Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Yahoo! India launches special site for general elections 2009

Hi, Folks I found this piece of release informative for all my readers who wants to have an overview on the ongoing general elections in India.

News:
Yahoo! India, the leading Internet company, announced the launch of a new site focused on providing users with up-to-date information on upcoming 2009 general elections. Users can access all the election updates on elections.yahoo.in

As India gears up for its biggest parliamentary elections this summer, Yahoo! India’s elections site aims at creating an involved and an informed voter. With various political parties and leaders already using the Internet as a medium to reach out to voters, these elections are also about catering to a large online audience. elections.yahoo.in offers the best of election content through various features and tools.

Apart from being able to view the latest news updates, the elections site will let users share their opinions and updates on various leaders and constituencies during elections, thus help in making an informed choice. In order to cater to a large section of youth, several of whom could be voting for the first time, the special elections site also focuses on educating them on the importance of casting their votes.

Updates on election schedules, expert analysis, online polls, discussion forums, opinions and photos would be some of the other key features on the site. As the site evolves, Yahoo! India will also include interesting features like Manifesto Comparisons (a user can compare manifestos of various political parties) as well as comic strips on various news and updates during the tenure of the elections.

Bahubali's of Bihar: An epitome of Women's reservation in politics

I have been reading recently that most of the so-called Bahubali's of Bihar (musclemen for sophisticated readers) who have been denied permission to fight elections are making their better halves fight elections. Well there can be no perfect law and you just can't deny opportunity to to others just because of relations.
I feel in this modern day of machinations at least even the bahubali's can be sure of the loyalty of their wives, if they get to parliament. But, this will at least make the Parliament free of people with direct criminal antecedents, who have also been convicted. Women reservation in parliament could never become a reality, though in-principle no one opposed it. But I feel this trend will make the Bahubali's of Bihar do one good thing, though inadvertently, give women reservation in parliament a true meaning.
If this trend persists the time is near when we will have men with political aspirations, clamouring for Male reservation in parliament!!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Talibanization of Pakistan, a time for concerted action from civilized world

The impunity with which the terrorists are executing their savage plans, gives an eerie feeling of a powerful invisible hand, providing support to these organizations. Pakistan has been witness to close to 18 gory attacks which includes sri lankan team and the recent police training center, in a span of 30-40 days, it goes on to show that no one is in command there.
This is truly a precarious situation for India, which needs immediate attention, and a pragmatic approach to deal with the situation. I feel that first the mistrust which we have on Pakistan has to be played down and explore situation, where a true solution can be reached through serious dialogues, based on facts and analysis.
We can't afford to have neighbor under Taliban control. What is surprising me is in some way the complacency of the US, either they are not truly comprehending the exigency of the situation or they have some other game plan, like neutralizing the hard core Talibans through moderate ones, or creating factionalism in the group.
However, I don't feel that the philosophy which Taliban follows there is any scope of neutral and extreme.
It is time for urgent action, the coming together of civilized world, to act on this brute force, which has the potential to create an Armageddon.
There is an urgent to need to look at reasons beyond militancy and ideologies, that why people who are barely in their 20's are ready to give up their life for a cause, they don't even understand. Is there a social-economic imperative that needs to be looked into. Has the time come to create a more equitable system, globally, so that extreme disparity does not become a congenial ground for breeding terror?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

IPL: Pragmatism Vs Chauvinism

There has been a lot of noise around IPL (Indian Premier League) venue being shifted to South Africa. For some it has become a mater of national shame, that India a sovereign nation is being held to ransom to terrorists fear. I feel this is a matter which needs rumination , on the state of things not only in India but globally.
This is a true dilemma between pragmatism and chauvinism. Being pragmatic, one can easily say that the risk of holding the IPL during a general election is taking too big a risk. Especially in the light of what happened in Pakistan to Sri Lankan team. We just can't afford to shy away from the fact that terrorism is a national issue, and India cannot be truly insulated from it. Moreover, India lacks the intelligence and training to fight urban terrorism like the US has.
One can't just hold matches under such threat perception, especially when the sovereign nation is going through the biggest event of Democracy, i.e. election of government.
However, the chauvinists (ready to go on war at the drop of the hat), have their own views, they see it as a capitulation to terrorists forces, to the extent that the venue of such an event has to be shifted.

