Heroes --- its time to save the World

Ah….don’t be in a jinx after reading this…for this is the first instance I’m being anecdotal not for the lack of issues but lack of readers, not for the lack of knowledge but for the want of being different….enough of the simile talk…I better get down with some writing…

Its been ages since I last hit the keys on the keyboard…although it is not that I haven’t bothered the keyboard all this while ….but its for the lack of purpose in posting something on ma blog…(I’m rather clueless why doesn’t MS Word springs up with a red line beneath “ma” as I thought this was just another chatting lingo for “my”)….so carrying on the raison de atre for not posting on ma blog…its just that there was no longer any excitement ,rather euphoria about posting something…I was no longer bothered by the no of visitors glancing through ma web page any more…people commenting on ma posts never bothered me as I hardly have any….also the economy is going great guns and I’m rather fed up on writing on inflation issues as most of you would find better commentators than me in almost all dailies….

But lately I have started watching the series, Heroes, an amazing tele series combining all the attributes of an entertainment package. It’s about certain (I know the exact no although I wouldn’t like to spoil your fun in case you end up watching it) no of individuals who are gifted with special powers and in due course of their lives they start realizing the special qualities they possess. There’s a link that connects each of them to the other and its time they unlock the true potential of their power and harness it to the betterment of the world….or rather simply put to “Save the World”….well this is the underlying point that carries all of them to different places on the globe as each of them is searching for his/her true destiny….to make things no better for them they have someone hunting them down and killing them and his reason for doing it is ….?For evolution is a process which hinges on one most important aspect ….SURVIVAL!

Well I may be a little too excited for people who are already done with watching the first Season of Heroes but for those who have not been caring about it all this while one thing that I’m very sure about is you wont be cursing me in case u end up watching Heroes after going through all this I have put ….and as far as I’m concerned I have been kinda glued to it ever since I started watching it….As I watched things unfold I was too tempted to think whether I had some “special power”…but then I realized this was an effect of watching too many Hindi serials for all you do while watching them is personify yourself as one of the characters from the soap….

Well its time for me to catch on another episode of Heroes, and I think it’s only a matter of time before you would want to catch up on your dose of this epic serial…
Disclaimer: I won't be responsible for any bad repercussions that Heroes ends up having on you, specially of you watching Heroes the whole day and skipping your daily chores and I strongly recommend you to seek another advice, although the good reviews in case you follow me are welcome and will be duly applauded.

Failure

Failure is a verdict, disliked by all;
Even strongest of minds fail to accept this fall;

Failure is like a sunset, it gives time to prepare;
Success is on the horizon, for fouls to repair;

Failure knocks fortune the most, when success is at the doorstep;
The thin line between success and failure can be conquered, just by a footstep;

Less opportunities still failures, success remains the final destination;
Failure is a journey to success, and this still remains the tradition.

Farewell

Farewell is a mixed feeling sour and sweet at the same time;
Love and memories bettering it from time to time

Everyone keeps meeting it in course of their lifes;
The fondness of the past makes a mark in their lifes

Though the faces keep on smiling all the while;
The heart weeps the sorrow to depart meanwhile,

Everyone loves it still no one wants it;
You have to accept it even though u deny it.

Life is a mystery , farewell is a part of it;
Farewell bids good bye to those who gave it

Times keep on changing nothing remains the same ;
One has a long journey to travel so keep on giving the past a farewell

The dawn follows the dusk as a farewell follows the meet;
Enjoy this feeling as the future is on the horizon to meet,

God’s gift to a man are many ,life being the most precious,
Each of us will be indebted to this life for our final farewell to be auspicious

Reliving Mumbai!

