Onion Tears

On Wednesday morning the price of aam aadmis vegetable - onion touched a year high of Rs 70 per kg.The Government of India in a franatic attempt to contain prices announced a slew of measures ranging from an indefinite ban on onion exports to an attempt to directly sell onions through public outlets.The result a somewhat cooling of onion price but the trend seems to be intact.In the past decades,onion prices have made many a governments bled to death.The most famous being the classical loss of BJP in 19998 to Congress when Onion prices broke through the rooftop and landed a victory to Congress on platter.No wonder ,rising onion prices is the worst nightmare for any political leader in power in India.

While rising onion prices may have drastic political consequences,a bigger question to be debated is the importance of onion as an agricultural commodity.Can onion be given the same importance that is to be given to essential commodities?A closer analysis reveal,onion has never been classified as an essential nutritional ingredient.So why should government put so efforts to control prices of a commodity which merely serves as a culinary pleasure rather than an essential healthy additive to food.Would people of India demand same protection from spiralling prices of turmerics,cinnamon or other pricey spices? Obviously not

A second important point to be considered in our story of onion tears is the role of speculation.Political leaders have often blamed traders and hoarders for rising commodity prices.However noting could be farther from truth.For one speculators can only intensify the price rise to some extent but not be solely responsible for it.Consider for example a commodity,say X.If a speculator hoards a commodity even if enough is available in the market,he will only lay trap for his own death because the excess supply would not make it possible for him to demand a price increase.In a country of 1 billion people its hard to imagine how anything other than demand supply situation can drive prices.

The best solution for the government to improve the price scenario is by taking steps to boost production.For one the government must concentrate on reducing cost of production by converting wasteful subsidies into useful soft loans and research funding.The government has long used steps like farm loan waivers,fertilizer subsidies etc as means to help farmers.However,something the government fails to realize is that subsidies are nothing more than white elephants.A recent UN report sights the wastefulness of these subsidies.An estimate puts the efficiency of such schemes at less than 20%(which translates to just 20% of money actually reaching farmers).The government can instead do away with such subsidies and instead focus on providing soft loans for implementation of newer technologies to boost production.A classical case in this respect is the free power distribution in Punjab.The state spends thousands of crores on power subsidies but the result is decreasing productivity and increased fiscal deficit of state.Free markets demand that government only acts as facilitator in business development.Its high time government starts recognizing agriculture as a business and focus on developing markets,finance and technology for it rather than subsidizing losses.

Perhaps the most important need of the hour is agricultural reforms.Contract farming is still illegal in many parts of the country.The government prefers to keep the farmers slaves of Minimum Support Price and arhtiyas (money lenders) rather than opening large scale window of opportunity for them.A second step needed to be taken is corporatisation of agriculture.Indian agriculture is in dire capital needs and the small Indian land holdings do not make entry of PE and FDI/FII players profitable in Indian agriculture.The plantation and cash crops have richly benefited from corporatisation..why leave others behind?Similarly the long standing battle over GM seeds need to be resolved to improve productivity.Some other areas where government can focus are improved use of IT and improvement of market infrastructure.More commodity exchanges need to be set up to provide farmers alternate ways to sell their produce.Currently most farmers are forced to sell their produce at local mandis at prices dictated by local arhtiyas .

Whatever the government chooses to do...one thing is clear...unless something is done...onion tears of government are not going to dry soon

Donating India Abroad

In 1975 a young man having tasted salt in the workshops of one of the biggest steel manufacturers of the world ,attended the advanced management programme at Harvard School Of Business,the mecca of management education .His stint at Harvard was to be soon followed by 26 years of painstaking work ,failed adventures and drowning companies until he tasted success after becoming chairman of one of the largest business conglomerates.The man was Ratan Tata,one of Indias most futuristic and prominent businessmen

In a spirit of philintrophy the TATA Trusts have decided to donate $50 million to Harvard School Of Business.A bit earlier another Indian Business Tycoon,Anand Mahindra had donated $10 mn to Harvard Humanities Department.The donations have been celebrated in the Indian media and sadly nobody seems to raise the obvious questions.Instead these multi million dollar donations are seem to announce the arrival of India in the big club.There was a time when India struggled to open premier institutes.Its best institutes like IIT's and IIM's were started with foreign donations and collaborations.50 years hence....the story seems to have reverted or is it?

The bigger question which seems to have missed everybody attention here is:Should a business house donate such extravagant sums abroad when more than 50% people in India do not even have access to primary education (Source:UNESCO).The 2010 budget estimated total expenditure on education sector at 4.1% of GDP.Yet we are ranked at lowly 82 in a pool of 150 counteries.India has just 2 universities in the world top 100 and just 3 in world top 500.The Government aims to spend more than Rs 1000 crore on development of new IIT's and IIM's to bridge the gap between quality technical education and industry requirements.So while India grapples for funds our biggest chose to donate abroad.

Before arguing on,let me first analyze the purpose of business in a free market society.Business in any society exists to create value,so that the added value flows back in form of profit and this profit can again be used for development of society.Seen in this light a bigger question that arises is :Should groups like TATA's and Mahindras be allowed to donate such big amounts when more than 80% of their profits come directly or indirectly from India.In essence,shouldnt this money be ploughed back in Indian economy?Further would these kinds of donations make entry of these business houses easier in the larger economies?Arent we acting like the proverbial slave who toils hard to work for the master for free.Here the masters are people in western countries and slaves ,Indians who toil hard to generate wealth only for their capitalist masters donating abroad for unknown reasons.

