Government has not said anything on this so far, surprisingly, since if this had been an Indian then all kind of warnings, actions would have been taken against the company.

This is a simple case of Telenor investing in a company that has broken the law and got the 2G licences and now has been caught. If the same thing had happened in Norway or any part of the “developed world”, would that country’s Government return the investment made by the foreign company? It would have been treated at a business risk that the foreign company did not do proper due diligence before investing and in fact the blame would also fall on the foreign company.

Just because we have a lazy & corrupt system, everybody thinks they can take India for a ride. Telenor was not in India for charity, they were here for business, to earn profit & when they invested in Uninor they knew that the 2G licences where obtained very cheaply (just look at the difference in the price at which Uninor got the licences and price Telenor paid to get a stake in the company), shouldn’t that have rung a bell in the ethics department or the corporate headquarters of Telenor? I bet they would have thought that with India being so corrupt they can get away with this, unfortunately this case came into spotlight in spite of efforts by all involved to hush it up. And even Supreme Court lived up to the expectations and gave a brave decision.

If at all, Telenor has claim against only Unitech, it’s partner in Uninor, for “hiding” facts/cheating…

All this talk about foreign investment drying up because of this judgement is frankly “bull-shit”. Considering the wealth of people in India, it is a surprise that Government is encouraging Foreign Investments rather than Domestic Investments… Probably it is to help the corrupt few to gave more, this time legally!!!

Electrification - 
Electrification of Coimbatore – Mettupalayam line will be taken up in 2012-13

MRTS - 
There is a mention of the MRTS extension from Velachery to St. Thomas Mount progressing smoothly and it is expected to be commissioned next year. 

Gauge Conversion - 
Sengottai – Bhagavathipuram & Pollachi – Kinattukkadavu (enroute to Coimbatore) Gauge Conversion will be completed in 2012-13

Adarsh Stations - 
Following Stations in Tamil Nadu will be upgraded as Adarsh Stations:
Ariyalur, Coimbatore, Thiruverumbur, 

Eco-friendly Power - 
As part of Railways Power Generation initiative, among other states, Railways will also set-up windmill plants in Tamil Nadu.
A bio-diesel plant is to be commissioned in Tondiarpet (Chennai) 

Sub-Urban Services - 
18 additional Services in Chennai (split among all routes in Chennai)

Royapuram Station - 
A pre-feasibility study for development of Royapuram Station in Chennai will be undertaken

Tamil Nadu may also be benefited from the other initiatives but the above are specific to the state.

Hope’Secular’ Indians realise that Christians & Church and not secular. Probably no other religion or creed of people will be secular like the Hindus in India.
High-time Indian media brings out the true picture of what happens behind the walls of Christian Organisations, surprisingly the sting operations that so often happen against Hindu Organisations, trusts & supporting parties never seem to happen against Christians or for that matter Muslims, unjust Media???

It’s high time the silent majority sits up and speaks out…

In my opinion, allowing multinational companies in retail is wrong. It will kill the local industry over time. Nothing stops the MNCs from undercutting the local retailers and once they have gained dominance they will keep prices high and be able to profit from their dominance, this has been seen in all the countries which have allowed big retailers.

The West is interested in India opening up retail sector since it sees profit in it, it is not interested in building the industry neither does West have any concern for Indian consumers.Whatever infrastructure that the retailers will set-up it will be for their own use, they will not be interested in building public infrastructure.

Will retailers be ok with the concept of retaining & reinvesting profits from India within India? I bet not.

Everybody is talking about the benefits of FDI in retailing:
- More jobs
- Better prices for Farmers & small Producers
- Lower Prices for public

I suggest everyone who thinks on the above lines must read this article in Business Line (click here) It gives a good perspective of what will most probably happen.

The same author has written a series on impact of allowing Foreign retailers in India.
- Why the Indian model is superior (June 17, 2011, Business Line)
- Recipe for unemployment (July 5, 2011, Business Line)
- Reality belies the hype (July 6, 2011, Business Line)
- Remember the Salt Tax, anyone? (August 4, 2011, Business Line)
- How the world burnt its fingers (August 25, 2011, Business Line)

My opinion is instead of allowing foreign retailers to set-shop in India citing improved supply-chain infrastructure & better prices – Government could drive towards improving the local industry – make it efficient and competitive that retailers will then not oppose foreign players setting shop here. Government should encourage investment in improving the supply-chain and also compliance by retailers to the tax regime (sales tax, VAT, GST). In the long run that would benefit the nation more than allowing foreigners to just mint us.
This Government seems to be supporting the profiteers and ignoring the welfare of the nation.
Arguments about the so-called benefits of liberalisation since 1991 as hollow – probably today we have more poor than every before. Government has still not learn to balance between public welfare and private profit motive.