I personally feel, that under the present circumstances, its better to be pragmatic, and take steps in the long run that really obviates any such circumstances where one has to even think on these lines.
At the end of the day terrorism is a modern menace and very much on the face of all of us, it is no longer a traditional warfare, where uniforms can identify enemies.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Bihar: Clash of ego's will benefit powerful Independent candidates

Political alliances changes color much faster than any chameleon, in the process creating opportunities for many and diluting possibilities for some. Bihar can be a case study for this, in the coming lok sabha elections.
My own thoughts are that the clash of ego's and the rift between parties has certainly created more opportunities for ticket distribution and in the wake strong independent candidates with good stature but in want of money to fight elections, this can be a golden opportunity, to get a ticket from a renowned party.
Say for example the Congress --Lalu/Paswan rift has made both the parties thinking of fielding their respective candidates from all the constituency, thus certainly increasing opportunity for, so many more candiates to fight on a reputed election symbol.
I will not be surprised that in the process we have a lot of not-so-well-known winners and many powerful faces biting the dust, just because they could not get their arithmatic right.
How will it impact the Bihar elections and subsequent government formation at the center only time will tell. But increasingly, trends are pointing towards a hung parliament where we can have the reminiscene of the Chandrashekhar, Dewe Gowda, and IK Gujral years.

Aircel's ad will give a boost to Internet on Mobile

I had recently written my views on the ways to promote Internet on mobile, and had concluded that the only way was to show to the common people what Internet on mobile can really achieve for them. I truly feel, that the recent Aircel's advertisement, elaborating on the advantages of mobile Internet and that too through a visible brand ambassador like Dhoni, would surely give a boost to the same.
I personally find the ad quite well created in terms of educating the common people on day to day activities that can be done through this application. How handy a mobile Internet connection can be, the utility of the same.
This is the time for Internet companies and other service providers to really go for the kill, in terms of deluging people with mobile Internet messages and making them at least try the same, either by providing free trial period or other incentives.
Truly speaking Internet on mobile has great potential and in times to come, we will get so much accustomed to people using it, that we wouldn't wonder at the novelty of it, when did you last wonder when you saw a person using a Notebook or a PC??

Friday, March 20, 2009

Show me a hero I will write you a tragedy!!!

"Whenever I see a man applauded by a crowd, I pity him, the only thing he has to do to be hissed at is to Live Long", I always reflect the relevance of the saying in the contemporary world, how true it is!
Think of narasimha Rao, the ex PM of India, there was a time when he was considered to be the Man of India, a resounding victory, with a majority unknown in the recent history of India; the harbinger of Liberalisation, the epitome of reform.........his last day, not even a shade of his glorious past, he was hissed at, and not even a single big guy of his own party truly paid homage to him, even when he gave up his ghost!!

More recently George fernanades the modern father of socialist movement, the person who engineered the downfall of Lalooo with Nitish, and a truly indomitable personality, much talked about, loved, hated but never ignored, Today, he is not even sure of getting a ticket from his own party, excuses like his failing health being given by party members who would not have dared to look at him during his peak days.
Well examples abound in all fields but nowhere more than politics. It is truly a humbling experience or shows that loyalty, morality, faith has given way to pure expediency in a negative sense.

Well who knows the hero's we are applauding today, meets what fate!!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Thanks to all the unsung heroes who made Internet experience possible

You create a blogger account in less that 5 minutes, and you post your first blog as soon as you finish it! There are 1000's of designs and widgets which you can add in a jiffy without giving a thought that some one out there sat and thought of the applications and made it possible for all of us to enjoy and use.
I really can't help but think of truly thanking all the guys out there sitting silently and cogitating on how to make the Internet experience even better. True there are cases where the motive is monetization, but still the idea, the concept, the beauty of the application, can't be taken away from all these guys.
Web or Internet or web 2.0 whatever one calls it, is truly one experience which makes one wonder on the unlimited creative capacity of the human mind and also the selflessness of handfuls who are constantly adding to the progress.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Bihar elections: Sadhu Turns Shaitan for Lalu & paswan

Politics is all about expediency and machinations, no better place to prove than Bihar. The recent seat sharing announcement of Lalu with Paswan for Bihar Lok sabha elections, has really left Congress in the lurch with just 3 seats to the latter. However, much to the excitement of congress (or rather expectations or instigation!!), a revolt has cropped up from an unexpected quarter lalu's own sala, sadhu yadav. For sadhu the mandate is very clear he wants Betiah constituency to fight come what may!! Lalu has already given Betiah to Ram vilas's LJP.
This has made Sadhu approach Congress with a bunch of disgruntled RJD leaders, and Congress licking its fresh wound of being totally ignored by lalu, paswan combnation, is lapping up Sadhu.

Though, I personally feel, that congress is also very much aware, that sadhu yadav with his bunch of obsolete netas, will hardly have any impact in Bihar's real politic in terms of vote share or seat wins.
But, it does give congress a nuisance value for RJD and LJP. My own analysis is that the strength of Nitish Kumar's JD (U), has made parties nervous in terms of alignment, and Lalu sees in paswan, a better bet than Congress.

