenly you are looking at a bowling line up of Mitchell Starc 62 tests leading the attack, Jhye Richardson 2 tests, Michael Neser 0, Cameron Green 5 and spinner Nathan Lyon 101.  They had a Captain but the wicket-keeper    Alex Carey playing only because  of Tim Paine's resignation, arising out of non-cricketing event !    

With all that the scorecard reveals another Aussie win by a mammoth 275 runs ! - Australia 9 for 473 dec (Labuschagne 103, Warner 95, Smith 93, Carey 51) and 9 for 230 dec (Head 51, Labuschagne 51) beat England 236 (Malan 80, Root 62, Starc 4-37) and 192 (Richardson 5-42).

 

In England's first innings, James Anderson became the first player to be not out in 100 Test innings. Jimmy the wily workhorse is considerably ahead of closest challenger Courtney Walsh, who finished unbeaten 61 times in Tests. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan was unbeaten 56 times, one ahead of England's Bob Willis.  He has 635 test wickets is a wonderful accomplishment. 

Michael Neser was promoted to nightwatchman after his first-innings heroics, becoming the first Australian debutant to act as nightwatchman since Phil Emery in his only Test appearance at Lahore in 1994. Exactly on this day 44 years ago, chasing a stiff 334,  Australians were 33/2 when Tony Mann, a leg spinner walked in as a night-watchman, made 105, was out at 172/3 and Australians won by 2 wickets.   

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
20^th Dec 2021.
  

insuring school bus ! - perception and .. .. a pay & recovery award !

Traffic in Chennai city – aerial view of Beach Road aka Kamarajar salai – don’t get carried away by the lean movement on the road on Right side of photo – it is inner loop road nearer Marina beach – generally vehicles not allowed as people walk !! 

How does your kid commute to school … in our school days, we just walked ! now some drop their children in their 2 wheeler / cars; many of us are not in a position to drop them to school…. some make arrangements with private autos; vans and cycle rickshaws….. and feel that they have done their duty….. how many have cared to see the way their children commute in the vehicle arranged….. many a parents would keep on making calls to their van driver … just to know where the van is, whether their delay in preparations  could impact and whether their children is safely travelling…….. all ‘without even thinking that they are imperilling their own and other children travelling in that van’………..you see some small boyish driver driving the van rashly ~ speaking on the mobile phone all the time !! and he could well be answering your call…..  

Chennai bursts at seams .. you see vehicles of every variety on road, most of them domineering, threatening your very life .. .. .. in the category of water tankers,  high end luxury cars – you can add them ‘those yellow coloured Educational Institution buses’ – at breakneck speeds ! 

Insurance is all about risk exposure, the probability of peril occurrence – and based on various such parameters, Insurers decide their risk appetite.Many Insurers feel among Motor vehicles,  ‘School buses’ are very good risk and hence offer unimaginable discounts + various incentives to the sources that place them.  One factor influencing that perception is :  ‘these vehicles are not on road all time, ply only on specified routes’ and thus exposure is less !  .. .. for those of us seeing those yellow buses on city roads and on highways, would vouch differently – as they generate fear among other road users. 

Of the many vehicle documents like RC, FC -  there is Permit.  Any vehicle which is used for carrying goods or passengers for Commercial purpose requires a permit from State Government under the provisions of Motor Vehicles Act 1988.  Difference commercial vehicles require and obtain different types of permits – for carriage, route and the like.  Buses used for ferrying school students, owned / operated by Educational institutions are given a special permit.  In recent times, these buses besides permit are identified by their yellow colour. 

Remember that sometime back in a tragic accident, a  class II student of Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Selaiyur,  fell through a hole in the school bus and was run over. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the court had directed the State government to undertake the exercise of framing the Rules.  The specific rules called -  Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Special Rules, 2012 followed, coming into effect from 1^st Oct 2012.  The rules inter-alia staed : No School Bus shall be used in any public place, whether or not such vehicle is actually carrying any student, without obtaining necessary permit from the appropriate authority under Section 76 of the Act. 