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More to read – Amul’s MD’s views – click here

In my opinion Fare hike was necessary for a viable public transport system. I hope that the undesired & hidden rise in fares that public saw in the past few years, in terms of reduced buses running on normal fares & more of delux & express buses running on all route but with all the stops of an ordinary bus, will make way for a more organised transport system with marked difference in the bus services based on types – atleast 40% as ordinary services and the rest a combination of LSS, Express, Delux & AC services.

Over the past 5 years all the long distance buses have been converted as Express Services so that they could charge extra. However they used to stop at all the stops, in fact the no. of stops have increased with more towns/villages en route making the buses stop in their places also. A trip to Tiruvannamalai from Chennai on Express Bus about 5 years back used to take 3.5Hrs with the bus stopping at only 2 places after Tambaram. Then out of the 120 odd services in a day we had express services every half hour/ on the hour. This made the service very popular for travelers going all the way to Tiruvannamalai. Today all the services in the day are run as Express Buses with no ordinary or LSS or even PP services. And the time taken has increased to 4.5Hrs to 5Hrs. Express Buses now stop at all the places that Ordinary Buses used to stop, making the travel worse for end-to-end travelers.

If the Government restores the structured bus services and increases the no. of buses then I believe this Bus Fare Hike is well justified.
On the long-distance buses, Government can introduce high-end buses that compete with omni-buses, considering the margin that omni-buses make and the demand for such services, Government can easily make money from such services which can be utilised to introduce more lower fare buses. Trains from Chennai to rest of Tamil Nadu do not cover even a part of the total passenger demand, most of the demand is met by private omni-bus operators who charge on the higher side (some times exorbitant rates). Government should think on this aspect and work towards improving bus services.

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PS: AC Buses are more empty now. 219A buses from Ambattur to Kelambakkam used to be jam-packed are now free with few passengers standing… impact of fare hike

Now what is this Deregulation all about?
Till now, the interest rates on savings bank a/c was fixed by RBI. It was reviewed occasionally (about once a decade) to adjust to the prevailing rates. The current rate of 4% was set in May this year. Previously for about a decade the rates were at 3.5%.

Now RBI has allowed banks to fix the interest rates themselves subject to the following 2 conditions:
a) Up to Rs.1 Lakh – irrespective of the type of SB A/c – the interest rate has to be same.
b) Banks can offer differential rates for money higher than Rs.1 Lakh ensuring that every customer keeping the same amount gets the same interest rate.

Now, how will this benefit a larger population?
Many people tend to park their money in SB A/c itself and not move to other investment options. Till date given the low interest rates & higher inflation, this money was actually depreciating.

Now banks that have lower share of CASA (current a/c, savings a/c) will be motivated to increase their deposit rates to attract customers. Similar to FD rates, now you can see SB rates differing between banks. (YES BANK has already announced 6% interest rate for SB A/cs)

Also, now banks may be able to give higher rates for higher deposits and attract more money into SB A/cs. Expect new offers from small banks.

NOTES OF CAUTION:
a) Don’t expect rates to jump very high.
b) Not all banks may opt for higher rates, esp. big banks may not do it at all
c) Calculation of interest rate today is on a daily basis, but like Economic Times says if banks pay the higher rate based on avg. balance then it may not be beneficial (read here) (My personal opinion is that banks will still pay interest on daily balance basis, but eligibility may be decided based on the avb. balance maintained – this will increase the product complexity)

The fact that the number of Hindus is progressively reducing is being proved in every census and also every year when we see the increasing celebrations of other religion’s festival and reduced celebration of Hindu Festivals.

Every attempt is made to deplore Indian & Hindu customs & traditions as superstitions, environment unfriendly, anti-people, etc.. But no one makes an attempt to understand why we have such customs & traditions. Take the case of Fire Crackers on Deepavali. Everybody will say Fire Crackers pollute, cause health problem due to the chemicals and high decibel noise. So don’t celebrate, don’t light crackers is the mantra that is propagated.

Everybody forgets that probably the essence of Deepavali comes from the Fire Crackers. Instead of asking people to not light fire crackers, why cannot the authorities enforce a ban on production of high decibel crackers and use of harmful chemicals in crackers. Restricting production to lower decibel and less harmful crackers is better as it also allows people to enjoy.

Time we understand our tradition, our rich history and learn to respect it.

The impact Dennis Ritchie’s creation has on the world of computing is un-parallel. C & UNIX are everywhere and both form the base for most things that we are familiar today.

Read this article: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/10/thedennisritchieeffect/

RIP (Rest In Peace) Dennis Ritchie… The world may have forgotten your contribution, but you will always near everybody with your creations.