However, both Lalu and Paswan known for their selective memory and opportunism, anyone's guess how long this long lost love will continue??

Saturday, March 14, 2009

BJP's dilemma--The rise of small satraps

Recently BJD in Orissa snapped ties with BJP, and JD (U) in Bihar is also elbowing BJP for more seats not only in Bihar but also UP. This is a clear reflection of that in this time of coalition, politics is becoming more pragmatic and based on expediency rather than image of a "Elder brother", "omnipotent partner". BJP or even Congress can't be labeled as elder brothers carrying on smaller coalition partners.
In terms of Bihar, there is no doubt that JD (U) is in a commanding position, however I fear that overconfidence does not create the path of perdition for JD (U). I was reading somewhere that Nitish Kumar is keeping all options open in terms of aligning with who ever comes to power in center whether UPA or NDA, I personally feel that this is just a rumor, because, Nitish has carved his niche based on Lalu's misrule, and that should be the raison d etre of his existence at least for one more term.

There should be no alignment, in any way, that relates Nitish to laloo, even if it means being in the same coalition. I know power game has it's own dynamics, but to be a long term player you have to sacrifice, allurements however strong in the short term, and there could be no better enticement than being a part of the ruling party in center.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Thoree Bihar's own Jim Corbette

I was at Jim Corbett with my colleagues and it was an enchanting experience for all of us. For me more than one ways, since it made me quite nostalgic and reminded me of a small but beautiful place in Bihar called Bhikna Thoree, where I had the privilege to spend over a year to overlook my father's business of stone quarry. It falls under Bettiah District of Bihar.
Bhikna Thoree, not sure how the name originated, can be called the northern most tip of Bihar, in the laps of Himalayan range,bordering Nepal. The place is a pristine beauty, with transparent streams overflowing stone/pebbles bed earth. Surrounded by Forest from three sides and Nepal in front.
Its a small village with a population of less than 1000, people mostly dependent on stone quarrying work, which sadly no longer exists due to perceived environmental hurdles, which I still don't totally believe in. Its a place I took for granted till I visited Jim Corbett and that gave me an idea why can't this place in Bihar be converted into a profitable tourist destination.

It has all the things which would really enchant any urban tourist wanting to be away for a while from the cacophony of town life--peace, tranquility, forests, mountains, rivers, and an additional incentive of cheap products of Nepal primarily Chinese, including good beer.

Close to Thoree are certain temples and destinations, which is shrouded in mystery like "Sofa Mandir", which locals believe was created by some devta of yesteryears, then we have the famous Subhadra mandir, a female divinity greatly revered by locals.
In Thoree, you would find a majestic guest house owned by Railways, it truly seems like an anachronism in such a remote village, history says that this was built for King George?? during the British raj as a hunting lounge.

Are GSM players being shortchanged on 3G in India?

I was recently going through a news item where COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India), the body representing the GSM lobby of India, has alleged that most of the CDMA players have already started providing backdoor 3G services under the garb of various schemes.
My own research showed that not only private CDMA players but also government players like MTNL and BSNL are offering mobile broadband at the speed of over 2.4 MBPS to 3.1 Mbps, which ultimately is 3g speed. However, the 3G spectrum allocation and auction is still distant away. Does that mean that existing GSM players will stand to lose out on 3G, as the CDMA players along with government players have already pre empted the move, by providing their customers an experience far superior than what GSM with their spectrum constraints can provide.
This is highly inequitable, and truly amounts to backdoor entry of CDMA players in the 3G arena.
GSM subscribers will be deprived of 3G experience for no fault of theirs or even the service providers, but due to skewed or biased government policies.
I sincerely hope that the government takes note of it, and either provide enough spectrum to GSM players to launch their own 3G services or stop existing players from launching it.
Ultimately it is not only the players but also people in general, esp GSM users who will be the losers.
Or the whole 3G auction process would be nothing but an eye wash.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Insane killing of Aman Kachroo

I am truly aghast to see the story of a young dynamic guy being killed senselessly in the name of ragging. Aman Kachroo, a guy from DPS Saket, doing his first year MBBS in Himachal Pradesh, was beaten to death by group of dastardly seniors. It's a shame that such a bright future has been extinguished for a reason as insane as ragging or ego satisfaction of 4-5 morons, who I feel should rot in jail for life.
It is difficult to empathise with the parents of Aman, I can understand the indescribable suffering the family would be going through, and there could be no words or actions to give them solace.
I only hope and pray, that no one meets with the same fate ever again and if not death but surely life imprisonment in true sense (meaning for life), should be provided to all the guys proved guilty in the case.
May god give strength and solace to Aman's family.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Social Media: A great potential for BUzz