If you would have read my previous posts you will be left wondering about this one... (perhaps you need to be a part of the elite junta that reads my posts as very few really do)as all my previous attempts were with the issue side of Life...so here I go on a trail to catch the other side....a visit to Mumbai.
Well I haven't read Suketu Mehta's "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” but one thing is for sure I lost myself when I found Bombay! A city which is a utter chaos in a local train turns into a beauty on the streets of Marine Drive. A place where you could easily sense every person breathing his dream!” Never say die!” you take this to Mumbaikars for they epitomize the true meaning of this cliché. Each of them trying to find a place for himself, whether be it in a local train, whether be at the place he works or be it any damn inch of land the city inhibits....here absolutely everyone is trying to fit in the scheme of things, trying to take the system forward....very unlike us (as we keep on groaning even the most dutiful sun in the early morning for the sunshine it brings darts through the window panes and onto our eyes)Bombay has got about itself an aura which tends to get the best out of each one of its inhabitats.The local trains are more of a bio data of the ones traveling thru it....for if one is a stock broker he's got all the financial dailies that he could ever buy(although I’m not very sure how it helps them with their stock picking)...for if one is a employee you will find him dozing off provided he's found a place to sit but its also true that I have seen standing souls sleeping et al...


Each Mumbaikar is trying to squeeze out the maximum he/she can get out of each day...I just wonder whether ppl there have different clocks as they seem to living for more than the 24 hour cycle. One can spend a day with a measly Rs.5/- note while some other may find it difficult to do it even coughing up a green Rs.500/- note. A family from Dharavi enjoys all the festivals with almost the same enthusiasm and joy as does a Mannat residing SRK.Its all very subjective here. There’s no thumb rule here, everthing seems to outlive itself even before it started living. Almost every Mumbaikar tries to be ahead of the curve, for even an iota of a chance lost can be as bad as a fortune ruined. Space constraints galore but then at the same time it has the entire place on this Earth to accommodate every other person who is aspiring to make it big in there! No one spares even a glance leave alone a stare, even if you are being intimate on the streets itself .Absolutely no fuss for being asked time and again to fight it out in the glaring heat that the city wears for almost as long as one lives there. The only reason I find for this is the living hope in the hearts of the millions staying here, the hope to see himself/herself joining the bandwagon of the neo rich that the city breeds at the rate of knots almost every day. And one of the main factors contributing to this hope is the local train, for that is the place which acts as a great leveller, the place where a stock broker earning crores has no issues sitting besides even a cart puller and it is this transition from the echelons to the bottom of the pyramid that lights a hope in the
hearts of the beleaguered worker. Well its really hard for me to truly summarize the aura of Mumbai for it too big to fit into a few hundred words that I’m trying to scribble here. Mumbai is no less than a father figure with arms wide open to embrace all its children and which treats all of them equal and under one roof. I wish I could be Mumbai but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride them!My final attempt of putting Mumbai in words goes as “Some things in life are hard to replace but luckily some don’t need to be replaced”

Do we really have a choice?

A P J Abdul Kalam is drawing close to complete his first term as the President of India. Even before he realizes this fact there have been a lot of rumors doing the rounds so as to who should be the successor once this charismatic personality dethrones the post. Very few in the Govt. circles are envisaging the case for him being offered to continue for yet another term.Anyways who(read politick junta) would like a President ,who also dons the cap of being a rocket scientist and specially so when a few of the ruling ministers would find it difficult to even spell the word “scientist”correctly!It ha long been argued that the President is elected not by the masses but the classes(political).But what we fail to realize is that the President is the true representative of the people ,as we tend to look up to the President to address us during situations we deem as important to national causes. The glaring example of one such situation being the hanging of Mohd. Afzal where we expected the President to address the issue. Although there have been similar such issues in the past too but the President being only a constitutional post failed to make any impression until this prestigious post has been redefined by our erstwhile Mr. A P J Abdul Kalam.
Even Kalam’s reaction of “Fantastic” when asked for his response to the idea of Infosys’s founder as president speaks volumes regarding his persona. How many of the political leaders would have reacted in a similar way and especially so when they knew that they were one of the persons in contention for the post that is being talked about. As T N Seshan did the overhaul of the overshadowed EC and J M Lyngdoh carried the tradition further we can’t find a better person than the Infosys chief to replace the aura of the outgoing president. Also the person makes a good case for himself as he has been at the helm of the company affairs ever since he founded it. He’s managed people, resources, finances and what ever that comes to mind when we think about organizations and he’s done all this exceedingly well. This itself brushes aside the claim that a professional would find it difficult to deal with bureaucracy prevalent in the political system as this would be a new challenge for the poster boy of Indian IT to groom the existing people according to his own liking. And he is never been learnt to make any compromises and so do we hope although this spells trouble for the stubborn leaders who find it difficult to change but for money! And here is, N R Narayan Murthy who is the sole soul on the IT bandwagon industry pressing ahead with the need for these (IT) behemoths to pay taxes in India.
The phenomenal growth enjoyed by Infosys may not be replicated by him but he is sure to do a job much better than most of the other options that are being talked about. I would like to even go a step further and propose that we grant Mr.Murthy a full two terms from the onset so that the vision he aspires about India sees the light of the day, so that his long term goals actually walk from paper to the implementation side. The power corridors have long been tainted by the cobwebs of bureaucracy and struggle for power. We want Mr.Murthy to take on the onus and sweep away these discrepancies so that we have a clean system to look forward to. We want you, Mr.Murthy to speak for us for we are ready to lend our voices to you as long as you need them!

