Month: August 2020

Uncategorized

The story of “Bottle Schools”

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Education and Health are the key foundations of happiness of people. Fortunately there are some countries like Bhutan and Scandinavia who made it their first priority. Others like Guatemala inspire even more seeing the case of how they bridged the infrastructure gap on education with their inspiring Bottle School.

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay 

Yes, school inside a structure made of Bottles filled with plastics. Dealing with their plastic waste on one side and providing a stronger & better structure within which children can come and study.

So all the pet bottles got filled with the plastic sachets of different edible and non-edible items with the help of stick and once full was used in place of bricks to create this structure.

This concept is as old has > 10 years and has been applied in many places including Asia. I was not knowing about it until a month back and other than the limited debate on ecobricks good or bad; the word hasn’t spread much on it.

Can we also help reduce and manage waste and create critical building blocks ?

More information on schools made by ecobricks can be found on website of this NGO which supports this initiative https://hugitforward.org/

Race to ‘-1’ : Day 340

Link to previous Day : https://preetymundhra.com/2020/08/08/garbage-or-bio-enzymes-ok-test/

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Garbage or Bio Enzymes : OK Test

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So there was a short break in this 365 day journey. The bio-enzyme (BE) I had put under preparation couple of months back was yet to be tested.

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Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Finally got to do it today when I used the BE made from sweetlime peels couple of months back.

I used it for cleaning the stained plastic containers used during compost making. It was also a time to turn the compost and check the making of black gold which is still in process.

I wouldn’t compare the end result with regular cleaners but can confirm that it saved the chemical use and put the food residue to a better use. And the stains were cleaned.

There is lot of online content available on BE which has been in use for more than a decade in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Lot of current users prefer it from citrus. But when it originally started it was also called Garbage Enzymes (GE) and every uncooked fruit or vegetable was used.

Whether you do BE or GE; it’s a good start towards waste reduction. For those interested to know more specifics, below is an interesting and useful post recommended by many waste conscious people:

http://kaustubam.blogspot.com/2017/02/how-to-make-bio-enzyme-or-garbage.html

So are you ready to get started?

Race to -1 : Day 341

Link to previous post : https://preetymundhra.com/2020/07/22/do-you-want-to-try-2-minute-effect/

MONEY TALKS

Credit Series- 9/ Related party Value chain

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It’s interesting to see how businesses have evolved over the period and share some common trends. Today while evaluating majority of borrowers including an SME; you will see that promoter will have at least two business entities doing similar or different activities .

Single product, single entity and single promoter is rare to see now .

So why do the businesses form different entities:

  • To diversify if getting into new business line via a new entity . ( Thin line between diversify and divert, so understand the reasoning).
  • To take benefit of incentives or arbitrage which may be available on certain constitutions and locations.
  • To prepare for succession planning.

Having multiple entities in itself not a sign of anything. Understanding the value chain between those – in terms of dependence on sales and purchases and true nature of transactions is what is critical; along with obviously how important is the business you are proposing to lend to is in the overall structure.

rope-1314964_1920

Image by Jerzy Górecki from Pixabay

Some core steps which helps understand it better :

  • Evaluate the notes to accounts/ other disclosures on related party transactions as a starting point and the overall quantum & trend therein in terms of size of company.
  • One limitation in above is how the related party is being treated and which ones are being treated. So for that understand the different businesses run by the same promoter group. You can look for common directorships or you can look at sources of income in case not a limited company.
  • Understand dynamics behind group company sales and purchases in case they are significant.
  • Understand who are the major customers and suppliers and relate that to the banking transactions.
  • Always take help of google on customers/ suppliers with whom major business is being done if other than known entity.

If you find a missing link in any of the above with what you understand about your borrower; then that’s the area you need to decide whether in the overall pros and cons of the credit proposal you can accept that.

So how do you evaluate the related businesses ?

Link to Credit Series : https://preetymundhra.com/2019/02/21/credit-series-introduction/