I just wonder what social media networks like facebook, Orkuts can do in creating awareness or buzz for any products. Just look at it, one simple account connects you to over 1000 people and much more, though not all of them are so closely connected in terms of communications. All social media accounts are like club membership in real world, and like in clubs you have peers who you are close to and who can easily be influenced by your thoughts on movies, products, etc, the same goes for social media accounts.
For example, a movie you have seen or a car you have bought, you share it with your colleagues and group members, there could be up teem probability of few people having the need and going for the same, based on your review.
Today, is the world of consumer experience especially when it comes to substantial investments, I hardly know any individual, who has bought a sedan or even a Small car based on the advertising he has seen/heard, they are mere reinforcers.
I have got so many calls from my friends taking feedback on my car in terms of performance, after sales, to decide on their preferences.
Facebooks and Orkuts widens the horizon of the feedback to tremendous level, and can have great impact on consumer decision making. It is no surprise that all big corporates especially in the automotive and White goods segments, have a dedicated team of people to monitor the share of voice/feedbacks of the products and services, in the web world. The monitoring includes, social media sites, blogs, chats, etc.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Internet on Mobile a need for concereted action

I was recently with a senior management of a global Internet giant, discussing on ways to make Internet popular on mobile. Though we have over 400 million mobile connection, the Internet access on mobile is dismal due to varied reasons, varying from handset cost (though this has come down considerably) to lack of mobile broadband, to failure of telecom service providers to really promote it.
The discussion centered around the need for market creation, or efforts by all stakeholders at creating an awareness of mobile Internet, by really reaching out to the audience and providing them hands-on experience. Today there is a need for companies like google, Yah00!,and many others to come together and create market awareness and then compete for the pie.
I personally feel, after having used mobile Internet, that its a great experience and you get hooked to it like you do on any laptop or normal PC. Its just a matter of habit.
Yes, undoubtedly, simultaneouslythere would be need of good content to create a pull for audience, and what better way to have Indian audience hooked on to anything:) than Cricket and Bollywood.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Outliers a great book by Malcolm Gladwell

If there is one book which, I have read recently and has left me thinking for a while its "Outliers". A great perspective on how we look at geniuses. There are innumerable apt examples given by Gladwell, on how the so-called great and successful people we see are also the product of environment and not just an aberration of a gene called genius. The author illustrates giving great examples of Beatles, Bill Gates and even his own. The bottomline, societies can make many more geniuses, if we have proper understanding of the environment.
Though I would say I have a question for Malcolm, he should also write a book on all people who failed having all the environmental support?
Nonetheless, this book is a must read, if you want to have a new look at people around you.
A great book, a must read!!
I am also going thrugh The "Entertainment Economy" by Michael Wolf, it seems as good as outliers, will keep you all posted.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Nitish Ji why can't we make Bihar the next Singapore: Tourist destination

My trip to Singapore was an eye opener, that what tourism can do to an economy, and how tourism can be monetized at each stage. Most of the Singapore destinations or tourist spots are artificially created--Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, Sentosa, but they are marvels and what is truly exciting about the place is how the government monetizes each step without being an intrusion to the tourists. A trip to Jurong Bird park, you would not realize while exiting you might see a beautiful picture of yours placed at a very conspicuous place, which you will have a choice to buy (monetization!!) or leave, chances are for memories sake you will buy it, but you are not at all haggled to do the same.
The taxi guys are friendly, they guide you on tours and there is never any siphoning of money.
Remember what does a tourist want, its simple they want-peace, comfort, easy movements, and naturally good places to visit.
I was just wondering, Singapore has created places for people to visit, most of them artificial, but they create a push or need for it. If we think of Bihar, (In case our forward looking CM ever see's this blog, it is to be noted), we are endowed with legacy, of such humongous importance to culture and traditions, that there is only PULL and no push factor required, to convert Bihar into I would say, at the expense of being rhetorical, one of the most visited place in the world.
Just come to think of it, Bodh Gaya (place where Buddha got enlightenment), a place which any Buddhist for sure or even people having interest in culture, would die to visit it. Pawapuri (Jainsim), Nalanda, RajGirh, Lauria Nanadangarh (Asoka's pillar, remnant of first true monarchy), Kumhrar, Patna sahib,to name a few, all these places are of immense historical importance and are not artificial creations to attract tourists, but a big pull factor for all people in one way or the other connected to it.
Just think of it, if we have all Buddhists visit Bodh Gaya at least once , what numbers would it lead to, and mind you today world's biggest celebrities are convert Buddhists (an additional pull factor), Similarly we can talk of Jain's, Sikhs, etc. I am just talking about sheer individual numbers in terms of people having connect with the destination for religious or emotional reasons. I am not including people who have interest in history, culture and old traditions, or sheer adventurers. The numbers could be mind boggling, and the impact on socio-eco-political fabric would also be immense.
People tend tobecome tourist friendly when they see the same bringing in money and improving lifestyles, a delinquent youth of yesteryear could become a great guide, a village of Mithila can be converted to a model village displaying arts and traditions, etc.