Perhaps,TATA's and Mahindra's feel with acquisition of companies like Tetley,Corus and Jaguar and land rover,it becomes their duty to act charitably for western economies.Perhaps then it means that these acquisitions are creating sustainable profit for their business groups or if not they are atleast paying back the high interest loans that were taken to fund these acquisiotns.,The answer ofcourse is an open secret.Any multimillion dollar donation would be justified had it been funded through profits in western counteries.Sadly this is not the case

From a finacial point of view,a 50 million dollar donation in a developing country has better utlization and reach than in a developing country.What do you think is better? Using 50 million dollars to educate a million poor people or using the same money to make 5 start buildings for educating CEO's of the world (the $50 mn donation at HSB would be used to make a new complex for executive MBA programmes).Isnt management education at top level supposed to be funded by corporates.An average executive programme at Ivey League Colleges costs close to 100,000 US dollars and would be attended by CEO's or top management who would soon go on creating new busts like Lehman and 2008 financial crisis.If purpose of any donation is to benefit the needy then it seems TATA group made its worst investment ever.

After deliberating all this it seems the only reasons such donations are being made is to make the name of the families immortal.Quickly after accepting the donation HSB announced it would be naming a new building at campus as TATA HALL and name of Humanities department be would be changed to incorporate Mahindra.Another luxury spending of the super rich ..is it?In yester year Kings were known to make grand masoulems and pyramids to make themselves immortal.Perhaps today the culture has changed..donate a few million to get yourself a page in history.Who would have remembered Alferd Sloan but for MIT Sloan or would have remembered Harvard but for Harvard University.If this is indeed the case,then I have no argument with Mr. TATA.Everybody has a right to spend his hard earned money.But then the tax slueths in Delhi ..do collect your Luxury Tax recievable from Bombay House

Corruption Without Games

As I write this article,the CBI and IT sleuths are busy raiding houses ,offices and other premises of various parties involved in the recently concluded 2010 Common Wealth Games.While there is no denying the fact that India messed up the games badly and the entire exercise of hosting games benefited nobody except the money laundering politicians and their accomplices.However the need of the hour is to deliberate and find out a way to avoid this embarassment in future.

The CWG games were hosted by India with the twin aim of developing sports and other infrastructure in Delhi as well as inform the world of arrival of New Delhi in the global economic world.The work and expenses of hosting CWG was jointly done and financed by the GoI and Delhi Government.In a typical example of 20th century socialist movement.DDA,GoI and CWG society took upon themselves the $8 billion project of creating and marketing the necessary infrastructure and games.

The result was disastrous with corruption allegations appearing from a motely $100 contract of leasing out taxies to multi million dollar scams surfacing in construction of games village.As I write this artcle the IT authorities just raided EMAR MGF (a global real estate firm) and accused them of being involved in a $200 mn scam with Delhi goverment

Corruption and government have been synonymous from time immemorial.The faliure of the USSR and fall of communist block are testament to success of the free markets and Adam Smith's Invisible hand theory. In India Public Private Partnership (PPP) and privatization has reaped huge benefits.

Contratst the development of Indira Gandhi International Airport with CWG.Thw former a PPP project was completed 6 months before schedule and represents a world class airport which can soon be London,Dubai or New Yorks envy.Built in a record time of about 3 years,the T3 is an engineering marvel and hopes to break even by 2012.

Is it possible that Indian Sports taste the fruits of privatization and PPP?.Can we repeat IGA exeriment with Indian stadiums?The answer is an emphatic yes

Before we go further let us first consider various activities needed to be carried out to promote Indian sports and events like CWG

1)Infrastructure Development including stadiums and sports villages

2)Sportsmen and other HR development activities

3)Development of support infrastructure like roads,cities etc

Let us now analyze each of the above individually and see the possibility of opening up the sports markets and making it more efficient and progressive

The biggest problem holding back India from making it big in world sports is the lack of proper infrastructure.Hockey the national sport of India has died out because of lack of astroturf stadiums.We have only 15 astrosturf stadiums compared to 200 of Holland.Till date the onus of development and mantainance of sports stadiums,grounds has been on government.Government intervention often brings with its customries like corruption,sub standard designs and poor mantainace.A better alternative to this might be opening up private sectors for development of stadiums and indoor sports complexes.Places reserved for such infrastructure objects can be auctioned at lower prices.The stadium so developed can then be used by private players to earn money.In order to make the business model sustainable ,government can allow such stadiums to be leased out to sports league ,corporate functions,marriages etc for a fees determinned by the private players.Also the stadiums can offer integrated services like gymnasium,sports coaching for fees.The advertisment and marketing carried out by private players would promote the culture of sports.Soon we might have playing games as a status symbol or a way of life.As the business model develops business players will start scouting for the bottom of pyramid.In a parllel way we would becoome a sports hungry nation and start seeing beyond cricket.Soon local sports leagues would develop providing a sustainable business model for sports to flourish.As the user size increases more and more companies would enter the Indian sports equipment industry.The huge indian population size would mean economies of scale and cheapest sports equipment.

