We have always identified our country as mother India. We have historically been a country bestowed with feminine attributes of peace, non-violence and tolerance. Even in modern Independent India we have not been able to escape that blessing or anathema, whatever one may call it. But that has instilled in Indian psyche an attribute of being reactive to the circumstances. The identity of being peace loving and tolerant has made the ordinary Indian too tolerant and accommodative.(yaha sab chalta hai). An Indian today is happy and satisfied, with corruption, with hunger and with delayed justice. He only wakes up when the last straw has been cast and the situation has become terribly unbearable to the limits of life and death.
The economic reforms of 1991, LPG as we might call them, changed the economic landscape of our nation and paved the way for us to become the second fastest growing economy of the world. But was it like that we suddenly came to terms with the economics of liberalization in 1991? No. It wasn’t the case. In fact the fastest growing economy in the world today i.e. China reformed its economy 24 years before 1991 in 1967, when it opened up its economy and dropped tariff boundaries. So, why did it take a huge BOP crisis to do those reforms in India? Why did it take something of such a large scale that we had to pledge 67 tons of our gold to the Union Bank of Switzerland and Bank of England to get a bailout deal from the IMF? The answer is simple. India is a democracy and in a democracy the majority opinion has to be reflected in the acts of the leaders, however competent, qualified and good intentioned they are. And the general psyche of an Indian does not permit him to act until and unless his daily bread and butter is not at stake.
We also have more recent examples to corroborate this observation. If India were given one single wish which could be fulfilled by a genie, there can be no doubt what India would opt for. Yes. We all want the corruption to go. We’ve always wanted the corruption to go. We’ve always wanted that genie. And well some might argue (including me) that we have got that genie now in the form of Anna Hazare who is going to lead us to become a corruption free country. But what did it take ? It took a 1.76 lakh crore 2 G spectrum scandal, 70,000 crore commonwealth scam, an adarsh housing society scam and a potential antrix deal scam for the good intentioned men of our country to say that they’ve had enough, and the people who have done these scams are going down. But then, is corruption new to India? Were these 2 G spectrum and CWG scams the first cases of corruption in the history of India. The answer is indeed no. But it took obscene proportions of scams to finally wake our good men up from their slumber.
We have always been aware of the presence of tainted people in Indian politics. This is not limited to any single political party. There can hardly be any party which can claim that no cases have been framed against any of its MPs or MLAs. In 2010, 11 MPs were caught in a sting operation on camera accepting bribes for asking questions in the parliament, of which 6 were from the BJP, 3 were from the BSP and one each from congress and RJD. We’ve had people like Pappu Yadav, who were accused of murder, contesting and winning elections until they were finally convicted and debarred. So what about the electoral reforms? That is still not on our list of upcoming legislations for the winter session. How long are we going to wait for that? Are we waiting for the day when there would be nobody to sit in the parliament and all our leaders will be behind bars, accused and waiting conviction?
An average Indian who is mainly concerned for his “roti, kapda and makan” can hardly be sympathetic to the airlines which are portending bankruptcy. But still that does not reduce the magnitude of the problem. All our public and private airlines have piled up huge debts, which has been a result of regressive aviation policies of the government. The aviation fuel prices, the airport parking charges and also the taxes on the aviation fuel are among the highest in the world, and which is crippling our airlines. But we might have to wait for a major collapse of a major airline, either public or private, to finally make our politicians to act.
So is it all doom for us? Is there no hope? Well fortunately there is. In this age of interconnected and globalized world where information flows freely, our young generation have showed first signs of activism. It was this activism which made the Anna Hazare movement such a huge success. It is this activism which now makes the government uneasy over every single piece of paper leaked form government offices because it knows that the young India is not going to take this anymore. Finally the first signs of a shift are visible from a passive and reactive India to an active and proactive India. And this opportunity should not be lost. This opportunity cannot be lost. We, the young generation, have to persist and not accept. We will not accommodate anything anymore. (yahaan kuch nahi chalta)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
COAL INDIA AND BEYOND....
