Reminiscence 2020: a productive year it was ... ... .. .

 

Reminiscence 2020

“Events, like covid19 pandemic and worldwide lockdowns may be horrible or inescapable. Men have always a choice - if not whether, then how, they may endure.” If a wall is built around you then do not get confined within it. Ride and walk on that wall.

Life is full of opportunities.
Opportune moments are dynamic. Chase and grab those.

 
THE YEAR 2020 WAS UNIQUE ON ITS OWN.
 
IT WAS HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE FOR ME.
 WN A LOT DURING THE LOCKDOWN PERIOD.
 
14 OF MY MANUSCRIPTS GOT PUBLISHED AS BOOKS.

[1]

VIGNETTES

(Published in October 2019)

The entire universe is a book to read and understand. Nature, environment, human, human behaviors, hunger, thirst, power, lust, love, competition, birds, animals, stars all of these convey mute as well as verbal messages with consistency and inconsistencies to its system and surroundings. Observant, if one is, can capture these and convert these to meaningful words. The wordsin turn can help in making a good living environment for one and all. The present book is a compilation of articles written over a period of 12 months starting from May 2018 to June 2019. 

The authors have expressed their observations and their own interpretations in different moods, melancholy, painful moments and pleasurable instances. Hence, these are, one can say, the manifestation of both conventional as well as unconventional thoughts. We have not limited our expressions to any limits. The articles are written as the words started coming to our mind based on the situation and circumstance of the events observed. We, consciously, have kept the articles in a format that is different from other books. We have discussed the Ramayana as a history rather than mythology, we have also deliberated on beauty as a deeply valued material, we have also written about materials such as narcissism and living with originality. We have also spoken about – life as a practical field and is not to be lived as a moral science classroom. The articles are deliberately kept at random and each article is a stand-alone description. We would suggest readers read any article as the first article and any article as the final article because all articles in the book are independent and mutually exclusive from other articles.

                                             MKP

 

 [2]

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE IN DECISION MAKING

(Published in November 2019

Decision Making is a complicated process that involves a diverse inputs and experiences in varied exposure areas of a person or group of persons. Plethora of raw data often confuses, not facilitates, the process of decision making.

Human brain, certainly, is more efficient than any other neural systems including the super computer. But the other side, of this efficient brain is that it is often covered and entangled with data and information layer over layer. Humanly, thus, it becomes highly difficult to segregate data and come to a conclusion to act on the basis of all raw data.

That is the precise reason of the human beings dependence on computers, algorithms, and processing systems of which Business Intelligence has got its genesis and platform. The purpose of Business Intelligence is to support better business decision making in each and every areas such as Medicine, Health, Social, Economic, and so on.

The book, on your hand, entitled “Business Intelligence in Decision Making” is a general research guidance book. Contents in this book are dealing with the basic principles of business intelligence as well as data mining techniques with special references to health science related case studies.

 MKP

[3]

ECONOMIC RECOVERY POST-COVID 19 PERIOD: A LAYMAN’S VIEWPOINTS

(Published in June 2020)

For the generation now and generation next, the experience and scar of the covid 19 viruses are unprecedented. The lockdown imposed by countries to arrest the spread of the covid19 virus spurred panic for many including workmen, business houses, day labourers, financial institutions. The economy went crumbling. People suffered. The recovery of the economy was doubtful post lockdown. Many forward-looking leaders and chief ministers took bold and positive steps to bring the economy on track. This book was written keeping these aspects in mind.

If examples of the United States, China, and European countries as economic superpowers are to be cited and vouched upon, then the best practices of these countries in implementing their growth stories are to be implemented. One cannot have the cake and still eat it.  The old and many irrelevant parts of laws are already been looked into by the state and central governments of India. At the same time, the primary employment sector namely the agriculture sector is also getting reinforced to bolster and drive the economy of India strong and sustainable.

                                                     MKP

                                       

                                         [4]

INTERTWINED

(EMPATHY AND DESIGN THINKING)

(Published in June 2020)

Similar to the subjects of “individual behaviour” and the “organizational behaviour” the emotional parameter “empathy” is identical to “individual” and “group”. In this sense, individuals behave quite differently when alone and when in a group. At the individual level, it is subtle to differentiate between empathy and sympathy. 