The Motor Vehicles Act 1988, Sec 88 states : Validation of permits for use outside region in which granted.—(1) Except as may be otherwise prescribed, a permit granted by the Regional Transport Authority of any one region shall not be valid in any other region .. .. …  

Sec 149 of the MV Act :  Duty of insurers to satisfy judgments and awards against persons insured in respect of third party risks.—

(1) If, after a certificate of insurance has been issued under sub-section (3) of section 147 in favour of the person by whom a policy has been effected, judgment or award in respect of any such liability as is required to be covered by a policy under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 147 .. .. … the insurer shall, subject to the provisions of this section, pay to the person entitled to the benefit of the decree any sum not exceeding the sum assured payable thereunder, as if he were the judgment debtor, in respect of the liability, together with any amount payable in respect of costs and any sum payable in respect of interest on that sum by virtue of any enactment relating to interest on judgments 

(2) No sum shall be payable by an insurer under sub-section (1) in respect of any judgment or award unless, before the commencement of the proceedings in which the judgment or award is given the insurer had notice through the Court or, as the case may be, the Claims Tribunal of the bringing of the proceedings, …. ..  ..  to defend the action on any of the following grounds, namely:— (a) that there has been a breach of a specified condition of the policy, being one of the following conditions, namely:— (i) a condition excluding the use of the vehicle— (a) for hire or reward, where the vehicle is on the date of the contract of insurance a vehicle not covered by a permit to ply for hire or reward, or (b) for organised racing and speed testing, or (c) for a purpose not allowed by the permit under which the vehicle is used, where the vehicle is a transport vehicle, or  .. .. ..  [partially excerpted here] 

School buses are to conform to additional norms including fitment of speed controlling device (speed governor); first step of footboard should be at a height not exceeding 300 mm and not less than 250 mm from the ground.  Despite every precaution, accidents do occur, bringing great tragedy to affected families. 

Today TOI news report states that a City MACT has directed Insurer of a school bus to pay compensation of Rs.21 lakhs to the family of an accident victim.  The accident occurred in Nov 2017 involving a school bus.  The bus had Permit to ply on Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts while the accident occurred near Koyambedu in Chennai city.  The Insurers took the plea of ‘permit violation’ but the Court has held that having insured the vehicle, Insures can pay the award less 10% towards contributory negligence of the victim for not wearing helmet – and Insurers can recover from the policy holder. 

The accident was fatal for a 23 year old working as a Marketing manager in a private firm.  The family sought a compensation of 50 lakh. There were not much of defence and the Insurers had pleaded that the vehicle had permit to ply only in Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur and use of the vehicle in Chennai was  breach of policy conditions.  The Tribunal did not take cognizance of this plea, but held that there was contributory negligence on part of the victim as he was not wearing helmet. The school management contended that the vehicle required repair works for which it was sent to Perungudi and was returning to Thiruvallur through Koyambedu when the accident happened. Based on various factors including loss of dependency, loss of love and affection for the family members and other factors, the tribunal arrived at an amount of 23.3 lakh as compensation. After deducting 2.3 lakh for contributory negligence, the tribunal held that a compensation of 21.04 lakh be paid to the victim’s family.  The Tribunal directed the Insurer of the vehicle to compensate and   recover the same from the school management. (Pay & recovery award) 

There are lessons from every judgement and hopefully those involved, Educational institutions, Road users, Transporters, general Public and Insurers learn some ! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
20^th Dec 2021. 

Cannot see its eyes ! - do not understand one word of its finance - Shih Tzu !!

Shih-Tzu Token is an ERC-20/BEP20 Token built on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain that focuses on improving the quality of life, and ultimately the happiness, of animals and critters across the globe. With a strong and ever-growing community, we advocate and donate to animal rights support groups, advocates, and causes. This includes animal support shelters and rescue initiatives. Our mission is clear, and we are hopeful that the impact that Shih-tzu can have on animals will benefit the token holders in the long run as we expand and build on our goals and initiatives. A few days back, the  counter  surged about 6,00,000 per cent, and traded at $0.00005477, up from $0.000000009105.  

If you are as confused as me ! in not understanding one word .. .. perhaps We are not alone !! but you may have known or seen the little pet “Shih Tzu” – I saw one at Senkanthal park months ago - I spotted an young girl holding a curly small pet – was not even sure what sort of animal it was !  .. .. when enquired the friendly girl stated it to be ‘Shih Tzu’ .. .. .. a small toy dog with woolly hairs all around; the fur appeared to have grown over its eyes too, all over the face and body and it more liked a small woolen bundle of happiness.  She gracefully allowed me to take couple of photographs .. .. nice gesture, thank you madam !  .. .. and today at Triplicane, saw two of them, again its owner allowed them to be photographed ! thanks .. ..  (they might cost around 25000 + per dog !!)

How much do you like a dog ? – some of us are scary, more so of street dogs, more so, when walking on a road alone early in the morning or in darkness ! – there are some of my friends & relatives who are so fond, of them that they feed and take care of them with affection. 