Provoked--Who's the culprit?

Success breeds success---there’s nothing like it, but what success surely does is it lits a hope that has the power to lighten the dark corridors of ignorance and defeat behind the closed doors where very few have dared to venture in. Here goes a story of a beleaguered wife,Kiranjit Singh Ahluwalia who has been suffering at the hands of her husband for 10 long years.She doesn’t command any respect whatsoever from her other half whereas he demands all the respect from her. Chasing white women, having lengthy drinking sessions and the last thing that can ever be done viz, raping your own wife in the midst of the house corridors are a few traits of her husband’s personality. She’s always on the mercy of her husband’s few dollars that he lends her (I use the word “lend” here to emphasize the kind of relationship the couple had) Finally her patience broke loose and she did what is never expected of an Indian wife, sets her alive husband on fire, rather accidently.
After going through the above stated condition of the woman, this eventuality would be justified for many of us, reading this. But Kiranjit Singh Ahluwalia is no name we need to be proud of and she certainly is not a name that can be done away with. As I say this, don’t get me wrong cos there are a few instances in the movie where she finds herself in a better position than most others (of the same kind) would have found themselves in. The point I’m trying to make here is, why depend on luck or circumstances when you can do yourself much good by knowing about your rights beforehand? Kiranjit Singh Ahluwalia, being of Indian origin she had the peer pressure to get herself married off and have a family ASAP. Point taken, we do have a social structure where the girls are not supposed to learn more, as she is completely seen as a house maker and not a bread earner. But what the parents have failed to realize all this while the need to inculcate the importance of knowing a women’s state of well being in a society. A wife is as important as a husband in a relationship, a girl is as important as a boy and a home maker is as important as a bread earner, if not more. The system fails to make us realize the fact that we need to respect women at par with any other man. A girl child is hardly allowed to pursue her dream career, on the contrary she is made a scapegoat for all the anger venting that does happen.
Overhualing of the system overnight can only bring our nightmares come true but a start needs to be made to bring things in order. I propose here a change that can be a lot of relief to a girl….do away with changing the surname of a girl when she gets married. This ensures that she has not undergone any identity change but a role change. This way she identifies herself as the same girl she always has been throughout her life. She doesn’t have to look up to her husband to provide a sense of security that he’s supposedly deemed to provide, for she has always been supporting herself in her pre marital life. It is for the women in the house to make their girl child understand her rights, so that not many incidents like the one mentioned above takes place. As Kiranjit Singh Ahluwalia rightly utters at the concluding part of her struggle “I’m not the complete picture, on the contrary I’m a small part of the bigger picture”
Well those who were reading this expecting a comment on the movie making would have been utterly disappointed after going through this. I’m no armchair expert to comment on the style of movie making as I hardly know anything about how important is a spot boy to the production unit, to comment on anything as big a movie would be like walking on a battlefield bare handed just hoping that I befriend a few on the other side of ma faction. What I really loved was the way the topic was handled and eventually shaped up to make a movie out of a real instance. This topic has always been close to me and I have just tried to bring forth the plight of a married woman.So, do we have a few serious questions to ask ourselves? Well you know it better!

The Burning Issue

There has been a lot of brouhaha about the monetary tightening measures that the RBI Governor is exercising to control the headline inflation rate.But looking into the nuances of this problem ,the deep rooted cause lies in another aspect of the economy which is equally important,i.e. growth. There have been fears raised over the growth of the Indian economy being limited to the urban side of the populace.The rural economy has largely been averse to this growth rate thanks to their non participation,as there have not been any concrete measures taken by the Govt. to include them in the upward spiral that the economy has been witnessing,the reason being does their inclusion has any significant impact on the economy?Sure it does.Let us look this problem of Inflation V/s Growth a little objectively.

