The Once and Future Kingdom ...

Just as the legend grew, so did the empire; yet fall did come swift, once the legend showed mortal weakness. There was no Merlyn to guide the economy beyond what it could have achieved, upon its soaring hopes and hollow growth, upon the timid ideals and flaccid zeal. Growth is worth only to the extent of its depth. A tree grows tall and strong only so long as its roots grow wide and deep; lest it stays a climber, ever so dependent upon an and any external support. I am reminded of the Gandhian dream of village as the centre of growth. Unless we are self-reliant, we will always rely on others for our growth and prosperity. What is sad is that this nation, this land has nothing we can not create into wealth and fuel our growth and prosperity. Scientific knowledge used merely for reducing the western cost of production, economic understanding only to fuel the desire of FII driven speculative "growth" and legal knowledge only used for the quelling of rights of our own, instead of upholding the unity and collective rights and growth of all men under the same flag.

But no one heard, and here we are at the twilight of our once "future kingdom" ... whether this twilight is of the setting glory or of the rising new hope, is yet to be seen, and is only in our own hands.



Reference:

Boom to gloom: Indian economy saw it all in 2008

Bailout racism or British ego?!

I wonder what it is? But it certainly is nothing to do with any economic rationale that the US is following. Saving banks was easy for the UK, yet Indian subsidiaries in the UK struggled without even a helping hand or even less any attention towards their rescue.

It was not long ago when UK intended to politically oppose the TATA takeover of the "British icons", yes today they refuse to extend any help; am I just seeing economic prudence by British politicians or is it just that the "Raj" has still not been able to digest the fact of the white man working for the brown man?!


References:

Mandelson downplays Jaguar rescue

Tata must arrange own resources for JLR: Mandelson

Government must not bail out every industry in trouble

Tata runs over critics with JLR buy

... am no fortunate son.

Stratfor is a name that would be one of many to be heard from now on.

The Reason: A NEED TO END THIS RECESSION.

Students of history and economics would recall the way and manner in which the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s ended. Yes, by the start of a war that would employ many, and be funded by governments and supplied with weapons by private corporations. Demand rose as employment was created in the war machine.

The recent Mumbai attacks at the citadels of wealth have been aptly garbed under the color of nationality, clearly ignoring the fact of internal weakness of India and its ever so weakening political harmony and fraternity among its citizens. Provokes by the US, EU, UK and many other countries, it is not less evident that these two neighbors are being pushed to the brink of a war that may prove a source of livelihood for many corporations and not to mention that it may just help eliminate many hungry and unemployed people and thereby set the demand and supply equilibrium back on course to "growth".

Every once in awhile there spreads a forest fire to once again wipe the slate clean, as destruction lays clear the path to a new beginning, more so to clear the land of burdensome educated ever so demanding youth of today!!!


References:

Military strike on Pak? US company says India ready

One hand giveth ... the other hand taketh away...

So here we are ... wondering whether the prices would go up or down, whether fuel would be cheaper, or our electricity bill slimmer. Who knows, we are but at the hands of the almighty ... Government, is it for us or we for it. Energy, infrastructure and manufacturing would be hit. So how does this compare with reducing inflation, or in as much as even an attempt at reducing it‽


References:

Government unveils stimulus package

Railway hikes freight rates for cement, coal & coke

Rail freight rate hike derails benefits of excise duty cuts

Sensex pares gains, ends up 197pts

Fuel the fire ...

Fuel the fire ... enough to heat, inadequate to burn.

What will we do with so many new IITs, IIMs and Law Schools when we can not quench the thirst of a few. Rightly so, there is only one Harvard Business School, one NYU School of Law and one MIT. Hope NID, Ahmedabad learns a lesson and refrains from expansion. The curve is no more exponential in the right direction.

Reference:

Techies get 4 days to join Wipro BPO

Vivace !!!

I feel upbeat on the revelation that Michigan Engineering University is trying to make wave energy in oceans and rivers plausible. OPEC is and should not be the answer to all our energy needs. Nor should we rely on nuclear energy. The latter is simply like playing with fire.

However, its exactly not wave energy to be precise. It is the ability to harness water movement / natural currents in water bodies like the sea and rivers into kinetic and thereafter electrical energy. It is a process inspired by the technology used by fish to swim. Its aptly called the vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy (VIVACE).

Such vibrations, which were first observed 500 years ago by Leonardo DaVinci in the form of "Aeolian Tones", can cause serious damage to structures built in water, like docks and oil rigs. It would not be the first time humans are harnessing a powerful and destructive force in nature!!!