In the modern  world, people have less time and the finer things in life are not appreciated.  In the bustling city life inside concrete jungle, there is nothing as nature at all. The chirping birds, squirrels are not found as their habitat is lost.  – many of that changed with Covid pandemic.  People suddenly had more time at home and started looking at newer things including trees, flowers, birds and pets. Many found solace in having pets. Some would quip that humanity is slowing losing their tolerance and first should love fellow human beings before patronising pets..  Your pet-owning experience will be most enjoyable if you carefully consider which pet best suits your family, home and lifestyle.. .. owning / nurturing a cat or a dog could have its innate trouble – for many having a home aquarium brings colour and amusement into their lives.  

Pets are  often smaller animals kept for companionship and enjoyment, though there are strange and weird pets elsewhere.  Mostly pets are domesticated animals, which would obey commands and do things that would please its master [is that what is wanted everywhere !] – man’s interaction with animals is boundless – there are wild animals [or is animals in wild more appropriate], livestock, laboratory animals, working animals, sports animals, breeding animals kept for food and making money – there are few others which are kept for their loyalty, playfulness, singing prowess, beauty and other characteristics.  Believers claim that pets would help relieve stress – but you need to love your pet and believe on this to really enjoy and get some health benefits ! 

Now to the little dog Shih Tzu  –  it had a plush coat that certainly would require  frequent  combing or brushing.  Upon making a web search, understand that this pet is costly – some web putting the price as high as Rs.30000 and that its celebrity owners include Nicole Richie, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Colin Farell, Bill Gates, and even Queen Elizabeth II.  The Shih Tzu   is an Asian toy dog breed originating from Tibet. This breed is well-known for their short snout and large round eyes, as well as their ever growing coat, floppy ears, and short and stout posture. Although small in size, they are notorious for their largely fun and playful personality, and calm and friendly temperament.  This breed needs exercise, but not much more than a daily walk around the neighborhood, or a run though the park.  The Shih Tzu has a lifespan of 11 to 16 years.    

The name Shih Tzu Kou, or Shih Tzu, translates to “mini lion,” the moniker given to it in deference to its lion-like appearance. The name is likely based on the word for lion, “shishi.” The lion was highly esteemed in China for its connection with Buddhism, since it had a long tradition as guardian of the temples and palaces. In 1934, the Shih Tzu Club of England was founded  and the breed was officially recognised by the Kennel Club (UK).  Further read that when  China underwent its Communist Revolution, the Shih Tzu breed all but disappeared.   

 Now getting back to “Shih-Tzu Token” – it is a Crypto currency token !!  -  Cryptocurrency may well be made a synonym for volatility given that some of these tokens have seen a stupendous rise in prices in a short span.  A couple of weeks ago, it was the turn of Shih Tzu (SHIH), a token named after the affectionate, playful and outgoing dog breed that originated in China. The token saw a wild rally in   two hours.  The counter surged about 6,00,000 per cent, data collated by CoinMarketCap showed. Shih Tzu coins were trading at $0.00005477, up from $0.000000009105. Volume also surged up to 65 per cent across exchanges. The token is among those unknown ones that suddenly gained thousands of per cent, but no one seemed to know why. Kokoswap, Ethereum Meta and ARC Governance were among those that saw sudden but short-lived rallies.  

There already are - Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin and others, a new dog-based cryptocurrency became  the latest token to see crazy returns in an incredibly short span of time.  The price movement of the SHIH token seems unexplained and sudden, with many sceptics calling for caution on such tokens.  The popularity of cryptocurrency and the rise in the value of major cryptocurrency tokens like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others have also led to an increase in the popularity of scam coins. The recent Squid Game Token scam saw investors lose millions, and others, like Dubai Coin, also capitalised on established names to scam investors.  

Its website states : SHIH-Tzu is an experimental cryptocurrency. Following the decentralized model of many new cryptocurrency projects, Shih-tzu is powered by the community. $SHIH was one of the first tokens with a hyperinflated supply to scale with the massive growth and adoption the team anticipates. Launched April 18th, 2021, SHIH is an ERC-20 token that can remain an important player in the NFT, staking, and meme-worthy sections of crypto and blockchain as it continues to grow and expand its ecosystems capabilities and services. 50% of the total supply has been locked on Uniswap. The remaining 50% was sent Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum.   

.. .. though I have posted in detail, other than realizing that Shih Tzu is a pet dog, a special breed at that, have not understood the financial side of crypto coin! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
19^th Dec 2021.

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