If you go through the business dailies you will find that probably all the economists are of the view that the current phase of high inflation is largely driven by supply side constraints.And rightly so as the production of food grains have been stagnating for a couple of years in a row,let alone seeing any growth.The world wheat production is down for two straight years thanks to the drought conditions being witnessed in Australia,one of the major producers of wheat.India has done itself no good by ignoring the critical condition of water reserves in states like Punjab.India used to be self sufficient with the food grain requirement but the lack of care to include the rural economy has cost us dearly.The growth has hardly been inclusive as can be seen by the abysmal situation prevalent in the rural areas in terms of depleting water resources,higher costs of fertilizers,declining productivity of the agreable land,shortfall of credit available to farmers,lack of technology inclusion in the farming system et al.Although recently the Govt has increased the minimum procurement price being given to the farmers producing wheat by around 33% as compared to the last year but measures like these are a temporary soothing and also burden the tax payer’s purse.

The need therefore is for more reformist measures like microfinance model which ensures easy availability of money to the rural populace, the replication of the model employed by the Nobel Prize winner,Mohd. Yunus can be very beneficial as the model has ensured the successful implementation of microfinance lending viz easy availability of funds for all and very high percentage of timely repayment rate. India Inc has also been active on this front as the likes of Bharti and ITC have undertaken measures like contract farming which ensures that the rural farmer is assured of the buyer and also technology upheaval by these corporations enhances the productivity of the existing land.But due to the lack of clarity on policy front these companies have been skeptical in putting in a long term partnership with these farmers.The Govt needs to step in and assure that no policy changes is going to impact the long term viability of the partnership between these two sides.On the worsening water situation ,the FM has announced a huge revival package for the canals in the country.As the initiative has already been taken now it must be ensured that the measures see the light of the day within the stipulated time frame.It should be made amply clear that if we fail to include the rural structure in this growth phase,we are sure to pay a price for the same ,if not now then later.So now if we can see the eagle vying for its prey we better catch hold of the gun.

Ad – Mad World!

Here I would discuss a few advertisements that have been flashing on the celluloid recently.Well I’m no armchair expert but this is just a view from me as a consumer…may be I miss some key points which the advertisers have put in but then consumer is the boss and if he does not recall anything about the ad…you know who is to be blamed?

The advertisement of Abhishek Bacchan for the new LG Air Conditioner.
As portrayed in the the ad the two are shown to be more of a couple who are in a love presumably…and playing the blind eye game what does Abby do?He asks her what does she feel?and here goes her reply ….
“Kuch thandi,taazi hawaaein….”
Give me a break ….after all this exercise(read the game they are playing) the girl feels about the the air ….is Abby not good enough and for God’s sake if she really feels the air around is good what is “Tazzi” doing in all this?Let me remind her…Miss you are talking about the air and not the fruits.Lolz….

The advertisement of Dhoni for 7up
Here goes a breath of fresh air.I really liked this “Kisse sportstar nahi banana hai….mujhe kya pata …mujhe banana hai….not filmstar ….not superstar…I wanna be sportstar dude”…Lolz
The voice modulation that has been used for this teenager (assuming the kind of aspirations he has)is great,characterized by arrogance,intensity and enthusiasm.The theme of the ad carries a good message that it is often a case that whatever one chosses initially may not always be right….and the same set of skills may find good with something else.
Talking Brand wise …it is successful in its brand recall as the catch line goes “Milega Green signal…7up”as green is the color of 7up and the line being trendy enough not to stress unduly on our memory cells.

Well this was part one ….hope you will stay put for a few more ad-analysis that will be coming from me in the coming days.The advertisers watch out for this space…for may be you can get your act together atleast the next time around….Lolz!

Let there be Light!

"Its indeed very difficult to make people understand something, when their jobs depend upon them not understanding it"---the same can be said about cynics--- a breed of individuals,who for the sole motive of making themselves counted are ready to buy any preposterous argument.Well i would qoute a few examples which validate my viewpoint.But before writing anything further i would make it clear that this is not intended towards any specific person and its for you to decide where does the bracket end as far as you as an individual is concerned.