References:

Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

Gomel: Debate still rages over Chernobyl fallout

Govt close to a deal with Belarus on Chernobyl children

A crude cut ... public pays, privateurs profit

Prophetic was the last post, realization comes true. I wonder how's the oil pool deficit doing!!! The government helps private entrepreneurs rather than serving public good. Who does the one chosen of the people, by the people and for the people serve? Entrepreneurial enslavement of government is the new norm. Needn't say more ...

Reference:

Oil companies to earn more profits

As the Taj burned ...

Ever wondered what has happened to us, as a nation? What are we building, what are we representing. We have not had a good run with our policy internationally except economic poise for benefit at all costs. Nor have we strengthened the social fabric internally. Why is it that we are here at this juncture, facing things that would be iconic of the wild west. Are we still in the building phase. Do we need a civil war to correct things out, to sort out the rights of all, the equalities that we want to impose and the promise of inequality free social fabric. We could sure take a cue from our great western partner or just follow our preamble that I keep making reference to. JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY. It so happens that my earlier post emphasized on EQUALITY, and this one screams the realization of FRATERNITY. It is only when we take all along that the path that we design, leads, inspires and motivates people to come along. It is only when we listen does the factum of FRATERNITY get realized. After all, it is not the destination, but how you get there is the worthier part (Shepherd Derria Book, Firefly, Ep. 1 Serenity).


मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिबे मंजिल मगर लोग साथ आते गए और कारवां बनता गया।


Reference:

As the Taj burned

Golden fleecing ...

We are being fleeced. It is no secret that a Toyota Camry would cost Rs.10 lacs on full and actual $-Rs conversion and the Honda Civic a mere Rs.8 Lacs, yet the prices are so steep. I kept quiet when Honda launched its Civic Hybrid at Rs.21.5 lacs. The Civic was the flagship Honda car, and still is, but only abroad, an icon of affordability. No, but not in India. This land has seen many average and below average priced cars from the west become status symbols. The VW Jetta. Its no joke that a weaker car without getup or show is priced for the foolish Indian customer higher than the Civic.

But now this recession has convinced me that most manufacturers would certainly reduce their 1000% profits at least down to 300% to woo the customers. With Honda of all doing so, the brand that never ever reduced its prices to boost its sale volume has for the first time stooped. With the Civic hybrid price reduction I hope many other cars would be sold cheaper, at least at prices nearing contemporary western markets.

Live with a man forty years, share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him up and hold him over the volcano's edge and on that day, you will finally meet the man.

- Modu Shanyu

We sure need to do the same with these corporations, or once in a while by the cause of recession these corporations would reveal their true selves to both its customers and employees.



References:

Civic Hybrid cheaper by Rs 8 lakh

2009 Toyota Camry

Honda Civic Family - 2009 - the Official Honda Web Site

A crude cut ...

One always wonders, while the private sector makes profits on sliding crude oil prices, why is it that only public sector companies are made to be shown as the loss makers. Whose side are we on, on whose side is the government, for whom does it frame policy, who is running the government, of the people, by the people, but for only a few people!!!???

References:

No cut in fuel prices now because oil cos are bleeding: Deora

Crude prices low but PM says no cut in fuel prices

RIL Q2 net up 7.4% on high crude price

RIL Q2 net up 7.4%; high oil prices push revenue by 39.5%

RIL Q2 net up 7.4%; high oil prices push revenue by 39.5%

November 16, rich get richer ...

Who gets richer, who can afford, is it too late or is it just the IIM grads' kids who will form the elite club like the Ivy league, the principle of self-sustenance now is being redefined.

There is surely nothing like the ever growing business of education, no recession see this one, eh!!


Reference:

CAT on Nov 16; IIMs set to be richer by Rs 23 crore

Is the spirit of '69 back in the USA? ...

Aid to the ailing labor intensive industries rather than the Wall Street cloud money lenders, sharpening of energy policy to gain self-sufficiency ("energy independence"), facilitation of stem cell research, environmental protection (in Utah), and more is to come. Its been heard once before, has it not? This civil rights lawyer has a different resume from the ex-military, oil barons of yesteryears. Hope the path he takes is different as well. We need a difference creator not a line-tower, albeit at the cost of the industrialists but certainly for the one who toils from the sweat of his brow ...

Reference:

Emanuel Urges Speeding Up Aid to Auto Industry

Liquidity or gasification? ...

With job losses and reducing demand where is the liquidity going? RBI has left no stone unturned ... or has it? Talk of growth is futile without sustenance of the already established industry. The currently established industry is slowing down or shutting down, and the Finance Minister talks of FDI.

