Oly god can save India.

                      If you are working in an office, be it a PSU or in the private sector, what are the chances that you will not get fired with immediate effect if you were responsible for getting no work done over one issue or the other?  You just go to work, rake up one petty controversy or the other; the main objective is to ensure that no work gets done. No debate, no sensible talking, just pure arguments for the sake of creating trouble only. Will anyone tolerate this attitude? What are the chances of ever finding a respectable employment opportunity? Next to zilch unless of course you decide to become a politician! You just need to show your ‘track record’ of disrupting work to the Opposition and it is sure to be so impressive, you are bound to get on board, with immediate effect!

That unfortunately is the current scenario. Leadership abilities no longer pertains to leading the country to a better future or team building to reach the common objective. No way! Today’s leadership is all about each on his/her own, damn the country and its people! Objective is to only score a political point, who cares about common objective. Really, the true leaders of India, like Gandhiji, Bhagat Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Vallabhai Patel and even iconic business leaders like JRD, Aditya Birla would be crying tears of pain in heaven.  What have we as a nation come to today?  Any television channel and all we hear is this constant drone of controversies, all together sounding like a hound of dogs barking, baying for blood. Who let these dogs out?

The objective of the Opposition, an able and right minded one, is to rightfully question the ruling party to ensure that the people do not get short changed. Their objective is to keep the Govt on its toes. But here, the toes are trampled upon and the biggest losers are indeed us, we the people. The Opposition is fighting for us but do we need it? Have they bothered to ask us if we want what they are proposing? The Opposition has issues, one after the other – it began with Chidambaram, Telangana, then price rise, then black money, corruption and now FDI in retail.  So where does this opposition end? Or rather when does the Opposition do some constructive opposition? Without a debate, can there be a solution? Merely causing a ruckus everyday and ensuring that the Parliament does not function at all does not solve anything. These politicians are available on all TV news channels, debating over the very same issues. So why not in the Parliament?

It is not as though the ruling Govt is pure as the sunshine. Far from it. The UPA is smeared with scams and taints which is unprecedented in the history of India. And work? They believe in sitting on issues, allowing it to either simmer and come to a boil, when they might react or else, just ignore it and allow it to fizzle out.  The Prime Minister is well known for being quiet, always. The entire UPA is today looked upon as a legion of policy ditherers.

We, the people of India deserve better governance and yes, a better opposition too. The very people for whom they are fighting for, allowing now work to happen, are the same people who are unfortunately paying for this loss of work. Opposition to everything and anything; no action of anything by the UPA; don’t we deserve better? The question which comes to mind when we see the adjournment day in and day out is – can’t we the people do anything about these politicians? Why is it that we don’t have the power to throw this bunch of people out, lock, stock and barrel! The UPA is a today a symbol of complete poor governance and the Opposition is only compounding things further.  We are the very same people who re-elected the UPA so it would be easy for many to say that we deserve what we are getting today? But did we have a better alternative? If the Opposition was more responsible, at least there was a choice. Today, between the devil and the deep sea, it would be better to just drown and die! Because that is precisely what UPA and the Opposition are doing – slowly killing India and Indians.

Liberalisation alone will not solve fiscal problems. World class shopping experience and more food subsidy for the poor in the Food Bill, all seem knee jerk and populist vote catching moves.

Food for thought:- If this is the way in which we continue, the rest of the world will soon recover and we might teeter on the brink of deep ravine. Or are we already in the ravine?

Courtesy:- Ruma Dubey

Innovation, China & Bribe.! Zapakkk.!

Innovation:-

               Rightly said by someone “If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.”

While long term India growth story remains intact, I believe there is still a lot that needs to be done. Take innovation for instance. India ranks a poor 62 as per the global innovation index brought out by an international agency. What is more worrying is that China is way ahead of India with a rank of 29. Thus, if India has to strive for moving onto a higher growth trajectory, it has to create an enabling environment that will help foster innovation. 