Let us analyze the case of an organization and its behaviour towards an employee. On the disciplinary ground, an employee was suspended from the services of the organization. The reporting officer who had issued the suspension order, later on, came to know the financial difficulty the person and his family are facing. He, on the individual level, then started helping the suspended employee by extending financial help so that the family of the latter does not suffer. But at the same time, the same officer was not putting up his empathic views to the management to reinstate the suspended employee. In this case, we can find that within the same person (here the officer) that sympathy is prevailing at the individual level but empathy is dormant. 

        Second, empathy – the first step in the design the thinking process is to develop and fine-tune the product, process, and service – is effective and possible in the group to group i.e. G2G (just like B2B or Business to Business in business) behaviour. 

            I2G (Individual to Group) and I2I (Individual to Individual) are not examples of empathy but are examples of sympathy. To a large extent, similarly, self-empathy is somewhere between narcissism and sympathy but not empathy. 

The empathy that gives rise to new processes says the implementation of the online education system in primary education is possible only through a group (such as schools and institutions approved and recognized by the education ministry of the governments) to group (students).

After all, as Dalai Lama has said - Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries, without them, humanity cannot survive”. 

 MKP

[5]

READ BETWEEN THE LINES AND WALK BETWEEN THE LANES

(Published in June 2020)

Nothing can compete with an analytical mind. Books will have words, books will have stanzas, and books will also have verses. But a book on its own can neither open up nor can enter into the brain cells and the neurons. It is the mindset, openness, and magnanimity of thoughts and guts, brain and heart to delve into the static books and make meaning out of the written words. Thus, life will be kinetic and meaningful.

Blessed is the one who reads books.

The culture of a city is not by walking on its highways and major roads. The culture is understood while walking on the smaller and by-lanes of a city. The hygiene factor of an organization is perceptible in the washrooms, not in the board rooms.

 

In the same token, reading a book line by line can give a generalist view of the content. But the essence of the book can be squeezed out by the reader able to read between the lines. There stored is the elixir of life.

 

MKP

[6]

SMILES ALL THE WAY

(Published in June 2020)

This book is a compilation of some incidents experienced by me during my professional career of three and a half decades. People in the profession behave differently as compared to their characteristics. This difference has bifurcated behavioural patterns into individual behaviour and organizational behaviour.

As social animals, it is difficult to immune oneself from its surroundings. That is why our response to any incident is either” in favour of it” or “against it” but never “neutral to it”. The very fact that our brain involuntarily analyzes observations we get influenced by happenings in and around us.

The pandemic caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID 19 forced us to be in isolation. Social distancing is practiced. The experiences of being in isolation and remaining within the four walls of the houses brought out unexplored potentials present within each one of us. While most of us enjoyed the bliss of the togetherness with family members, many turned their inherent interests and skills like cooking, playing, story listening, storytelling, gardening, farming, and so many other things. I thought of writing down my experiences as correctly as possible, and this book is a small compilation of many small articles I could write down.

Each article in this book is mutually exclusive and independent of the other articles. So these are random dots on the canvas of nature. I believe you will find each of these small particles and the book as a whole interesting.  

Your feedback will encourage me to write down the complete book in a bigger format.

 MKP

[7]

SHRUBBERY OF THE MAGNIFICENT NINE

(Published in July 2020)

One should practice the principle of acknowledging the credits of good jobs to the performer. If you ever take away someone else’s credit then in the future that person will never do a good job either for you or for anybody else.

The article titled “too early into the oblivion” is inspired by real-life experiences related to the golden principle - Learn to acknowledge and honor the performers. Give credit where it is due.

The abysmal mindsets of selfish people downgrade cultures where they dwell. To be in a position and enjoy power, people limit the growths of desirable others. In the name of a good diet, humans kill innocent animals. After doing heinous and unjust deeds the same humans visit places of worship and pray to God for happiness. These ironies are described in the second article. It is titled “Dealers of death and their journeys to Heaven”. The author does not believe that the dealer of deaths can never find the path to heaven.

Human life is divided into four different phases namely, the student, the responsible performer, the retired, and the renunciation. Each stage has to pass on the responsibilities to its succeeding generations. The succession plan thus is important.