The government had set a fiscal deficit target of 5.5% for this year. But after the recent events in the market viz., 3G spectrum auctions and the IPOs of C.I.L. (coal India limited) and other Public sector undertakings to follow, the government may well achieve a lot better than that. The coal India IPO received such an overwhelming response from the investors that it baffled even the most optimistic. Such a response from the investors has set the stage for a very eventful 2011 in terms of IPOs and FPOs.
Initially the move of the government of pricing the share at 225-245 per share received a mixed response. While some were very happy from the price others were finding it to be too high. But then the price turned out to be just right attracting huge amount of bids. While Coal India intended to make 15,450 crore from the IPO, it received applications for 2,40,000 crores, 15 times of what it asked for. The government is hopeful of achieving its target of 40,000 crores this fiscal, of which it has already reached the half-way mark. Now, the government is contemplating disinvestment plans for 3 blue-chip companies viz. SAIL, IOC and ONGC. It may happen in the last quarter of this fiscal year.
While the correct and attractive pricing did the trick for government in this IPO, the pressure will be on the government to price the coming IPOs attractively and still correctly. This kind of fair pricing by the government will help in luring the investors who have been shying away from the market for so long as majority of IPOs in the recent times listed below the issue price and some now also quoted below the issue price. As per the Crisil Equity Research estimate there are at least 179 companies listed in the stock exchange where the float is less thn 25 % mark. At current prices, these firms may have to raise Rs 1.6 lakh crore if promoters sell their holdings and if they do so through sale of new shares, they may raise Rs 2.1 lakh crore, says Crisil’s estimate.
For a company divesting more than 25% of its share, 3 kinds of investors may bid for it. These may be Qualified Institutional buyers(QIB) including mutual funds and FIIs, High Networth individuals and Retail investors. They have a quota of 50%, 15% and 35% respectively. This is especially good for retail investors. SEBI has hiked its cap on investment from Retail investors from 1 lakh to 2 lakhs. For investing, the investors should mainly look at the P/E ratio of the company. If it is too high, then it means that the shares are priced high with respect to the earnings of the company. So IPO space is set for lot of action in the coming days but at the same time retail investors will have to be lot more cautious before they choose to invest on an IPO or FPO.
Initially the move of the government of pricing the share at 225-245 per share received a mixed response. While some were very happy from the price others were finding it to be too high. But then the price turned out to be just right attracting huge amount of bids. While Coal India intended to make 15,450 crore from the IPO, it received applications for 2,40,000 crores, 15 times of what it asked for. The government is hopeful of achieving its target of 40,000 crores this fiscal, of which it has already reached the half-way mark. Now, the government is contemplating disinvestment plans for 3 blue-chip companies viz. SAIL, IOC and ONGC. It may happen in the last quarter of this fiscal year.
While the correct and attractive pricing did the trick for government in this IPO, the pressure will be on the government to price the coming IPOs attractively and still correctly. This kind of fair pricing by the government will help in luring the investors who have been shying away from the market for so long as majority of IPOs in the recent times listed below the issue price and some now also quoted below the issue price. As per the Crisil Equity Research estimate there are at least 179 companies listed in the stock exchange where the float is less thn 25 % mark. At current prices, these firms may have to raise Rs 1.6 lakh crore if promoters sell their holdings and if they do so through sale of new shares, they may raise Rs 2.1 lakh crore, says Crisil’s estimate.
For a company divesting more than 25% of its share, 3 kinds of investors may bid for it. These may be Qualified Institutional buyers(QIB) including mutual funds and FIIs, High Networth individuals and Retail investors. They have a quota of 50%, 15% and 35% respectively. This is especially good for retail investors. SEBI has hiked its cap on investment from Retail investors from 1 lakh to 2 lakhs. For investing, the investors should mainly look at the P/E ratio of the company. If it is too high, then it means that the shares are priced high with respect to the earnings of the company. So IPO space is set for lot of action in the coming days but at the same time retail investors will have to be lot more cautious before they choose to invest on an IPO or FPO.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
CRICKET IS OVERHYPED IN INDIA
The ICC Cricket world cup is going to begin in a few days. 19th feb India faces Bangladesh on their home turf in Dhaka in the opening match of the tournament. The tournament would go on till April 2. After a hectic world cup for the players they do need some rest. But then here comes the IPL. After a hectic world cup, the players have to face the music again in the 2nd week of April, when the IPL is expected to begin.