The oppurtunities for private sector are huge.Events like CWG can be bid by private companies on behalf of government,The GoI's role should be limited to providing outside support in form of development of city infrastructure and security,Also the GoI should choose to act as a mediator and negotiator with various businesses to ensure success of these events.For examle the GoI could have acted as a mediator between Delhi International Airport Ltd and company conducting CWG games to ensure timely development of infrastructure.However the government should avoid being directly involved in any infrastructure development as it would just lead to inefficiencies and filling coffers of Swiss Banks.At best GoI can provide indirect funding by underwriting sports bonds issued by such companies to facilitate and lower costs.Also red tap-ism should be decreased and companies should be allowed to buy/sell stadiums like any other business asset.These stadiums could be listed on stock exchanges too .This would promote better corporate governance and lowering costs.

The above suggestions might seem radical.However ,the success of IPL and other profit sorting events like WWF proves that sports is a very profitable business venture.The biggest football clubs in world are private ventures being bought and sold like companies.The governments role should always be that of a facilitator.It should be an enabling factor for entry of young and dynamic enterpreunral minds to enter in Indian sports industry.However if all this is not done CWG 2010 may soon be followed by a corrupt 2020 olympics

MEN's Rules

For the first time on political Sinner plagarism is taking place :)..a really nice video picked up frm FB :)

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=1268119589818&ref=mf

Abandoning Police Servces

Ever been fined for over speeding while your son was just about to miss his board exam while the ministers boy sped on the main road mistaking it for an A320 runway?Ever read the morning headline about a girl who just got raped last night could not even register a FIR in local police station?Ever read about the Gujarat riots and the role of local police in instigating communal violence? Ever had the odd police officer demanding a 500 ruppee note for verifying your credentials so you could get a passport?

The Indian Police ,an inheritance of Imperial Police of the erstwhile British Empire has become nothing more than licensed Mafia Raj.In fact if we consider the figures it would be the largest mafia force in the world.Its atrocities and activities would even make the Italian and Californian gangs look like peace forces.As per nationmaster India had 236,313 assaults last year making it the 5th most dangerous country to live in (even more dangerous than war torn Palestine).At the same time it had the largest police force in the 30 countries surveyed.India boasts of 1.7 m registered crimes ,making it 10th country in world affected by crimes (think what would have bent he situation had we included non registered crimes).So despite having one of the largest police forces in the world,we are still one of the most crime affected country.Add to this the fact that we are here despite having a relatively stable political and economic system.Compare this with a country like Switzerland which has no federal police structure and yet has much lower crime rates.

True,India is a different country with its own unique problems and comparing India and Switzerland is like comparing apples and oranges.Yet,the stats and data point out to such disparity that one is forced to question:Do we really need a police service?

The police force is supposed to assist a nation state in enforcing law and order,while at the same time ensuring basic tenets of democracy:equality and freedom are delivered to all citizens.Clearly the Indian Police has failed on all counts.The law and order situation is beyond the control of local police.We have to be dependent on the Army to control even the minor disturbances by the Maoists.The police is nothing more than a puppet in control of the "netas" at the centre when it comes to Godhras and Sikh Riots of he day.The crime rate in India is one of the highest in world and when any crime takes place ,the common man is rarely convinced that going to the police could be of any help.As per an estimate the Indian Police refuses to register more than 70% crime cases either to protect the powerful or to keep official crime rates low.Regular abuse of laws ranging from traffic to crime by rich and powerful is a rule rather than exception.Ex DGP Rathore ,Shibu Soren and Manu Sharma are just particles of dust covering the book of law abuses in India.

It seems quite logical then that since the Indian Police has failed on all counts,we can start replacing the Police by other alternatives.The advantages are two fold.One the state expends a huge amount of money on the police services.This money can then be diverted to other development schemes.Secondly,selective removal of police services would lead to lower crime rates and strengthening of the Indian state.So whats the alternative to a federal police.Here's what I feel can be a good alternative:

• LAW AND ORDER :Strengthen CRPF.The CRPF should be given the wholesome responsibility of maintaining law and order and crushing any uprising.The CRPF battalions should be stationed at key locations and be capable of being transported to affected areas within half an hour.Advanced training and proper air and land support be provided them.
• CRIME :At district level,the local communities can choose to outsource the police functions either to government or private security companies.Most of traffic policing can be automated with use of advanced technologies.Infact the ticket collection money would ensure negative bids for traffic policing project.
• FAST TRACK COURTS:A government maintained Police HQ be established in district.The HQ would act as a fast track court against private police agencies.
• MONITORING :A police monitoring agency be established to track performance of private police forces appointed by local communities.In case of any deviation this agency can over ride the local agencies
• The private agencies be allowed to charge for providing security and theft prevention services.Also multiple policing agencies be present in same city/district to allow free market competition.The agencies be given limited power to arrest people and required to get approval of local courts within 24 hours of arrest.
• The privatization be started in test phase and gradually be extended to whole of country.

The above might look outlandish and stupid to our mind which has long been trained to accept policing as a state function.However in Indian context ,the wider truth is that our feudalistic mindset makes misuse of power ,a rule rather than an exception.In this sense free market completion and Adam Smith can only help us in restoring civility in our society.The ordinary citizen has no hope from police.We are at rock bottom and privatizing in this revolutionary way can only make things better......