Unfortunately, the greed for power and wealth is insatiable for many. Such types of people do not like to pass on the baton of responsibilities to their next generations. They remain glued to their positions and in the process the thwart growth of their next generations. The very essence of the law of nature and society is, thus, ignored. The perils of not performing the succession plan are discussed in the article titled “Succession plan”.

The ability to make communicate effectively is important. Innuendos are practiced in situations where verbal and sign languages can pose a threat to the communicator and the receiver. The schools and educational institutes probably are the only places where clear communications are made. Teachers pass on clear teachings to students. In all other places, one has to be capable to interpret hints and indirect references.

Circumstances in odd situations need insinuations to convey desired communications to ones’ advantage. These are covered in the article titled “Insinuation and interpretations”.

We all have heard about mathematics. It is the only subject that gives formulae applicable anywhere in the Universe. But when applied to human resource management, it spells disaster in the lives of many. “Mathematics in business” is a story in this line.

Facts are stranger than fiction. Humans are trying to conquer nature. It believes that if it can convert ist ideas into reality. We have contemplated some vital points the human race needs to consider, over for the present generation and the posterity. The article titled “The day after” is deliberation in this direction.

Lip services, prayers in the places of worship, and promises intended to break are extreme inhumanity. Tangibles can hold intangibles, but intangibles cannot contain tangibles. Thus the attempts to amass wealth by hook or by crook are useless. The intangible soul cannot carry tangible materials.  Physical materials thus can never become sources for happiness. We will read more about this in the topic titled “Soul cannot hold material and Body cannot travel final abode”. It is interesting to know that evolution of life is understood much before the evolution theory propounded by Alfred Russell Wallace in 1859. Intellectuals in the ancient past had understood this evolution process quite long ago. It is a coincidence that similarities between ancient wisdom and the present era of science are now getting established. Some correlations of the past and those from the modern era are described in one of the topics. The topic is titled “Evolution of life and the Dashavatara”.

Necessity is the mother of invention – we all know about this. During difficult times we put stress on neurons in our brain. The principle of thinking deeply to find out a solution is the process of brainstorming or churning. The ancient history Vishnu Purana is a worthy read for the students choosing leadership as a path in the present era of technological advancement and the digital revolution. “Manthan, virus and the Vaccine” is the title of the article where similes are described.

           The tongue voluntarily moves to the teeth where food particles are stuck. It does not rest until the jammed particles are swiped out. During the process of cleaning many times, a tooth bites the tongue. Tongue and the 32 teeth are parts of the same body. When food particles get stuck, the teeth get pain. The tongue tries to relieve the pain of the stuck up food particles, teeth bite the tongue. These are no surprises. The tongue and teeth follow their inherent characteristics. In the article titled “win-win vs bite and win” the author has discussed the winning mantra in the era of the digital world.

           Best wishes and I am sure you will find the articles relevant and enjoyable.

MKP

[8]

PREDICTIVE MODELS IN ROCK BLASTING

(Published in July 2020)

Metals and minerals are necessary to build infrastructure. So are oils, hydrocarbons, and natural gases to make fuel engines operate. Countries rich with natural resources are prosperous. Ores are excavated by removing the top surface of the earth and then taking the materials out of the deposits. The process of excavation is broadly known as rock blasting.

Rock blasting is an operation to excavate and explore natural resources from deposits present inside the earth. It is carried out mainly by the use of HEM. HEM is a generic name used for chemicals and a mixture of chemicals having high entropy. These are also called as explosives. We shall use the generic name HEM during the discussion in this book.

HEMs are hazardous to deal with. These are all muscles but no brain. Not only the news and reports but I have seen the disasters involved with HEMs. The fire travels at a speed of a minimum 2 km/second and burns and shatters everything that comes in its way. So I always had a strong wish to develop numerical models that can predict behaviors of HEMs without handling those. To some extent, I along with my team of young mining and HEM engineers have developed some easy to use models for use. This small book is the first in the series that I will be publishing covering areas of safety, good practices, testing, and SOPs.

The present book titled “Predictive models in rock blasting” in your hand has discussions with some predictive models, namely, GPeng, ReGPeng, GPdetTem, and Big data analysis.

Students and professionals in the fields of HEM, and mining who I love to address as the Earth Movers will find the contents useful and usable.