One does not go boat shopping when one's boat has a hole, he repairs it to reach the shore safely ... is the format skewed or my vision, or is it just that the liquidity is evaporating!!! PLEASE DO NOT REPAY A LOAN WITH ANOTHER LOAN, its been tried once already ...



References:

More companies opt to trim man hours, cut production

Demand slump: Tata Motors may shut Pune unit for 6 days

Ashok Leyland to work 3-days a week

RIL: Margin blues

Reliance Retail recasts operations to cut losses

CITU says RIL's reported closure of units


Government may ease FDI caps

Foreign investment inflows increase 259 per cent in September

India sees huge jump in FDI inflows despite global woes

FDI booster dose to rejuvenate health insurance cos

Tobacco FDI up for review on Thursday

The Methodology of Bailout ...

Applying medication ONLY where it hurts. Try this:

1. keep the bailout restricted to employee pay slips,

2. freeze hiring and firing,

3. reduce management remuneration by 50-60%,

4. eliminate corporate tax evasion (both exemptions and through tax heavens) in order to bring on record all known assets and liabilities of the corporation,

5. utilize the liquidity resulting from points 1 and 3 above to reinvigorate the corporation,

6. handout additional funds only if liquidity in point 5 is insufficient.

Contact Sport ... where did we go wrong ?

The service industry is a contact sport. Hospitality, banking, IT & ITeS (para-legal (LPOs), KPOs, BPOs), legal, etc. Unlike manufacturing where the consumer is a needy customer and where creation of a market is based on tangible and visual attraction based needs, the service industry is more psychological and requires more acumen than learnedness. This acumen has to be used to woo the customers is a given and well understood universal fact. What IS NOT is the fact that this acumen cannot be utilized internally with the components of the service corporation, namely the employees. Employees are persons that need to be integrated with the corporation and its ethos, if it has one. So we need to begin with creation of an ethos. This ethos comes with the character in the governing management. Honorable and credible, friendly and professional. Most organizations think that team outings alternated with selfish competitiveness of internal career ransacking is a nice way to boost employee morale and make people love the organisation. It does not work that way. Rightly pointed by Janine Allis, CEO and Founder, Boost Juice Bars, credibility is everything within a corporation and in business at large. We all know the hundi system. It worked on credibility of individuals long before brands emerged. Brands of modern day can not state slogans of quality while their internal quality of people management rots. Its like an apple that has to be good from within and outside as well or else the next time you would not pick up apples from the same bunch at all or from the same vendor.


Reference:

Aviation formula gone sour

Of the people, by the people BUT NOT for the people ...

... education at the IIMs must be 'means-blind', which means that anyone with the required qualifications must not be denied admission due to non-availability of means. The IIMs have not been following that entirely.

We prepare extensively for the entrance, to enter these prestigious abodes of education desirous of passing out and joining the hordes of unemployed youth, YET we are discriminated at the selection level based on the income of our families and those of us who can not secure education loans and can not pay the fees are arbitrarily left out, left behind.

Last I remember the IIMs, IITs and Law Schools were built under State Legislations, by the governments we elect, by the legislature that is accountable to us under the Constitution of India. What happened to the equal opportunity principle that we so dearly built into the system and each child at school is made to remember that preamble that proudly states:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Reference:

IIMs not following fair admission policy: Panel

"Good Times" are here once again ...

So they sack you, reinstate you for three purposes (1) so that you may be later, gradually sacked in accordance with the principles of natural justice, due process, Section 25f of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and Section 10 of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970; (2) so that you do not ask for a raise and (3) for all you know, they might cut your pay for the larger good of your fellow employees, all three purposes you would not have bought unless you had not been sacked.

You will not now oppose the management once you have been reinstated, as the 2 day "out in the cold" treatment has left you shaken and in knowledge of a situation where you have no other airline to work for (see Air-India mulls voluntary leave scheme) and that your debts have haunted you at this tender age of 20 or so ...

Just stay one your guard and stay united, do not sell off camaraderie for gain.

References:

Jet says sorry, takes back all sacked staff

No retrenchment in Air India, says Aviation Minister

On Duties, and rights that follow ...

"Real rights are a performance of duty. No one will have any right but what are inherent in the willing performance of one's duties" (Anthony Parel, Gandhi, Freedom and Self Rule, (Lexington Books, 2000) (quoting M.K. Gandhi) at page 10).

It all boils down to the fact that it takes two to tango. Only if I fulfill my duty of recognizing your right does there exist a right for you.