The Left Front have had an iconic brand value for this group...whenever the country is faced with any gloomy situation the leaders from this wrong side of the Govt.get out of their closed doors just to make matters even worse for the ruling Govt.at the centre.The person who has been at the receiving end of all the flak from these leaders has been our own FM.Reforms is the buzzword for the FM whereas the same word rings warning bells for the RED side(i just wonder whether the color red truly signifies danger just because the Left Front has its flag of the same color).Whether be it the falling Indian markets,opening up of the retail sector to FDI or for that matter any policy ...the Left wing has always been at loggerheads with the FM.Do they really understand all the nuances of the policies they keep opposing.Well to put a few Questions on their claims...they have been wary of the growing equity cult in the country among the retail investors but how many of you know that the same hypocrites have been the biggest investors in US-64 ...the first ever scheme floated by the now ailing UTI.

The recent Nandigram carnage puts a big question mark on their claim of harping about saving the interests of all the mom and pop stores by not allowing FDI in retail.The reason I say this comes from a startling fact of another deal(read Tata Motors in Singur) which states that Tata Motors has struck the best deal among all the auto majors all over the country which can be easily seen by going through the terms of the deal...If this would'nt have been the case why on earth do you think a company like Tata Motors would still be interested in pursuing with their idea of going through with the deal inspite of all that is happening in West Bengal.

Examples like these are aplenty which question the commitment that this breed claim to have towards the welfare of the polloi.But its high time, they should realise that it is very easy always being on the other side of the line and playing the "blame game" instead of being a part of the system and trying to make things better for the bourgeois.the whole discussion can be summed up the way i put it now: "The horse can at best limp its way towards the winning post ; when one off its leg just refuses to stand up and be counted"

An Initial hiccup--the early signs for Congress

Verdict 27/02/06: Congress concedes two more states to its oppsostion, the BJP...Well honestly speaking this was the writing on the wall much before the counting of the seats actually started in these two states.Analysing on a case to case basis, as for Punjab a leader (read Capt. Amarinder Singh) who appears to be arrogant, remains inaccessible to the state, favors people of his liking and many more. And for Uttarakhand, which is more of a strategic importance, bearing in mind that it serves as a sample space for the big boy UP, Congress could ill afford this defeat but lack of strong leadership in the former CM N D Tiwari did them the damage. Well one must be wondering is inaccessibility and leadership such big bargains that can even end up losing an election. It can’t be blamed on just these factors but a combination of other factors which includes the Congress policies. Lack of clarity regarding the road map towards the retail sector, which would have actually benefited Punjab, due to excessive intervention by 10, Janapath and everybody is ready to buy that argument (even if it seems out of context of the whole matter). Inability to control inflation as it fails to realize that this time around it is the supply side constraint that is the culprit. We have seen the output of wheat production from Punjab stagnating, in fact declining over the last few years and no concrete steps to address this problem. When Mr. Vajpayee makes an opening statement of the likes of “kab tak paani wali dal pi sakte ho”in a state like Punjab, which was not too long ago an agricultural hub of the country the intensity of the problem can very well be gauged. The ground water levels have been falling in the state and no stringent measures to compensate for this problem. An average GDP growth of 8.5% for the past 4 years is surely an achievement but the Congress needs to understand the fact that aam aadmi is more concerned with his grocery bill for the month. Power resting with different people and lack of complete control given to the FM on the economy front are also few reasons which sum up the entire scenario for the Congress. The Congress needs to take some substantive measures and choose between whether it wants to give total autonomy to the FM or take complete control in the party’s hands. The current scenario is neither helping the party’s cause nor doing the inflation thing any good. on the other hand the Left party has been of the poster boy of all the opposition directed towards the Congress. We have labeled the BJP as a non existent opposition but the left has taken the onus from them to be an ally from the opposition.Thus, the Congress in the power at the centre is probably an unhappy marriage, where both the partners are just clinging to each other until either of them finds a new spouse for himself/herself. Look out Mrs.Gandhi, BJP is gaining more than a few brownie points before the GE 2009.