This crony capitalism in cricket is rampant. There is so much money involved in the game that the important issue of the fitness of the players is sidelined. No wonder cricket is overhyped in India. It is practiced like a religion and the players are adulated like Gods. And then when they lose matches they are brought down into the abyss in no time. The photographs of the players are laden with slippers and are burnt. This unreasonably silly behavior of the Indian mob towards the game gives some people the opportunity to exploit it and make big money. The IPL is an unnecessary appendage to the already hectic ICC calendar. That makes up for filling the pockets of players and their bosses in the BCCI.
The condition of the players playing games other than cricket is not so rosy. There are talented players starving for funds in almost every game. The commonwealth game in Delhi which was full of scams and under preparation was a good indication of what infrastructure do other games get in India. If it were for the IPL and not CWG, the organization would have been without any blemishes. This reflects the attitude which the country has towards other games. Australia, U.S.A. and China are sporting nations. People play sport there. People win Olympic medals for their country. We in India are a cricketing nation. We play cricket. We play IPL. We make money. We are so obsessed with one game that winning loads of medals in Olympics seems to be a distant dream for us.
What needs to be done? It is not wrong to be passionate about a game like cricket. But it is definitely not such a great thing to ignore other games which most of the countries of the world play. We watch football but we rank abysmally low to even dream of making it to the final 32 who play the world cup. We get peanuts in the Olympics. The thing which we lack in our country is interest. We are passionate about cricket but not even interested in playing other games. And that is because we do not win in other games, we do not watch those. This is a cycle. When we start winning, the country starts watching. So what we need is a start. First of all infrastructure, funds, facilities for the games and the encouragement is needed so that the players start playing the game with motivation and passion. The finally not-so-bad CWG in India were a good start. That initiative should not be lost now. The CWG village can be used by Indian players. The opportunity is there for the taking for the players now. Losing it will not be a wise thing to do.
This crony capitalism in cricket is rampant. There is so much money involved in the game that the important issue of the fitness of the players is sidelined. No wonder cricket is overhyped in India. It is practiced like a religion and the players are adulated like Gods. And then when they lose matches they are brought down into the abyss in no time. The photographs of the players are laden with slippers and are burnt. This unreasonably silly behavior of the Indian mob towards the game gives some people the opportunity to exploit it and make big money. The IPL is an unnecessary appendage to the already hectic ICC calendar. That makes up for filling the pockets of players and their bosses in the BCCI.
The condition of the players playing games other than cricket is not so rosy. There are talented players starving for funds in almost every game. The commonwealth game in Delhi which was full of scams and under preparation was a good indication of what infrastructure do other games get in India. If it were for the IPL and not CWG, the organization would have been without any blemishes. This reflects the attitude which the country has towards other games. Australia, U.S.A. and China are sporting nations. People play sport there. People win Olympic medals for their country. We in India are a cricketing nation. We play cricket. We play IPL. We make money. We are so obsessed with one game that winning loads of medals in Olympics seems to be a distant dream for us.
What needs to be done? It is not wrong to be passionate about a game like cricket. But it is definitely not such a great thing to ignore other games which most of the countries of the world play. We watch football but we rank abysmally low to even dream of making it to the final 32 who play the world cup. We get peanuts in the Olympics. The thing which we lack in our country is interest. We are passionate about cricket but not even interested in playing other games. And that is because we do not win in other games, we do not watch those. This is a cycle. When we start winning, the country starts watching. So what we need is a start. First of all infrastructure, funds, facilities for the games and the encouragement is needed so that the players start playing the game with motivation and passion. The finally not-so-bad CWG in India were a good start. That initiative should not be lost now. The CWG village can be used by Indian players. The opportunity is there for the taking for the players now. Losing it will not be a wise thing to do.
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