In the corporate scenario, this is of utmost importance. Respecting team-mates and team members is a very effective means to collectively bear the pressure of work. The team inturn represents a division (e.g. HR, marketing, operations, legal, delivery, manufacturing, etc.), divisions make up the corporation and the corporation as a whole can change its ethos to being more culturally sensitive and not driven by the insane hunger of capital accumulation, definitely not at the cost of the machinery that makes up the corporation, as this machinery is not non-living but comprises of living persons who make up the society that the corporation functions in. The corporation is thus building the community, the neighborhood, the state and the country. Thus, when some one says "Sonny boy, running a corporation is not child's play", I say "Hell no ... I can see that its definitely no joke" ...

Because, as you sow shall you reap. Make self-centered monsters out of your employees and they shall inturn infect the society, politics and morality. They corrupt our schools, our education, your children, wives, husbands, teachers, students, police, civil servants, ... everything.

You definitely do not want to make apples go bad in your refrigerator and throw them out into a fresh pile of apples (at a wholesale mart) ready to be sold for retail. Would surely affect the quality of your retail purchase of apples a couple of weeks down the line.

Silent & Violent; Team productivity & Respect

Some are fired silently some violently. Below is the case of violent sacking in the aviation-hospitality industry. However, no one talks of the silent sacking.

Silent sacking is done very creatively. It is part of a COO's Job Description to ensure that the earning rate per employee covers the employee's salary, company profit, infrastructure cost and taxes, etc. Seems a fair enough expectation. But it is not contextualized.

Context: Team productivity is ignored despite demand for team players. Now, a team productivity is the same as employee productivity multiplied by the number of players in a team. So, why is team productivity all that important in silent sacking. A bad manager may handle his team resources to the detriment of say a particular team member's capability and capacity. However, what would seem like a team success and an individual failure may in fact be a team success at the cost of an individual failure. A manager may seek presence of a team member beyond the member's productive hours. The manager needs to push the team member but not beyond the breaking point. This breaking point may infuse either under performance or revolt. Another issue is of respect. From my experience I have gathered that in today's off the shelf show-off life of the middle class and lower middle class neo-rich buggers, respecting one's fellow employees is not part of the game.

There used to be a time I had seen when the boss used to have a regular cup of tea with his team and joke about the way they (the boss while he was not a boss) used to mess up and how they used to get kicked for it. Each team member then would also share one's own experiences and also the present work place issues concerning the work at hand and of the anticipations for the future. There used to be a genuine camaraderie.

Fastforward to today. The only interaction is across the office desk, pub/bar, mall, cinema, etc. One would say what's the difference. There IS a difference. The difference lies in the adrenaline and testosterone driven pub/bar, mall, cinematic culture. Vengeful discussions, bullying, show-off of gagets and competition to outsmart the other team member to the latest gadget or the hottest movie or the coolest and most expensive drink or restaurant where he took out his hot girlfriend. Or the Tag Heuer, or that Rado and Armani. Upward mobility aspirations sold to us, who do not have it, by the marketing gurus of our times. the result is resentment, animosity and frustration.

To restart collaborative efforts rather than competitive efforts one has to curb materialistic negativities and shed State Craft (I have talked of earlier) and embrace a life of Honor. Stand for what is right and just. Do not stand for connaivance, convenience and deceit. Understand one's duties before one's rights ...


References:

Air India 'to shed 15000 staff'

Kingfisher too may hand out pink slips

India's Jet Airways cuts 1900 jobs to 'save' itself

India's Jet Airways cuts 1900jobs to 'save' itself

Kings of Jettisoning good times are here ...

So we will save money say the King of Good Times and the Jettisoning patriarch.

Should have thought of it earlier ... why create jobs to purge them later, that too in contravention of the arbitrariness safeguard and contrary to natural justice, due process, Section 25f of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and Section 10 of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970.

References:

Kingfisher too may hand out pink slips

India's Jet Airways cuts 1900jobs to 'save' itself

Jet to shed 1050 more staff

AdSense & Capitalist Appropriateness

This blog was rejected approval by AdSense because of "Unacceptable site content" by Google Inc. So much for impartial analysis of the situation around!!! Guess it just does not make commercial sense ... probably they assessed that "this is not the right thing" to invest their time and effort in.

So where does the problem lie? ... Honor v. State Craft

HONOR: Fighting in battle, [the king] should not kill his enemies with weapons that are concealed, barbed, or smeared with poison or whose points blaze with fire. (see Laws of Manu Chapter VII, Verse 90).