Source: Financial Express

China:- Yon Suk Wangadu.!

        China is really a capricious dragon. So much so that many a critics are at loggerheads about their views on the Chinese economy. There are the likes of Jim Rogers who is extremely optimistic on China and view the current slowdown as an intervening adjustment process that will correct in the medium term. Then there are the pessimists. I believe we should listen to both. Today, let's see what the doomsayers have to say. "Every province in China is Greece." Sounds shocking? Even more interesting is the fact that the person who has said this is a Chinese Professor of Finance at the University of Hong 

Kong.

According to him, China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is going in the reverse and the economy is in the midst of a serious economic crisis- almost on the edge of bankruptcy. It is very difficult to say whether what the professor is saying is indeed true or an exaggeration. But I totally agree with him when he says that the communist regime, through its excessive censorship, does not allow the truth to be known.

Bribe:- No work can be done without it.

                                           

          'Speed money' is a term that seems to make the act of offering bribes more respectable and facilitative. But if offering bribes would indeed make an organization or economy more efficient, the trait would be restricted only to the affluent. What that means is small organizations or individuals with limited monetary means can never hope to get their things done on time! But our policy makers and corporate heads ironically seem to find nothing wrong with this! Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu's suggestion on legalizing bribes has been supported by Godrej Industries chief Adi Godrej. In fact he even suggested an amount of Rs 5,000 to 10,000 to be fixed for such accelerated deliveries of services.

However, not all industry leaders are in concurrence with the view. Most believe that legalizing bribes, however small the amount, would only make the menace all-pervading. Also the sum of Rs 5,000 or 10,000 may be affordable or unaffordable to different classes of individuals. Hence legalizing it may subject some corporate or individuals to inordinate delays in case of nonpayment of the speed money. Whatever said and done, the very concept of paying extra to get things done on time seems flawed right.??

Food for thought: If your able to correlate Innovation, China & Bribe with respect to India, the point is straight away driven home. I will leave that to you. After all, i have a principle that “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too."!!

Oh la la la le ho...!

Oh la la la le ho, wo la la la le leee ooooooooh….!!! Swaha..!! So Vj Mallya is in news again.! But for wrong reasons this time. His Kingfisher Airlines a.k.a KFA is on verge of Bankruptcy. The share has hit life time low on Friday breakin sub Rs 18 level. Huge debts, high fuel costs (ATF) & banks deciding not to lend further to the cash starved KFA is gonna end KFA’s epoch in aviation.

One of my Friend "thala Mani" said me – Lalit, looks like Vijay Mallya has 'embezzled' his profits from KingFisher Airlines into IPL Royal Challengers, on Force One & Formula 1 racing, on UB booze, on luxurious yachts and aircraft, on flashy cars, on flamboyant villas both in India and abroad and on curvaceous girls from KingFisher's calendars.! Ha.  No doubt, KFA has the best of best Air Hostess.!  And the only thing I would regret abt if KFA closes down is tat.! Right da Thala..!

Debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines on Friday too continued to cut flights just as the country's travel season enters its peak period, catching hundreds of passengers off guard, pushing up spot airfares and putting the spotlight on the loss-making sector.

So why so much of hue and cry abt the aviation sector.

 

Here are some facts about India's aviation industry:

* The country has six major airlines -- Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, Indigo Airlines, GoAir and state-run Air India.

* With the exception of Indigo, all the airlines are loss making.

* The three full service carriers -- Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India -- have combined debt of more than USD 13 billion (around 65,000 Crores).

* India allows foreign investment in the country's carriers to the tune of 49% but foreign airlines are not allowed to invest in them.

* Kingfisher and Jet have not been successful in tapping foreign investors in recent years. Billionaire Wilbur Ross invested in and subsequently exited budget airline SpiceJet in 2010, making it the only Indian carrier to get major foreign investment recently.