                                                                                                                                 MKP

                                   

                                 [9]

REMOVE THE BLINDERS

(IDEATION IN DESIGN THINKING)

(Published in July 2020)

As a child learns to crawl, the first set of instructions it receives are the dos and the do-not.  But curiosity dominates over pieces of advice, and the child often does contrary to what is taught not to do.  In simple terms – trying to walk with eyes closed is to explore - how it feels to walk blind. The child falls and hurts itself. And then never again attempt to repeat such an act. But in the first place, why do we do the way we do despite advice not to do so. It is because our curiosities to understand things are either not explained or ignored. “Life is the greatest teacher of them all”.

We have seen people have achieved what others had contemplated as impossible. Years before the invention of airplanes, the idea of flying objects was wild. Most people thought that - an object made with material heavier than air can not fly. But someone somewhere thought contrary to the groupthink. But airplanes finally got invented. At some other point in history, great philosophers and scientists had to undergo the pain of social stigma and ire of societies for explaining – the earth is going around the sun, and not the other way round.

Arjuna was thinking that he is the doer. So, he refused to fight the war of the Mahabharata. Sri Krishna changed the mind of Arjuna by answering – Arjuna has only to perform his duties. He does not have to see the kinship in the enemy who is ready to fight on the battlefield.

One gets transformed based on what one thinks. Thinking brings changes. A better lifestyle is achieved only by thinking differently. A routine bound employee otherwise will keep on doing works allotted to him by his employer. If he does not think to change, a change will not come down suo motto.

Thinking itself is – Design Thinking. It is an age-old process. Generation after generation, people have dreamt up, delved into details, went into the depths of unfathomable subject matters, generated ideas, made small changes (prototypes), and then implemented their thoughts. Some implementations were easy, while many others like the ones proposed by Galileo were challenging.

We are going to discuss the 3rd phase in Design Thinking. Earlier in my books titled “Unleash the Neurons – The Design Thinking”, and “Intertwined – Empathy in Design Thinking” both published in this year 2020 we have covered some details on this subject. In this book, I am going to discuss a little more regarding the 3rd phase in the Design Thinking process. This book is about IDEATION.

Unlike many other books already available, this book is an attempt to make the subject of Design Thinking in simple ways. Let us go ahead and read it. 

 MKP

 

[10]

SITE MIX EMULSION

(SOP & MANUFACTURING FOR ROCK BLASTING)

(Published in July 2020)

This book deals with the subject of the Site Mix Emulsion (SME) Matrix. SME matrix is used for excavation of rocks, metals, minerals, oils, and gases by mining these materials.

Engineers and managers in the field of drilling, rock blasting, and mining, in general, will find this book useful since the subjects of the design thinking and rock blasting are merged into one.

Explosives come as one of the prime variable costs in mining operations. Being high energy materials, explosives play the most vital role in rock blasting operations. It is extremely important to use the right quality of explosives to blast rocks. The input-output (IO) ratio between the explosives and rock excavated is in the second decimal level, say for example 0.002:1. That is the importance of the explosives in rock blasting.

There are many ways to procure the best SME (for rock blasting) but the presence of a large number of manufacturers and price war for market share has made it difficult to get quality SME from manufacturers. This is true for the Indian market, certainly, and also for many other countries.

The cost of operations for SME manufacturing is minuscule compared to the cost of operations for mining. The present author has worked in the industries of all types of explosives manufacturing and also in mega open-pit coal mines for 35 years. 

If empathy in design thinking is the first phase in the development of innovative products and processes then it is most opportune to let the mining industry know about the manufacture of powerful explosives at a lower cost. Thus, this book, which is the fourth in its tetralogy, is written wherein design thinking is completed and its applications are initiated. 

The author is sure that his fraternity of engineers in the fields of drilling, blasting, explosives manufacturing, and mining will find it useful, and the case study implementable. The book is divided into three parts. The three parts have been titled as, Part I: Preceding SME: The Design Thinking, Part II: Site Mix Emulsion (SME) manufacturing, and Part III: Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in SME manufacturing.

                                                                                                                                         MKP

                                    

                                    [11]

UNLEASH THE NEURONS: DESIGN THINKING

(Published in July 2020)

This book on design thinking is aimed at the readers to be a stimulant to create general prosperity from the islands of excellence.  

Gone are the days when wars were fought to acquire and amass wealth. Now it is the age of data, information, data analysis, and implementation of innovative products and services. Pragmatic plans and strategies are important to be worked out and executed to create wealth and deliver cutting-edge results. 