Budget 07 by 007

Good Economics works well for everybody. Well I am ready to buy this from the FM.Although his 6th Budget left a many disappointed from whatever little I know about the economy I am mighty pleased. Well I would chart my arguments which bring me to this conclusion. So here they go…

1. DDT for corporate increased from 22.5% to 25% and for individuals from 12.5% to 25%.Well keeping the India Inc. case first they were expecting that DDT will be reduced to 20%.Well personally I don’t see any rational behind this because whatever dividend the companies distributes to its shareholders is subject to the surplus that the company is left with ,which in turn depends whether the growth can be sustained on the revenue front. In this case the companies before distributing the dividends will discount the tax amount, thus reducing the amount that is paid to the shareholder. In turn the excess generated through this would be spent on improving the social as well as physical infrastructure of the country, which in turn benefits the common man. And honestly speaking me being an investor myself I depend rather on the appreciation of the share value rather than the company distributing dividend. So do you see anyone losing here. On the contrary this is a Win All situation!

2. Additional 1% education cess.This will be generating excess of around Rs.5000 crore.Now its been a while that corporates have been crying foul regarding the talent crunch. Companies are ready to recruit even at a premium. So there is a clear need for the Govt. to improve the education structure and that is where this cess will be directed towards, improving secondary and higher education. That means now the Govt. will be in a position to allot more funds to IITs and IIMs to fund their expansion plans in order to compensate for the reservation directive. As the name itself suggests that it will be mandatory for the Govt. to spend it on anything else but education. India Inc. has been undertaking this Campus tie up programme with the colleges to train graduates. So if this were to be done by the Govt. itself then I needn’t say who is going to be benefited? Also the commitment of the FM towards the education sector can be substantiated by the fact that there has been an increased allocation of around Rs.600 crore for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan to Rs.10620 crore.

3.IT companies will have to pay MAT i.e. Minimum Alternate Tax of around 1.5% on their revenues. They complain that it is virtually the end of their tax holiday what with the STPI (Software Technology Parks of India)sunset clause set to expire in 2009.Well as has been rightly pointed out by the face of IT industry Mr. Narayan Murthy it just doesn’t makes any sense when bigger IT companies don’t pay taxes in India but pay taxes all over the world. The commitment of the Govt. towards this sector can be very well seen by the fact that e-governance allocation has been increased from around Rs.395 crore to Rs.719 crore.Also as the SEZ policy has not been touched what it means is that the IT companies if they decide to move to the SEZs won’t attract any tax as of now. We forget to remember that the Govt. just can’t afford to kill the hen that continues to lay golden eggs.

4. Bringing the ESOPs under the FBT is again a move which will ensure that Indian tax structure moves towards the global tax structure. India is the only country where ESOPs don’t attract FBT, although in countries like Australia, New Zealandand other European countries this has been a followed practice. However the corporates argues that they follow these ESOPs to help them retain employees for longer period of time. Well as of now it has been pretty clear looking at the attrition pattern that employees won’t stay with the company just to exercise this option. Also it has not been clear that whether the FBT will be the differential between the amount paid by the employee and the price on the date of grant of ESOPs or whether it will be taxable at the time of exercising the option. And the most important argument that validates this tax is the clause under which FBT was defined which inter alia means any privilege, service, facility or amenity directly or indirectly provided by an employer to his employees, any contribution of the employer to an approved superannuation fund for the employees. It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to understand that ESOPs surely falls under this ambit.

5. The differential duty structure for the cement companies is also a move in the right direction. As the cement prices have increased by an alarming 50% over the past year, this pose a huge threat to the infrastructure sector, where cement forms 13-20% input cost. Also by introducing a differential duty structure the FM has left this to the discretion of individual cement companies whether they intend to bear the additional burden on Rs.200 per tonne or they intend to pass this to the consumer, where in this case the prices of cement will rise by Rs.12/- per bag. And in case some of the companies decide to bear the burden, the other will be conceding an edge to these companies, which in turn may affect the sales.

Now a few landmark steps which the FM took, although they failed to catch the eye,

1. Formation of IIFC (India Infrastructure Firm) which will borrow money from RBI and lend it to the infrastructure companies. Also the money from the National Small Savings Fund which holds money raised through post office savings scheme will be available for infrastructure. What this means is no shortage of funds for the Infrastructure sector as the RBI currently has forex reserves to the tune of $190 bn.