I am surprised, that other Indian states, with not so much naturally endowed tourist destinations have taken such lead in this space why not Bihar.
Now under Nitish Kumar, with public confidence building, infrastructure improving, along with Law and Order, I feel this could be the trigger point for Bihar tourism to develop.
As we always say its never to late!!

Interesting Survey on Women by TOI

Bad news on Women’s Day for those who believed that Indian women would be empowered if only they were able to become the bread-winner.

Actually, it seems the hold of the patriarchy is only somewhat weaker among metropolitan working women than it is among housewives. A survey of single and married women, about half of them working and the other half housewives across eight of India’s biggest cities has shown that a majority of them do not decide how the money is to be spent. Nor do they believe that they should be able to determine what they may or may not do by way of evening entertainment. The findings are particularly sobering because those surveyed are relatively young, in the 20 to 40 age group and from the highest socio-economic categories SEC A and B. Clearly, a lot will need to be done to alter mindsets before the change in a woman’s economic status translates into genuine empowerment. The poll was conducted exclusively for TOI by leading market research agency Synovate India in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Jaipur in the week leading up to March 8. A total of 1,004 respondents were split roughly equally between the eight cities. About half were aged 20-30 and the rest 31-40. Similarly, the SEC A-B split was roughly even. The surveys most revealing finding was that only 46% admitted to deciding how their money was spent or invested. Significantly, this proportion was only a little higher - 52% - among working women. Even among single women, only 49% decide what they do with their money. So, who decides for the rest? The parents mainly, for single working women. Husbands mainly, for married women in general and housewives in particular. The response to a question on who should decide how a woman entertains herself in the evenings also illustrated just how entrenched the patriarchy remains. Only 42% said the woman herself was quite capable of deciding on the issue. While only 3% felt the so-called moral police had any right to stick its nose in the matter, a majority said parents or husbands should decide on the lakshman rekha. Across categories of age, married/single, working/non-working and SEC groups, this proportion was much the same, varying in a narrow band of just 51% to 55%. If there was little to distinguish between single and married women, working ones and housewives on the questions of the survey, there was a clear difference between responses from different cities. Kolkata, on the whole, emerged as the city with the most liberal attitudes and Chennai as the one with the most conservative. Another question posed was on whether a woman's career was more important than her family. Interestingly, less than one in ten chose a third option put to them – that they should not have to choose between career and family. Over two-thirds said the family was more important than one's career and less than one-fourth said their careers were their priority. Not surprisingly, there was a clear difference between single and married women and between working and non-working ones on this score. How safe do women find their cities? Not very. While 54% overall said they felt safe traveling around the city on their own, 45% said they did not. Chennai, Pune and Kolkata - in that order - turned out to be the cities where women feel safest, but somewhat surprisingly, Bangalore and Mumbai emerged as the only ones in which the majority felt unsafe. Single women exhibited greater confidence than married ones; working women more than housewives. Between the two age groups, however, there wasn't much of a difference. Are women discriminated against when it comes to pay and promotion? A majority said no, but a substantial 43% said yes. Chennai and Pune respondents were emphatic in rejecting such a hypothesis and Mumbai and Kolkata the two cities in which a majority felt gender-discrimination was a fact of life. On the question of whether sexual harassment was common at the workplace, however, Pune, Jaipur and Chennai were the cities in which more respondents said yes than no while Mumbai and Kolkata were the cities in which the lowest proportions said yes. Finally, to return to the provocation for the survey, we asked women whether they felt a Women's Day should be celebrated at all. An overwhelming 87% said it was right and proper a special day be reserved for them. In Chennai and Bangalore that proportion was as high as 95%. If you thought younger, single, working women would care less about such token gestures than slightly older, married working women or housewives, think again. The findings reveal quite the contrary. Single women were more enthusiastic about Women's Day than married ones; the young more keen than the older lot and working women more than housewives. In fact, even among the SEC categories, SEC A respondents were somewhat more in favour of the idea than SEC B.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Satya: The E-factor

Satya: The E-factor

The E-factor

I sometimes ruminate, that a person like me who never watched movies in a cinema hall, just out of sure lethargy, has suddenly turned into a so-called movie buff, or who looks forward to watching movies on Saturday's. What has so dramatically changed? Is it the e-factor or entertainment factor that goes along with movie viewing experience, getting online tickets comfortably, choosing seats of my choice and the sheer experience of moving around in a mall before entering a movie hall. All this makes movie watching more of an entertainment experience rather than just watching the movie.
Similarly, I have bought so many unplanned things in shops just because the shop has an entertainment place for Kids, where my son wants to spend time. Naturally, just the wait for my son to get exhausted, makes me do a bit of more looking around which mostly translates to buying stuffs, which was never planned.
Similarly why does one, if he has budget wants a Kingfisher over any other airline, because the experience is entertaining, you get to see TV , News and somehow it helps in spending time in a more informed or leisurely manner.