How an A grader kills his company

This summer while interning with a leading FMCG company globally,I was working on a project that required development of some new machines in house.As my internship drew to an end,the mantainace engineer who had tried unsuccessfylly designing a new machine asked me if I could approve his project ,as he was having his mid term review soon.His reasoning was simple and crisp.We both stood to benefit from commissiong and both wont be there long to see what happened afterwards.
The incident aptly sums the driving force behind the 2008 financial crisis,the BP spill and the unmatched risk taking across big companies globally.The short term manager retention is one common factor affecting companies globally from petrochemicals to investment giants.The average retention for mid level managers has dropped from 8 years in mid 1970's to just two years in the investment banking domain.The stats might be a notch better for other industeries but still grave enough to pose a new corporate challenge alltogether.
How smaller retention periods at mid managment level affect company performance and risk taking is quite easy to understand.Most of the companies,specially ones having a high performance culture put a large amount of focus on short term performance.Moreover,in a quest to make reviews more quantitative and increased importance of these quantitative performance matrices in determing mouth watering annual bonuses,managers are found to be fighting a constant race against time,in order to achieve high standards demanded by the company.The problem becomes even more acute at top managment level,with most CEO's under pressure to deliever spikes in short term performance to financial markets.Apple for instance tried to delay recall of its newly launched Iphone 4 not because it could prove to be a loss taking proposition but because of the impact of recall on Apples stock would have been disastorous.
The above is infact strengthened by a close analysis of the recent financial cycles,all of which seem to be shortening.The Oct 2008 financial crisis was quickly overtaken by a bull run the very next year.Only one year among the bulls and bears are already threatning us with the soverign crisis in Europe,the spill by BP and political fallouts across the globe.Compare this with average 6-8 years of economic cycle in the past 200 years.Clearly our increasing focus of short term managment performance is affecting our macroeconimics.
The crisis is infact limited not only to corporates but also extends to governments across the globe.The EU in order to keep its citizens happy in short run chose to forgo the harsh measures relating to foregoing of social security etc.While this helped to keep its citizens happy and better than other souls across the world,it now stands at doors of a soverign crisis and threatens to affect the whole global economy in a major way.Similarly China in a quest to mantain its high growth rates,is still not ready to make its currency free float.What looms in background of this short term gain is everybodys guess-political instability,economic downturn and regional fallouts.It seems governments today are more concerned about making their citizens happy rather than making a long term assesment and planning for the economy.In India for instance the 5 year plans have been reduced to mere draft documents.
Its clear that short term performances are far weighing long terms one and the implications for the same is going to be disastorous.Its about time we start giving proper weightage to long term measurment.Many investment banks have started introducing the concept of long term bonuses and deffered share allotments.However we need to move beyond that.We can begin by making changes at the top.The CEO's should be selected for a minimum of 10 years duration (average age of an economic cycle) and share allocations be defered for 5 years atleast.At the mid level manager level we should move away from short term performance evaluation method.Senior managment should evaluate the project in terms of its long term feasability .Also promotions should be deferred and compromise needs to be made between a spiky short term performance and a long term survuval strategy.A significant step in this step could be a long term strategy audit on lines with compulsary saftey and accounting audits done today.This would act as an internal watchdog and help in correcting any deviations
At end of the second World War both Japan and USSR were in shambles.While the visionary leadership in Japan helped in founding one of the largest econmies from the least of resources,a short term focussed policy framework in USSR eventually created a large political economic and social faliure.Today we stand at similar avenues...whether we decide to become Japan or USSR depends on us.

Talaq talaq talaq....

The Union Cabinet recently decided to make "irretrievable breakdown of marriage another ground for divorce".This added to the existing three legal grounds of divorce viz mutual consent,partner fault and insanity would make India at par with all modern democracies in world.However the recent decleration has sparked off a debate between the conservist and modern social thinkers.Many people fear the so called moving away from Nehruvian culture might lead to hampering of social and economic development as India is not yet ready to live the western way.
The arguments espoused above might have some merit .Lets first see how marriage has evolved over the time and its current social significance.Marriage can be defined as a social contract between two individuals (usually of different sexes) to live together for entire life and take care for each other emotionally,physically and financially.The idea of marriage started with womens need for security and genetic encoding in humans which encouraged women to choose a suitor who could provide the best conditions for fostering of an offspring for her life.Over time the emotional aspect added to the concept of marriage.
However with changing times,the fastening pace of daily life and rise of fairer sex in economic sphere ,the usefulness of marriage as an institution seems limited.Currently we live in a time of fads with the liking of people changing every instant.We are no longer a moronic static society ,but rather a dynamic pulsating ones whopse need for technology,food and work is always changing.Its no wonder that in such a system an individuals liking for a partner is bound to change and therfore being "bound for life" seems to make little sense to many of younger generation.This is clearly exemplified by the gradual rise in average age of marriage,the no. of diveorces and decrease in percentage of marriages across the world .
While the above might seem pleasing to many ,the institution of marriage has its own significance and cannot be done away with.In particular marriage is the binding force which provides stability to a family and this leads to development of better offspring and general growth of the country.The US which has been quite liberal with its divorce laws is grappling with problem of failed marriages.According to a survey about 70% of US criminals had single parents.With ever increase in divorce rates ,many western counteries are drappling with problems of fallling birth rates,rise in crime due to lack of proper breeding by single parents and general decrease in economic growth rates.
From the above we can conclude that while reforms in divorce laws are necessary and need of the hour but at the same time any extreme measures would have a long time negative impact on the economic,social and demographic stability of the country.A right step in the above would be to liberalise the divorce laws for couples withou kids but those with children should be subjected to more stringent rules.The couples could be asked by court to reconsider their decision and live together for a particular time frame before finally deciding to seperate out.Another alternate might be state taking possesion of single kids and raising them in seperate facilities with their parents paying a compensation.The Soviet Union experimented with sate taking responsibility of children and produced some brilliant scientists sportspersons etc
Whatever may be the routhe one point is clear..change is in the air :)
Happy Blogging