2. Introduction of EBs (Exchange Bonds),which allow companies to raise capital by unlocking value in their strategic holdings in other companies. This means one can sell the shares in a company at a premium to the CMP (Current Market Price) and still has the right to vote against these issued shares unless they are not exercised by the buyer. This also provides an additional route to India Inc. to raise money, bearing in mind the kind of multi billion dollar deals that are being struck.

3. Deliver based short selling allowed for FIs which means they can take a call on both sides of the market which brings in more transparency to the system and also reduces the element of volatility in a falling market.

4.The reduction of CST by 1% means that we are moving towards this desired GST goal we set for ourselves by 2010.It reduces the overall tax for India Inc.and specially for the auto sector it means reduction in the logistics cost.

5.Most importantly ,exceeding the FRBM targets both on the fiscal deficit and the revenue deficit front as for the former reducing to 3.7% of GDP against an estimated 3.8% and the later to 2% against an estimated target of 2.2%.These are huge figures considering the size of the Indian economy and commitment to the fiscal and revenue targets propels the country to higher investment grade by the agencies all over the world.




Well for those who are worrying about the Stock market crash there are many reasons which I state here:

1. China’s markets were down by nearly 10% the day before owing to tightening of regulations for the companies listed on the bourses.

2. DJIA saw its worst fall of nearly 4% driven by weak investor sentiment and poor economic data of the US economy.

3. As for the irrationality of the Indian stock markets I would explain this with an example: Take Mahindra & Mahindra.From what was announced in the Budget it was positive for M&M as the rural focus will benefit M&M’s tractors and vehicle financing business. Its defense trucks unit will gain from higher defence outlay’s cut will reduce the logistics cost. So after going through all this its thumbs up for M&M.But what we see is the M&M scrip fell by almost 5% to close at that price.

I’m not of the view that the markets don’t go in sync with what the FM thinks is right but these are mainly knee jerk reactions as the markets were expecting some dole out packages from the FM and instead this year’s Budget turned out to be an non event instead of a curtain raiser. So I would end this segment with what the Nobel laureate Mohd. Yunus had to say “Faster growth is essential to faster reduction of poverty. There is no other trick to it”.

And as all the economic indicators suggest we are on the path to attain and even exceed the high growth of 9.2% for the coming year. After all good economics is always good politics.

Indian Squad leaves for the WC2007----is this news?

Well you must be wondering why on Earth I'm writing this piece of crap on my blog.Practically speaking as of now even our grandma must be knowing about it.But Honestly speaking this was the last I heard from the horse's mouth (read News channels;read its 1.30 a.m. and by now even Ekta Kapoor must been fed up hearing about this "K" word:(read Kricket).Well,Excessive coverage and inflating issues has been the norm for these media channels bearing in mind the kinda competition they are facing.Everyone wants a piece of this pie but no one is sure where to get it from.Remember the Lil Prince episode....well given what was at stake(i guess the Lil Prince=India's future was the mathematical formula the news channels were working on)I don't need to mention the media coverage it was getting! IIIly Today's honors went to the departure of the Indian squad for the World Cup.Well i don't see any logic in covering cricketers starting from their home towards the airport(i don't think midway they were upto some practice or strategy,or were they still playing while coming towards the airport)And to top it all we had News channels asking most irrelevant people about the chances of India winning the WC....I mean are these channels overtly consumer centric or is this some kinda long term startegy to impact the mind of a common man so that he goes Insane.Rahul Dravid made a very valid point during his stint as the editor of STOI that "only in case India wins the WC you (the TOI guys) can put it on the front page but only on the right hand bottom corner".And look what have they done!I just hope that I don't see the snaps of the Indian team
splashed on the front pages of the national dailies tomorrow.I sincerely request all of them spare a thought atleast for the sake of the man in charge of the Indian team.Let sanity prevail.

About Me...from Me!