This is truly the entertainment economy, all products are the same, but the E-factor is really making the difference. Welcome to the E World!!!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Lahore Attack: A Shocker

The news of Lahore attack on the sri lankan cricket team, actually came as a shocker to me. It gave a curious feeling, that this was something that was obvious could have happened, but somehow in our psyche we feel that even terrorists would never go for sportsmen. Munich always looked like an anachronism, but this attack has considerably changed the whole perception. Now it seems danger is there imminent and no one is safe!!
For me it is really difficult to analyse that who actually could have been behind the attack, its difficult to believe the powerful ISI, which has created taliban, and has kept Dawood as a prisoner henchman, can ever allow such thing under its nose, OR who knows this could have served their purpose.

LeT could be a very obvious choice, for them there could have been no better option than this to discredit the government, though modus operandi points to them, but the very fact all the terrorists went away unscathed and escaped with impunity, shows some deeper conspiracy. As even in a normal day, in any town, which is not a jungle, a similar incident would have at least alerted the police force to bring out some action, but n this case it seemed as if there was no hurry, a Guest team being at the risk of massacred, the enormity of the incident did not elicit such magnitude of response---seems quite vague or uncanny.

One group which I don't see people really thinking about is the LTTE, could it have been the vengeance of LTTE, as everyone knows that LTTE is on the run, and they would want to extract vengeance in all ways they can. What better way than almost massacre the whole cricket team.
Just a wild thought, there have been news of LTTE training fidayeens or suciicde bombers, so there could be some reasons to believe links between LTTE and other islamist militant groups.

Well, whatever be the reason, there is an urgent need of concerted action to fight this menace.

Lahore attack: Conspiracy theories galore

Pakistan and Sri Lanka's foreign minister said on Wednesday that Tuesday's attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore was an attempt to destabilise their bilateral relations and that they will ensure that they get to the bottom of it.But Lahore is buzzing with conspiracy theories of foreign hand and India. There have been some arrests but investigators are still hunting for clues."We have prepared sketches of the suspects and the government of Punjab has announced an award of Rs 1 crore on them," Lahore police chief Habibur Rehman said.With the latest strike damaging its world image even further, the Pakistan government is on damage control mode."The terrorist attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore shows once again the evil we are confronting with. We have not and will not negotiate with extremist Taliban and terrorists. This is an existential battle. If we lose, so will the world. Failure is not an option," Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said in an interview.But in Islamabad, conspiracy theories have started circulating."Pakistan is under continuous aggression and the foreigners have been targeted with the view to bring a bad name to the country. I do not overrule a foreign hand in it," Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.A whisper campaign is accusing India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of planning these attacks in retaliation for Mumbai. India responded by asking Pakistan to look within -- something even Pakistan's political Opposition is demanding of the PPP government."What happened yesterday created a stir in the world. Sri Lanka was attacked and they had to leave the country and go. But that hasn't solved anything that is happening in Swat or the issues with the Taliban or the economic status," PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said.As the shock over the Tuesday's attacks settles into anger, the Lahore attacks have served to expose serious faultiness within Pakistan itself.

Sorce:http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090085714

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Interesting article by S Aiyar on slowdown