* India's industry secretary said last month that the government was likely to approve a plan to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes in Indian carriers. Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi also said his ministry was considering such a plan.

* Most mergers in the sector have run into problems as witnessed by Kingfisher's acquisition of the country's first low cost carrier Air Deccan in 2008. The combined entity is yet to post a profit. Stupidity to continue a business, if your not able to earn for 6 yrs now.

* Air India has also not posted a profit since merging with former state-owned partner Indian Airlines in 2007 and relies on handouts from New Delhi to survive.

* Air India and Kingfisher have both undergone a debt restructuring process. Kingfisher cut its debt by issuing shares to 14 banks. But banks are wary of lending to large carriers.

* Indian states heavily tax sales of aviation turbine fuel, the key input for carriers, and ATF prices for domestic operations in India are higher than international benchmarks.

* Indian air traffic was growing at close to 19% in the first eight months of the year, according to government data. Analysts expect the pace of growth to continue.

The economic recession of 2008-09 and its repeat version now were also partly responsible for this. If money does not come into Mallya's kitty, it will become increasingly difficult for him to receive all his flying guests and keep them entertained. Perhaps, he may well have to say bottoms up and the party could be over.

Even Mallya did not expect in his wildest dreams that the valuation of Kingfisher Airlines will drop to just $245 million(around 1000 crores) which is even lower than what he paid to Captain G R Gopinath for Air Deccan and Jet Airways' Naresh Goyal for Subrato Roy's Air Sahara.

Mallya must have realised that airline business is not just high flying but also high funda economics. Good luck to him in 2012!

Fly the Good times Mr Mallya.

Courtesy: Inputs from ET

Miserable life to lead in.

I still remember reading this a month back or two, where Students from IIM-B went on to see how life is all about with “Just Rs 32 in pocket”. Surviving on single banana for breakfast, rice dish from roadside vendor for lunch, biscuits for tea time. Not a life that you would expect from  the future CEOs from the most prestigious B-school of the country to lead. But this is what some of the IIM-B students experienced for a day early that week - just to know what it is to be poor.

I don’t want to provide with too much of statistics but The Planning Commission told the Supreme Court that the below poverty line (BPL) population in the country is 40.74 crore (almost 40% of India right..??) and the poverty line for the urban and rural areas could be provisionally placed at Rs. 965 per capita per month (around Rs.32 per day) and Rs.781 per capita per month (around Rs.26 per day), respectively.

As part of their elective programme 'Inclusive Business Models', around 75 students were exposed to another world - that of people who live with just Rs 32 per day (the below poverty line cut-off).

The students, in groups of five, went to different slums in and around Bangalore, interacted with the slum-dwellers, trying to understand their lives and finally tried to come up with suitable business solutions that can help them. Interestingly, some of them even went on to experiment what it is to live with only Rs 32 to get a hands-on experience. 

"My strategy was to have two meals - Rs 10 each. But I wanted to make sure it was wholesome so I do not feel hungry. I could not get anything from campus for that much." So I ventured into the smaller lanes outside the campus. “I could get three akki rotis and two bananas within Rs 10. I know it's not possible for me to survive for a long time like this, but may be for a day or two. It was a life-time experience, it makes you realise the value of money," said a student.

 "Mine was an absolute failure. I found it was impossible to live with Rs 32. I did not touch my car, used the mobile only to receive calls, went out to market to get bananas, ate from roadside vendors, got low quality vegetables, yet it did not fit in," said another. 

While some gave up smoking for the day as cigarettes were expensive, there were others who gave up on luxuries like using a laptop. 

From understanding the aspirations of slum-dwellers to sending their children to English medium schools, students got a peek into the lives of the poor.

Food for thought:- Of course by god’s grace, I have been lucky enough to get two meals a day with other facilities . But how people live with Rs 32 a day is something I just wonder about every now and then. It has made me mindful about many a things. Want to live a day like this soon, so that I can do my bit in future. Probably u too should. Think over it…