IIT Kharagpur IPO

This Summer IIT Kharagpur,the oldest and largest among all IIT's opened India's first Technology and Entrepreneurship school to promote technology ventures by the technology and business students on campus.With this IIT Kharagpur is close on heels to becoming the next MIT after successfully diversifying into Management (Vinod Gupta School Of Management) and Law (Rajiv Gandhi School Of Intellectual Proprietary Law).All IIT Kharagpur programmes are now top ranked in their respective domain,and with an excellent blend of world class faculty,students and renowned alumni,Kgp sees itself not far from Harvard's, Yale's and MIT's of the day.

Despite all the above ,and producing some of the most noteworthy global alumni in its relatively short span of existence ,what keeps IIT Kgp and other top class Indian universities from becoming truly world class is the lack of funding and adequate infrastructure.Figure this IIT kharagpur has a n annual budget of approximately Rs 100 crores ($20 million) which is nothing when compared to Harvard's $27 billion endowment fund (after it lost about 20% value in 2008 stock market crash).So far IIT's and IIM's have been successful in producing some of the best managers researchers and enterprenuers merely due to the fact that they provided a congenial learning environment to the best minds of the Indian sub continent.

However in order to move to a new era of higher education that not only produces best minds for industry but also cutting edge research,noble prize winners and solves plethora of industrial consultancy requirements we need a massive amount of funding in public higher education system in India.With Kapil Sibal and Co deciding to opt out of any more investments ,the onus is now on IIT's and IIM's to raise their own finances.

IIMs started this some year ago by raising their fees and trying to make it at par with global B schools.IIM Ahmedabad,for long crowned a the mecca of managment education in India would be charging more than Rs 13 lakhs this year.On PPP basis this would translate almost equivalent to Harvard's $100,000 fee for its flagship 2 year MBA programme.The Ministry Of Higher Education states that IIT's and other IIM's follow suit.However the problem with this approach ,although looking soothingly delicious is that like US it would make higher education a baston of few elites and outside the hands of worthy.The very purpose of social and economic equality that IITs were supposed to achieve would be lost.

An alternate way of raising finances for the infrastructure development would be by following suit of what many public and private sector companies have been doing for long.Yes ,the idea is to tap the untamed power of capital and bond markets which have financed the biggest and wildest projects mankind has ever dreamt of.Its time that institutes of higher learning break their bond with no profitability while at the same time creating social value .

IITs can grow on robust and sustainable business models which dont only create shareholder value but remain profitable propositions in the growth of the nation.Its apt time to replace IIT Kharagpur's "Dedicated to the service of the nation" to "Dedicated to the service of nation,shareholders and academics".

To prove my point let me key some key business propositions that these institutes can ta into to create shareholder value after being listed on key brouses across the world

PATENT LICENSING :While IITs and IIMs today undoubtedly produce the best graduates in the world .However its time that they start concentrating more on research and stop being factories producing exotic minds for the corporate world.The vast money raised through IPO's can be used for promoting research facilities.The patents so produced can be licensed to industry.Think the synergy IIT's and industry can derive by working together .

CONSULTANCY SERVICES:Many IIT and IIM professors already extend high value consulting assignments to industry.IITs should form a separate consultancy company that competes with likes of Mc Kinsey and Bain and Co to tap into the billion dollar consultancy business.How many present companies can compete against the combined might of IIT /IIM infrastructure and intellectual capital

ON CAMPUS BUSINESSES : IIT's and IIM campuses boast of large tracts of unused land in many key parts of top class Indian cities.for eg IIT Mumbai has total land use area less than 60%(700 acres total area) in key commercial hub of Hiranandani in Mumbai.Why cant IITs lease out vacant land to develop business joints that benefits students while generating revenue like shopping malls,restaurants and other commercial ventures.

VENTURE CAPITALISM:Many IIT/IIM student start ventures while being freshmen in college.Many IITs have their own entrepreneurship cells that identify outstanding projects and arrange funding from industry or GOI .Besides incubating facilities like office space,mentorship,telephone etc is provided free of cost.Why cant IIT fund these startups and then like an astute trader exit at a later date.Most of the Silicon Valley is credited to have been created by freshmen from Stanford .