Indian politicians and citizens are mostly in denial about the impact of the global meltdown on India. Politicians make brave statements laughing away the slowdown, saying India will be least hit and first out of the slump. Three stimulus packages in three months have been announced with fanfare. But the slowdown continues. Impatient citizens and Opposition parties demand additional stimuli. But this rests on the illusion that the economy will return to fast growth if only it imbibes enough caffeine. Sorry, but this is not a problem of caffeine shortage. The world is going through the worst downswing since the Great Depression, and India willy nilly has to go downward with the rest of the world. We should expect the slowdown to continue for several quarters, until the world economy recovers. We must batten down our hatches and patiently ride out this storm. Official data have just revealed the ugly truth that GDP growth declined to a dismal 5.3% in the October-December quarter, way below official expectations. Agriculture declined by an unexpected 2.2% in this period: poor harvests of sugarcane, cotton, pulses and oilseeds overwhelmed gains in rice, horticulture and animal husbandry. In this quarter, the Pay Commission award boosted community services growth by a whopping 17%. This is mostly illusory: higher pay does not mean better service. Despite this illusory boost, overall GDP growth only touched 5.3%. This lends credence to the IMF’s forecast of 5.1% GDP growth for the calendar year 2009. We may experience some small improvement in the last quarter of 2009, but a return to fast growth will have to wait till late 2010, or even 2011. Let nobody think that more stimulus packages will somehow save us. The slump was not caused by lack of government stimulus — it occurred despite an enormous stimulus from Chidambaram’s 2008 budget through the farm loan waiver, Pay Commission award, and spiraling subsidies for petroleum products, fertilisers and food. Because of these — and falling tax revenue — the overall fiscal deficit of the Centre and states in 2008-09 will be a massive 11% of GDP. Yet, this massive stimulus proved helpless to combat the global downswing. India’s 9% growth in the preceding five years was due to an unprecedented global boom, not great reforms or cleverness on our part. A huge global tide lifted all boats — even Africa grew at an unprecedented 6%. Alas, the tide is now falling, and lowering all boats. Drinking more caffeine will not raise India’s boat in a falling tide. We must accept that we are part and parcel of the global economy. The global boom drove up our growth to 9% and the global slump has lowered it to 5%. We must abandon the illusion that we can somehow grow fast again while the rest of the world stagnates. We must learn to live with the global downswing, and ride out the storm. We cannot end the storm on our own: we must patiently wait for it to subside. Meanwhile, our aim must be to alleviate pain, and build infrastructure for future growth. Seen in this light, the so-called stimulus packages are actually alleviation packages. They are worthwhile measures to alleviate economic pain, and stem deterioration. But they cannot stimulate the economy back to fast growth. This crisis was not caused by us and cannot be solved by us. Our role is to ride out the storm. What policy lessons flow from this? First, lower your expectations and targets, for false hopes can lead to policy excesses. Second, overhaul procedures for infrastructure contracts, because red tape currently prevents accelerated spending in this vital sector. Third, don’t cut taxes endlessly in the hope that this will revive the economy. Taxes should of course be cut in a downswing, but should then be raised again in the next upswing. Raising taxes is politically far more difficult than cutting them. I support the tax cuts so far, but oppose any further cuts on the ground that they will be too difficult to reverse later. Instead, the Reserve Bank of India should loosen its purse strings, and pump more cash into the economy. Today, huge government deficits are swallowing up all bank finance, leaving little for corporations. This squeeze has lifted interest rates for corporations even as the RBI cuts its own rates. So, the RBI must abandon its taboo on buying government bonds, and print currency to finance the government’s deficit. This has inflationary potential, but inflation is not today’s problem. Politically, printing money is more easily reversible than cutting taxes further. That’s the way to go.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4206447.cms

Bihar elections 2009

I am eagerly awaiting the outcome of the lok sabha elections in Bihar, 2009. No I am not being parochial confining my interest to Bihar, but yes, being from the state and especially been witness to Laloo's misrule, I do want to see what people of Bihar choose to do this time, as it does not concern the state directly, but would have significant impact on government formation at the center. My own analysis after seeing the results of Delhi elections, is that people will vote for Nitish Kumar i.e. development, and Nitish alone, as the general perception is (and mind you voting is all about perception) that Nitish has delivered in a significant way, be it creation of better roads or bringing down blatant crimes like kidnapping.

Most of the people I have talked to across segment from landlords to business men to men-on-the-street like rickshaw pullers, the mandate seems clear they all have praise for Nitish, and each section seem to have have got some visible positive takeaway from this regime.

It would be difficult for leaders and parties to pander to the prejudices of the people in terms of caste and creed, I don't see the voters of Bihar falling into the trap of mealy mouthed platitudes of the leaders. In general there is a feeling to give Nitish full mandate and test him out, no one is taking Nitish to be infallible, but people want to give him a chance and see him significantly fail than stand on judgement based on small hiccups.

My own predictions-- Nitish (JD U & BJP combine) will wrest more than 80 % of the Lok sabha seats, and I keep my fingers crossed as like in "Forest" in politics you never know what will come out next, nor I consider myself to be a political pundit.

But, my own logic based on small sample population says that Nitish will be the clear winner.