Brace yourself…for u will be reading ME –II (for people who have read part I and for those who missed on it u really lost on an opportunity to read one of the greatest piece of literature)………….well I would like to give a disclaimer here………although ull find traces of plagiarism in this , for the fact that this part has been influenced by reading many “about me” segments……..so credit for all those who stole my idea before I could write it……….the underlying “ME” still remains the same …….however here ill try to break into the humor side of things...(after reading my last segment …….many wud have thought whether im planning to take abstinence from worldly pleasures)…… So here starts the journey….. Station1:childhood…….. ..........well I can only say the the hen simply wouldn’t stop from pouring all the golden eggs on me………I kept collecting them….but then suddenly one day the hen died …….i guess she was suffering from Bird Flue – I can claim to the WHO that I discovered the H5N1 virus before nebody else….. Station 2:the teen age….. .........somehow recovering from the grief of losing the hen…….stumbling I reached my Junior college just to find stuck on a dart board……..everything was coming towards me…..(I just hope the Harry Potter dreams don’t cum true always……cos I have seen even scarier than what Harry can ever think of handling)….poor HSC results ...more scary was first year where nothing was going rite for me….but ven i thought I was loosing this race …….as happens with all the Bollywood movies…suddenly the hero is gifted with a charm …..i landed up with one...although apart from getting myself a graduation degree...i could do myself no good... .........and if u think things were going bad for me …I helped their cause when I decided to take up MBA as a career option…(being more clear I just helped open the Pandora’s box)…well things have been bleak and gloomy since then…..but often someone splashes a torch in this dark tunnel…(No,its not the watchman who does it)….believe it or not …but its not how hard you can hit but how hard you get hit and keep going that matters the most….it seems that clichés cover up for your faults….yes they do that but therein lies the truth….well its time you buy yourself some popcorn cos this journey is going to last some more segments…..(note : I’m sure after reading this You will be only too keen to catch up with my Segment I…well you can avail of ur copies from all the leading Crossword stores in ur city)

My Poems!

Sorrow for me is the time of being a loner
A wait to have a look at my fortune turner

Though the world seems to condemn this feeling forever
It always is like a thorn that prevents the flower to be plucked whenever

The flower gets the fame the thorn only gets the blame
World still remains a place where the ugly is tamed

Sorrow is a time when a person tries to count his worth
Although the recurring memories of failures keep splashing forth

It is the time when the smile becomes the most precious gift
But a loner you are on the day as no one stays to give you a lift

The footprints of happy times evade from the thoughts
And the winds of change again bring a challenge to be fought

Credit to our new found B-Guru!

As this being the post rail budget day ...I can scarcely leave mentioning about the new kid on the block ....Mr.Lalu Prasad Yadav.The rail budget clearly drives home the point that this new found B-Guru can be evny for many of the CEOs for he is credited to have turned around IR.A cash surplus of around Rs.10000 crore after paying the dividend liabilities is only too good to ask for from IR when we know that in 2003-04...IR hardly had any surplus.

Now when the FM and the North Block are finding it difficult to come in terms with the rising inflation ....He has applied a soothing balm as the Rail Budget has left foodgrains and fertiliser freight untouched,a move that is expected to soften inflationary pressures.

The battle of LCCs Vs IR resumes with IR cutting the fares of AC I between 3% to 6%.

Highlights of the Rail Budget:
1. An operating ratio of 78% better than the US's only freight -loading train services.
2. Allocation of Rs.5,500 crore towards the depreciation reserve fund.
3. A 16% CAGR growth in the gross traffic receipts in 2006-07.
4.When the Govt. is trying to squueze out whatever money is available with OMCs...the Rail Budget saves @ Rs.75-80 crore for these OMCs because of the cut in freight rates .
5.Lower freight costs for Iron ore,limestone,cement and ammonia.
6.Introduction of triple stack containers,higher axle load trains and wagons with better load carrying capacties.

The flip side :
1.Although on the paper this looks as a good budget but reading the fine print shoes that this is more of a populist budget attempted to assuage the vote bank in view of the state elections.
2. An estimated 13% CAGR growth in gross traffic receipts as compared to 16% growth achieved this year appears to be conservative.
3.Looking at the expenditure that is in pipeline and the estimated lower tariff growth ,capacity addition seems to be the only respite for revenue generation ,which in turn will require more funds.
4.Security and Saefty have always been on the backburner with no clear raodmap defined for the funds allocated for this sector.

All and all this seems to be an attempt to carry on the good work whcih began in early 2005.Politics may be the last refuge of the scoundrels but if politicians decide they can turn around even a sick industry into cash cow.....kudos to this league of legends!