MANAGEMENT SEATS:While the very brings frowns on face of many,theres nothing wrong in putting aside a few coveted IIT seats for the rich and famous.How Narayanmurthy would have liked his son to graduate from IIT Bombay and what price would he have paid for the seat?Its a captive source of revenue that could be used for subsidising education of lesser mortals

Finally its time IITs start attracting foreign students on campus.Indians studying abroad are a major source of revenue for UK and US governments .Whats hindering IIT/IIM's from doing that.

Undoubtedly a listing on public brouses would bring three fold brnefits of much needed funding,superior management and a futuristic vision.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Its time to move into a new orbit altogether

Happy Blogging

33 and Beyond

"We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves... Political power cannot be a panacea for the ills of the Depressed Classes. Their salvation lies in their social elevation. They must cleanse their evil habits. They must improve their bad ways of living.... They must be educated.... There is a great necessity to disturb their pathetic contentment and to instill into them that divine discontent which is the spring of all elevation"

The above was said by BR Ambedkar while advocating the introduction of special quotas for the socially challenged people of the country.More than 60 years after the introduction of his social reforms India lurks in the same old social divide with the differences becoming more acute.The Reservations over the time have gifted India SP's and BSP's of the day,leaders like Mulayam's and Mayawati's and a caste divide which makes the rise of Socially challenged people more difficult than ever before.It is in this backdrop that the RAJYA SABHA (the upper house of Indian Parliament) passed what is termed as the "HISTORIC" womens reservation bill.The Bill envisages to promote gender equality in the country by reserving 33% seats for women in the Indian Parliament.

Before I move on to discuss the implications of this controversial piece of legislation let me pen down some of the most important points enlisted in the Bill

• Reservation for women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local legislatures.
• If the Bill is passed, one-third of the total available seats would be reserved for women in national, state, or local governments.
• In continuation of the existing provisions already mandating reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, one-third of such SC and ST candidates must be women

An important point not mentioned above is that the reservation of seats would be done on rotational basis,implying each seat would be made reserved once in 3 years.Keeping the above points let me enlist my views on the ablove piece of legislation.

Reservation in any form has been a failure around the world.US introduced it for blacks ,yet blacks remain at the bottom of social progress in American society.Canada has introduced many pieces of legislation to empower women in politics but yet ranks a lowly 50th there.Contrast this with the progress Jews have made around the world after the Second world War.A devasted race after facing the brunt of Hitler,Jews today have become the most advanced social group in the world.Estimates range from Jews controlling 2/3 of corporate America to over 50% of fortune 500 companies. Some people estimate that Jews are the most influential group in American Congress.This all has been achieved without any social or economic reservations by any country but rather by the groundwork done by various philanthropist governments and organisations around the world.In this respect it is important to mention that besides proving ineffective reservation is counter effective for other social groups n the society.This results in overall decline in the standard of living and progress rates of the country.

Another point to be looked with great interest is some structural defects in women reservation bill.For one we all know the implementation of rotational policy will inhibit the development of grass root leaders around the country.Also another important fact is that the Congress government wants to implement the bill without adequate groundwork.for one there is inadequate knowledge about the bill in the poorest and most challenged members of society.Facing a great supply demand shortage of talented women politicians ,we might constitute 1/3 (though i have doubts even about the remaining 2/3) of the parliament consisting of pseudo Rabri Devi's acting as rubber stamp for the Lalu Parsad yadav's of the day.if this is what you call women empowerment then I pity all the women of the country.A recent issue of a leading national journal estimated that about 60% of the women elected through 33% reservation already prevalent at the Panchayati Raj system are nothing more than rubber stamps for their husbands.Further with low level of education penetration among the fairer sex it would be interesting to view ,if increased representation of women in the country would help in accelerating the social progress of the country in general and women in particular.Infact historically women have been known for the misuse of power right from Cleopatra of Egypt to Indira Gandhi of India.

Keeping in mind the general faults of reservations in particular of the Bill in particular, the positive implications for society as a whole seem questionable.A better and more effective way towards women empowerment is to work on the grass root levels with NGO's and panchayats to solve the problems from the roots.A huge amount of money and human resources need to be spent on woman education,stopping problems like female foeticide, spreading awareness among general public.Besides the parties advocating the so called "historic" Bill should introspect and redefine their ticket allotment system so that women have at least a fair chance to move up the political ladder.Without such support by political parties even 33% reservation would be ineffective and would introduce nothing more than rubber stamps in parliament,leading to creation of distance power centers and ineffective administration.Thus if we are really interested in making our women leaders of modern India ,instead of passing stupid bills in parliament its time we introspect and start working at grass root level

Happy Blogging

7 Reasons why girls are better politicians

Women seems to be ruling the roost in world politics.The last baston of male dominance seems to be going away and women are all set to dominate the world.So in this world of democracy ..we set to find out,why women are better politicians than males.And heres the list of top 7 reasons.