Five going jobless every passing minute this year

New York (PTI): With every one minute ticking on the clock, the companies from across the world are terminating an average of five positions -- taking the total job losses in the first two months of 2009 to about four lakh.
While a few are calling it simply layoffs and terminations, others have nomenclatures like right sizing, voluntary separation packages and workforce optimisation.
With the global economic downturn forcing one and all to adopt various cost-cutting measures, firms are estimated to have already cut close to 10 million jobs during 2008, but, with no immediate recovery in sight from the ongoing crisis, more steps are being taken to save every single penny.
However, as a saving grace for the employees, most of the layoffs of 2009 so far happened in January, when a whopping 80,000 job cuts were announced on a single day on January 26, and February has been relatively better.
In February, mining major Anglo American said it would reduce its workforce by 19,000 employees while Japan's Panasonic announced 15,000 jobs cuts.
Further, auto giant General Motors revealed 10,000 layoffs whereas Nortel would slash 3,200 jobs.
Finnish phone maker Nokia is looking to trim its global workforce by as many as 1,000 employees through introduction of a voluntary resignation package.
Last month, other entities which announced layoffs include Macy's (7,000), Goodyear (5,000), Micron (2,000) and UBS (1,600).
Caterpillar, Pfizer, telecom firm Sprint Nextel Corp and home improvement retailer Home Depot together accounted for 61,000 lay-off announcements on January 26. The total job cuts announced on that day worldwide had crossed 80,000.
Japanese entities too have come up with drastic job cuts, with electronics major NEC announcing that it would bring down the workforce by more than 20,000 employees, including outsourced workforce.
The reductions would be at "poorly performing group companies", the firm noted in a statement, adding it would also be bringing down outsourcing through "increased in-house development".
Another electronics giant Hitachi would be slashing up to 7,000 jobs.
The layoffs are continuing to climb in the wake of deepening financial turmoil, which has resulted in both consumers and businesses cutting down on their spending.
Netherlands-based electronics firm Philips and financial services company ING, together would be slashing as many as 13,000 jobs in the coming months.
Other companies which have unveiled plans to slash jobs this year include Alcoa (13,500), BHP Billiton (6,000), Motorola (4,000), Honda (3,100) and Kodak (3,000).
Moreover, the bankruptcy of US electronics retailer Circuit City in January, is anticipated to affect 30,000 employees.
In another indication of the deteriorating economic situation, US -- the world's largest economy -- shrank 6.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008. The contraction is much higher than the earlier estimates of 3.8 per cent.
Presenting a gloomy outlook, the International Labour Organisation has projected that job losses worldwide could be over 50 million in 2009, if the global economic situation continues to deteriorate. New York (PTI): With every one minute ticking on the clock, the companies from across the world are terminating an average of five positions -- taking the total job losses in the first two months of 2009 to about four lakh.
While a few are calling it simply layoffs and terminations, others have nomenclatures like right sizing, voluntary separation packages and workforce optimisation.
With the global economic downturn forcing one and all to adopt various cost-cutting measures, firms are estimated to have already cut close to 10 million jobs during 2008, but, with no immediate recovery in sight from the ongoing crisis, more steps are being taken to save every single penny.
However, as a saving grace for the employees, most of the layoffs of 2009 so far happened in January, when a whopping 80,000 job cuts were announced on a single day on January 26, and February has been relatively better.
In February, mining major Anglo American said it would reduce its workforce by 19,000 employees while Japan's Panasonic announced 15,000 jobs cuts.
Further, auto giant General Motors revealed 10,000 layoffs whereas Nortel would slash 3,200 jobs.
Finnish phone maker Nokia is looking to trim its global workforce by as many as 1,000 employees through introduction of a voluntary resignation package.
Last month, other entities which announced layoffs include Macy's (7,000), Goodyear (5,000), Micron (2,000) and UBS (1,600).
Caterpillar, Pfizer, telecom firm Sprint Nextel Corp and home improvement retailer Home Depot together accounted for 61,000 lay-off announcements on January 26. The total job cuts announced on that day worldwide had crossed 80,000.
Japanese entities too have come up with drastic job cuts, with electronics major NEC announcing that it would bring down the workforce by more than 20,000 employees, including outsourced workforce.
The reductions would be at "poorly performing group companies", the firm noted in a statement, adding it would also be bringing down outsourcing through "increased in-house development".
Another electronics giant Hitachi would be slashing up to 7,000 jobs.
The layoffs are continuing to climb in the wake of deepening financial turmoil, which has resulted in both consumers and businesses cutting down on their spending.
Netherlands-based electronics firm Philips and financial services company ING, together would be slashing as many as 13,000 jobs in the coming months.
Other companies which have unveiled plans to slash jobs this year include Alcoa (13,500), BHP Billiton (6,000), Motorola (4,000), Honda (3,100) and Kodak (3,000).
Moreover, the bankruptcy of US electronics retailer Circuit City in January, is anticipated to affect 30,000 employees.
In another indication of the deteriorating economic situation, US -- the world's largest economy -- shrank 6.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008. The contraction is much higher than the earlier estimates of 3.8 per cent.
Presenting a gloomy outlook, the International Labour Organisation has projected that job losses worldwide could be over 50 million in 2009, if the global economic situation continues to deteriorate.
Source:http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200903011152.htm