Just like how the use of pulleys reduces the application of mechanical energy, the understanding of design thinking will facilitate the process of ideation and innovation in a large number of subjects such as environmental management, mining, industries, entrepreneurship, personality development, agriculture, biotechnology, and medicine. 

The year 2019 ended with the beginning of a disaster in the form of Covid-19. The virus has caused a pandemic across the world. It has taken the lives of millions because the entire world is caught unprepared. Scientists in research laboratories across the nations are struggling to find a medicine for this virus. So, it is thinking that would help scientists to develop a suitable medicine. Yes, this development will be possible only through thinking. 

 MKP

  [12]

THE PAIN

EXPLOSION THAT RAVAGED BEIRUT

(Published in August 2020)

The 4th August 2020 transformed the beautiful Beirut to a ghost town. Though the fire, explosion, and the shock waves from the massive blast that ripped the port city Beirut in Lebanon is over; the trauma, mental shock, after effects, deaths, and injuries resulted from the blast are painfully alive. People are in shock. The investigation for the reasons for the blast must be underway but the first information that the genesis of the blast is from the stored 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate reminds a repeat of Texas incident on the 16th April 1947. The photographs of the Beirut blast area are scary.

This book is written to make everyone aware of the fertilizer Ammonium Nitrate (AN). This innocuous-looking inorganic salt contains an enormous amount of gaseous and heat energy in it. When initiated with electrical spark or fire it decomposes and explodes violently. The material is however very useful as fertilizer as well as for converting chemical energy into mechanical energy to do excavation in mines.

The human race should not experience a disaster like experienced in Beirut ever.

MKP

[13]

DEMAND, SUPPLY, AND SAFETY OF EXPLOSIVES IN MINING

(Published in August 2020)

India produces about 33327 million tonnes of fuels, metallic minerals, and non-metallic minerals, 8086 thousand tonnes of lead, manganese, zinc, gypsum, and Phosphorite, 1600 kilogram of gold, and 31836091 carats of diamond every year. These are excavated from the mines by the use of explosives.

We have beautiful roses to pluck but by saving ourselves from thorns of the rose plants.

About 50 numbers of explosives manufacturing companies manufacture about 830 brands of explosives to the tune of about 14,00,000 tons of class 2 slurry and emulsion explosives to excavate the riches reserved beneath the surface of the earth by mining, rock blasting, and excavation

The large volume of explosives associated with the tedious operations in mining needs for an in-depth analysis between demand-supply-safety parameters. These are addressed here in this book.

 MKP

[14]

THE BUILDINGBLOCKS FOR COMMISSIONING A SME MANUFACTURING PLANT

(Published in October 2020)

Annually about $7.1 billion worth of global industrial explosives are used to excavate about 18 billion metric tonnes of mining products. SME, because of its safe characteristics and cost competitiveness, is one of the most preferred explosives for this.

Many entrepreneurs and mining companies are looking for a book that can clarify steps in sequence to commission safe and effective SME manufacturing plants. 

Thus is the genesis of this book on SME.

This book provides building blocks for legal entities (holders of the license granted by the Government of their countries) to commission SME manufacturing plants by complying with the legal needs of statutory authorities.

The book covers areas of preparing a project report, safety management plan, safety data sheets, hazard identification, and risk analysis, aspect impact analysis, and checklists. 

 MKP

[15]

AMMONIUM NITRATE SPECIFICATIONS

&

QUALITY OF EXPLOSIVES FOR ROCK BLASTING

(Published in October 2020)

This book is a ready reckoner and handy guide to the purchasers of ammonium nitrate and manufacturers of explosives (containing ammonium nitrate).

It is written to facilitate understanding the nature of technical specifications in finalizing purchases of ammonium nitrate.

The contents will help the purchasers in emphasizing and asking for the correct parameters of AN from the AN sellers.

 MKP

[16]

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

(PSYCHOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY FRONTIERS)

(Published in December 2020)

Psychology and science & technology are two of the diagrammatically opposite branches of studies. These two branches do not seem to match in the real world. But a study of the literature confirms that perception is well intertwined with science & technology. We have tried to bring these together into a common platform by citing case studies. The results obtained are interesting and useful.

                                                 MKP