So just for fun here is it all :

1)Open Ended Answers:A politicain never gives a definite answer..remeber how the party rounded off the guilt of the corrupt politicain...a girl doesnt even know how to answer straight...remember how you had to work with your crytographer friend to decode her no :P

2)Horse Trading:Politics is a game of dynamism..you need to switch sides and swith them really fast.The girl you loved who eloped with your friend when he became a multi millionire..can you beat them at the game

3)Preceptions:Politics is a game of preceptions.Its your preception and not your work that wins you elections.Oh yes the whole world thinks your wife manages the house while its your poor soul that cooks the meal and then sleeps on d couch every night :)

4)Emotions:Playing on the emotions is a politicains favourite play.Remeber how Modi won gujrat and how your gf gets you to do all she wants...u need more explanations

5)Atitude:Politics is a game of right atitudes...of being snooty yet open ..of being devil yet playing angel...the girl next door..makes you feel like a beggar while the case should be the reverse :P

6)Time Managment:Its been 8 years and the babus at south block have still not decided between Boeing and Airbus....it took her 3 days ..20 traffic jams and 25 km of local market walk to buy that pair of jeans

And this is the best

7)Power:The social servant changed the party for the position of CM....if your gf doesnt control you..she'll change you :)

DISCLAIMER:All views expressed are just for fun and may or may not represent the personal views of the author and contributors :P

Reengineering Indian Democracy

Consider these :

• China a communist country is all set to take over Japan as the world's second largest economy in the world
• Cuba under Fiedel Castro has one of the most efficient public distribution, healthcare and civil support system
• Venezuela under Hugo Chavez is one of the fastest developing countries in the world which has paralleled its commercial success with corresponding improvements in infrastructure

Now let us contrast all this with the world's largest democracy better known as India.More than 60 years after independence we continue to reel under thaws of poverty,inequality and corruption..the very things we wanted to escape after independence.The Indian Police is nothing more than licensed "mafia" force which has used its capability and resources to meet selfish needs of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and other high profile citizens.The recent Ruchika Gehrotra Case where a high ranking police official used all his power to delay justice for more than 19 years is just an example of the above.

Whats more ,though our patriotism drives us to be excited over the fantastic growth rates we have achieved in the past two decades,the reality is some real growth indicators like poverty eradication rate and quality governance index have actually shown a negative or flat trend in the same time period.Whats more their is an increasing problem of trickling down the effects of growth to the masses of the country.

So though despite some splendid achievements during the past 60 years,some of the most important functions of a state ,relating to equality,reduced income gaps,protection etc seem to have gone for a ride in the Indian state.A question certainly arises whether the so called liberties of democracy have played a reverse effect in the country.As a proof of the fact;during the emergency period under Indira Gandhi rule,India was actually successful in tremendously increasing its growth rates and move back the economy on track. Therefore would it have been better to have a dictatorship or communist form of government....certainly not but what is required is to re engineer Indian Democracy to meet the current needs of the state.Time has come that we move on to becoming pragmatic rather than continue living in the idealist mindset on which the Indian Constitution is based. Therefore I think the following aspects of Indian democracy ,needs to be re engineered as soon as possible ,so that the Indian state .. doesn't become a failed state soon

• Abolish UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE:While it would be impossible to argue on idealistic grounds.as to why we should not have UNIVERSAL FRANCHISE,a pragmatic sense and evaluation of the Indian sense would certainly convince us that we need to do away with UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE.A rough estimate puts only 20% of Indian population to have attended complete primary schooling.One of the objectives of schooling is to develop rational political thinking to make the person a responsible citizen by providing him basic knowledge in history,civics and purposes of existence of government and states. Therefore we can conclude that a high school graduate is in a much better position to vote and select a government.However the irony of the matter in the Indian context is that an illiterate slum dweller who would easily sell his vote for a bottle of locally made booze has same vote value as that of a professor in political science.I am certainly not suggesting complete abolishment of UAF (Universal Adult Franchise),but we can certainly create a weighed voting system,which puts more value to votes of educated citizens .Some of us might argue this is against the basic tenets of equality,however the question over here is not equality but the exercise of a precious right which is important for the future survival of the Indian State.
• Recalculate Vote Values:The latest reorganisation of constituencies has made politics more of a strategic game than a duty of a statesman.Politically shrewed reorganisation has resulted in decreased vote value of many citizens.by vote value I mean ,the no. of citizens who get to elect an MP.So while strategically important states like UP,witnessed the vote value of their citizens going up,the less important states have faced a continuous decrease in their vote value.We urgently need to reorganise our constituencies so that each one has same vote value
• Presidential two party system:Over the past two decades,the Indian Federal Elections (Lok Sabha) have been reduced to game of local politics.The fact that a pool of MP's from different state have the power to form government,has resulted in converting elections being converted to a stage for wetting out local issues.An implementation of a Presidential two party system,where the de facto head of the state is determined by total vote count ,with a minimal of 40% of eligible vote would help in tackling the issue.moreover this would help in solving the use of cheap tactics like horse trading across the continuum .Moreover under the present system of announcing the coalation partners and PM after the elections is nothing more than organised dynamic dictatorship
• Implement Strict Political Parties Code:There is an urgent need to amend the constitution and introduce a Political Parties Code.The Code should ensure that representatives of the parties and its dignitaries at various levels are elected by democratic elections.Moreover the important party positions should not be held more than twice in a row.This would help in reducing the "family politics" prevailing in the country
• Increased independence of head of state:Like the US President ,the PM once elected should be made more independent of the Parliament.The PM should be allowed to introduce bills and acts of everyday nature,without approval of parliament.Attendance to Parliamentary sessions should be made compulsory and attendance through modern means like video conferencing should be allowed.This would help in successful debates and quick passage of important bills
• Compulsory Administrative Courses:All persons elected to work in important public offices in capacities of ministers should have to attend compulsory political course which would aim to train them in handling affairs of their departments.Also primary school education should be a necessary precondition for a person to stand in Federal Elections