STATE CRAFT: Use of poison, spies, spread of discord, lies and economic sabotage is justified (see Kautilya, who judged the means by the result, a result he sought for the general good of his kingdom .. or was it so? for the Kingdom or for the Kingdom?).

Such is the difference between an honorable and a pragmatic approach. Pragmatism has replaced courage, self-interest has taken the place of sacrifice and honor is now a term only in dictionaries. And rightly so has the usage of pragmatic as meaning "officious; meddlesome; interfering" and "dogmatic; opinionated" been forgotten and become archaic. (see pragmatic definition |Dictionary.com)

One often wonders whether there is an actual problem to begin with or is this just a global take on large scale corporate restructuring in the garb of a global crisis resulting in laying-off of workers employed by corporations who one fine morning realized that their plans of the past had all gone wrong and that they could not sustain their swelling profits to swell any longer and thus are now "being forced" to dispense with human capital like non-living matter.

Wrong assessments galore ... ?

Finance Minister, Prime Minister and RBI Governor. Educated in Oxford, Cambridge and the like. Even Krugman could be wrong despite the Nobel prize. (When Krugman spoke of closing weak banks in India)

Economics is the most dangerous two edged sword wielded by nations and international bodies alike. Personal gains are the only aim; besides the sincere effort to make the present effort look better than the previous solution. (... Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss ...)

Is there a perfect solution or are we to be hung by the very governments that we create? Are these very governments going to tax us (just because we voted for them) and serve the interests of those who have retrenched us?

The the taxpayers' money is being risked on salvaging private interests of corporates (see Effort to halt financial crisis costs governments two trillion pounds, "... the huge cost to taxpayers of bailing out the financial system is likely to be felt for many years -and possibly decades - into the future") while corporations effortlessly evade being taxed by the governments that rescue them (see UK Banks Should Shut Tax Haven Units, Cable Says (Update1)), just because those corporations fund our political system and political parties in it. It seems like quid pro quo for election and kick-back money as distinguishable from tax we pay to the government for services it would or might render us, that is not to be quid pro quo. Is it fair? Is it just? Is it honorable? Or just state craft?

It's not enough ...

Not Enough Money in the World: The Real Monster in the Meltdown Closet

RBI's Rs 20000-cr package not enough, say mutual funds

Reforms are not enough anymore, Hungary needs stabilisation too ...

Brown urges more global reforms - bank stabilization "not enough"

Structural changes not enough to solve SANS problems: BND

Europe' Bank Bailout: Is It Enough?


Well said by The Who in their album Endless Wire

It's not enough
Whatever you give

A little bit more
You always need
A little more man
A little more seed

It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It's never enough

I gave you cash
I gave you love
All that I heard
Was "It's Not Enough"

I work so hard
It gets so tough
Whatever I give
Never feels like enough
It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It's never enough

When I'm on my knees
I keep taking your stuff
Make sure that you know
It's never enough

You said you'd go as far
As to turn to my friend
Who once warned me of you
Said you'd hasten my end
Because I have lent
Every ounce of my juice
My essence is spent

You'll always want
A little more pink
I'll always need
A little more ink

It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It's never enough

However I praise
However I puff
Though you may smile
It won't be enough

Right at the end
When I start to bluff
An' the lift's going down
An' I start acting tough

It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It's never enough

I'll find someone else
To finish filling me up
I'll smile and admit
You were never quite enough

Like Brigitte Bardot
In Godard's Les Mepris
I can't love you enough
To make you complete
You appear in my dreams
With some new courtier
You need me there to see
What you need to convey

It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It'll never be enough

No hysterical scene
You will never play rough
I'm the one who will scream
But it won't be enough

It's never enough
It's never enough

It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It'll never be enough

I'll never hold you
How can I scold you?

It's not enough
It's not enough
Whatever I give
It'll never be enough

Are we getting fooled again ...

The most important thing that we look into is, whether we are being fooled. Is it the right thing? Is it the most profitable thing? Is it the early bird strategy or just a leaf in the wind? Planning, mastering the art and impeccably executing our plans. Always a step ahead of the pack. Or are we ...?

What misses the eye is the obvious nature of the unobvious. The machine that drives it all. The house always wins. As the people who are familiar with my ways, I am a sucker for typing with show non-printing characters. Helps see things clearly. Just a habit I picked up from a guy called ... well I have forgotten the name ... Exactly what we are in for at the end of the line ... to be forgotten in time, but no, not the reality of depression, that can't be forgotten, should not be forgotten, but it now has been, hence our present plight.

If there are no heroes,
Never wait for one to be,
Go ahead, lead the neros,
Step up, for all to see