Pragmatism is the rule of the day.In recent times we have seen the failure of idealist concepts right from communism to free market. Therefore if we do not become pragmatic soon..the Indian State might be added to the failure list above

Gross Domestic or Happiness Product

The small Asian country of Bhutan takes pride in the fact that it is the happiest nation in the world.The 2009 HPI Index confirmed the fact, putting Bhutan among the top 10 happy nations of the world.Bhutan has achieved what many liberal democratic world powers have failed .Under a monarchy system and with limited resources,Bhutanese are one of the most satisfied people of the world.All this raises a very important question ,whether time has come to relook the parameters that determine the efficiency and success of a state?

Traditionally GDP has been considered as the best indicator for measuring the performance efficiency of the state.However many countries with huge GDP's and high growth rates have actually been consistently ranked very low in the Happiness Index.For example consider China,analyst expects China to become the second largest economy in the world by 2010 end.However on the Happiness index China crawls at lowly 76th position with major accusations involving human rights abuse.

At the same time supporters of GDP are quick to point out the fact the Bhuatn along with being the happiest is also one of the fastest growing countries today.It grew by a startling 22.6% last year making it the second fastest growing economy in the world.So is the high growth really driving the Bhutanese Happiness. To answer this let us first consider the purpose of existence of a state:

1)To provide equal opportunities to all citizens for growth

2)To ensure basic necessities like food ,shelter and education to the citizens

3)To unify a group of people on basis of a common cultural ,linguistic or common goal

4)To collectively protect the basic rights of all its citizens against different external and internal predators

5)To set up a system which gradually reduces the rich poor divide in the country.This doesnt necessarily tantamount to socialism though

6)To set up a civil code in the state

The fulfillment of the above basic aims of a state will necessarily increase the happiness of the citizens. As we will see a high GDP and per capita income is necessary to achieve the above objectives. for eg would it be possible to provide basic food and shelter to all citizens with a low GDP..possibly not. However the trick lies in the part as to "what you consider as basic”. In US a car in every home might be a basic in necessity while in a poor African country a two square meal might be the basic necessity.

As I write this I am reminded of some lines I read a long time back "You are not happy because of what you have ,but you are happy because you have more than thy neighbour".This is precisely where Bhutan played the trick,For almost 50 years Bhutan kept its citizens away from the corroborating effects of modern televison,radio,internet and modern education etc.Scripting the future in traditional Buddhist style of simplicity ,teh Bhutanese monarchy made it a point to provide traditional education,cultural knowledge and values of simplicity to its citizen.The things so imbibed in every citizen that aspirations failed and Bhutanese have started enjoying whatever they have rather than aspiring what they havent.Blindfolding,political camapigning etc ..these are the words western political analysts use for all the above.But a closer analysis and whats wrong in it.In the bid of keeping its citizens happy Bhutan has achieved what many countries have failed.It is the most peaceful country in the world with no civil outbreaks in the world.Bhutan has achieved a high growth rate and yet prevented destruction of its environment,

Modernism has been introduced into the country keeping in pace with the economic achievments.Remember how sudden modernism played havoc with the USSR.

What’s the purpose of giving the junta the greed and hunger for a modern development when all it creates is greed,hunger,wars,new diseases and their new solutions. Perhaps time has come when nations start emulating the Bhutanese model of eco freindly and people friendly GDP growth. Aspirations may be the fuel to growth but overheating any engine kills it.So cool down and grow with the pace nature wants you to

2010 Whats so NEW abt it?

Its January and most of us must have just finished an annual ritual of new year parties,resolutions and remembering all good and bad that happened in the previous year.While all of us celebrate with ecstasy waiting for something new ,the subtle irony that everything would remain the same is all but evident.The yeo be 2009 was a "dud",2010 is going to be same ,theres hardly "new" I expect about it...

Do we expect our Netas and babus to start working in the shabby buildings they call government offices or do we expect the countrymen to be united once again irrespective of cast ,colour or religion.We do not expect Barclays and Deutsches of the day to stop giving their honchos less salaries than 100 times the salariesof average worker.Neither do we expect the West and the East to unite....the developed realizing the under developed is also populated by humans.Or do we expect Obama to win another nobel for making his speeches lees insultive.Afghanistan is certainly not going to become US or Iraq going to become the eace maker.Perhaps we are expecting Russia to become really democratic.Yes perhaps the newness lies in the fact that our Earth might become warmer by 1 or 2 degree centigrades.Or the tiger might get extinct from India.Perhaps all the awe is about another war about to start or a financial bubble about to burst.The Clash of Civilisations waiting to erupt is certainly going to make the new year more exciting.There are a few things that might bid us adieu in this decade.We might never see the Amazon rain forests or the numerous flora and fauna.The seven wonders might be gone...maybe humans could be gone after third world war in 2019

So this is all the newness all about it.I was wrong ...it calls for a celebration isnt it..Cheers :)