Posts

Showing posts from September, 2012

The Hindu : Arts / History & Culture : Memories of an unsung war

The Hindu : Arts / History & Culture : Memories of an unsung war All war memories are awsome. Most of the time, memories of war are awesome. Except in mythology, till today, wars are fought between nations or armies which never enjoy a ‘level playing field’. 1962 war was thrust upon India , at a time this country was not prepared for a war in any sense. Patriotism of an army and preparedness of a nation to defend its freedom and geography at any cost were the only factors that kept India ‘going’, those days.   More tragic is the refusal of those who are destined to have a say in governments today to remember history and the marks (scars) wars have left on the face of humanity. Even at this moment, somewhere in the world, preparations for a war, much more disastrous than the 1962 war is in full swing. Developed nations improve their GDP by marketing war. Reminders like this article should open the eyes of those who are closing their eyes to lessons from the past, lest some of us

Auction, then and now

Some of you might ve read this earlier. Posted again in the context of auction controversy still going on! -M G Warrier Of Auction and Prices, Then and Now* By M G Warrier I have a special aversion to buying things which have no fixed price. Especially post-LPG (liberalization, privatization and globalization, circa 1991), this aversion has made my life miserable. If one has to buy things at reasonable prices, whether it is toilet soap or an air ticket, one has to be a market wizard. Like operating in the stock market, one has to select the time, day of the week, outlet and various other variables before carrying out a transaction. The recent controversy about sale of 2G spectrum bandwidths gave me the comfort that whether in buying or selling, governments are also facing dilemmas similar to the one I am averse to. I am in good company! Kapil Sibal gave me a bagful of relief when he argued that if Peter has been robbed, it is for paying Paul. The telecom ministe

Midas Touch PIL on small investor's “blocked money” postponed to 29th August - Moneylife

Midas Touch PIL on small investor's “blocked money” postponed to 29th August - Moneylife Law's delays: Sometimes court decisions are like LIC money, if you survive to collect maturity proceeds, not worth collecting!

Eradicating corruption: Power to the people - Moneylife

Eradicating corruption: Power to the people - Moneylife Emphasise on people's participation in governance...Introducing the concept of 'Corruption Index'

Warrier's My Page, October 2012

M G Warrier’s My Page A monthly bulletin from M G Warrier incorporating select published letters/articles (and some stray thoughts based on what he read/saw and wrote during the month). Mailed during the last week of every month. Please send your responses and views to mgwarrier@rediffmail.com Vol II, No 10, October 2012 M G Warrier, 2005/1-D, DREAMS, Bhandup(West), Mumbai-400078 (9349319479) Dear Reader From last issue, My Page is being posted on Warrier’s Blog accessible at mgwarrier.blogspot.com Links to articles and important comments are posted at the blog as and when they are published. Those esteemed readers who have difficulty in accessing blog can contact mgwarrier@rediffmail.com Regards M G Warrier The following articles were published during this year so far: 1. Men in khaki did the police proud: Hindu, March 4, 2012 2. Gold management needs a makeover: Business Line, April 13, 2012 3. What ails new pension scheme: July 2012, Moneylife.in 4. Poor hu

Part of inflation has been suppressed: Dr Subir Gokarn

Part of inflation has been suppressed: Dr Subir Gokarn Here is an admission from Dr Gokarn that part of the inflation has been suppressed. The further elucidation is interesting.

If you go by their ad, YV Reddy could become the next governor of Bank of England - Economic Times

If you go by their ad, YV Reddy could become the next governor of Bank of England - Economic Times About a rare recruitment ad

Business Line : Columns / B S Raghavan : Growing resistance to authority and control

Business Line : Columns / B S Raghavan : Growing resistance to authority and control  Opening a debate on governance Please also see my comments

#.UGOIFt-TKt8.blogger#.UGOIFt-TKt8.blogger#.UGOIFt-TKt8.blogger

#.UGOIFt-TKt8.blogger#.UGOIFt-TKt8.blogger#.UGOIFt-TKt8.blogger Report in Hindu, September 27, 2012 on "One rank, one pension"

VITALINFO: Egg-proofing inflation

VITALINFO: Egg-proofing inflation : The new Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan’s argument that inflation is being fuelled by people who have become rich and are demanding...

Business Line : Opinion / Letters : Ensuring accountability/Egg-proofing inflation

Business Line : Opinion / Letters : Ensuring accountability  Read also second letter from me on "Egg-proofing inflation"

Taxes are root cause for under-recovery of oil companies: Raise Your Voice -Part1 - Moneylife

Taxes are root cause for under-recovery of oil companies: Raise Your Voice -Part1 - Moneylife Subsidy, what? Some answers.

Business Line : Columns / B S Raghavan : End of a long association

Business Line : Columns / B S Raghavan : End of a long association Many thanks, BSR Sir. Writings like this pass on the wisdom from generation to generation. Beyond a befitting obit for the legend that is G Kasturi, this article gives tips that many of us who are not taking life ‘seriously’ after retirement can follow.

Business Line : Columns / C P Chandrasekhar & Jayati Ghosh : Whatever happened to microfinance?

Business Line : Columns / C P Chandrasekhar & Jayati Ghosh : Whatever happened to microfinance? We need to have an integrated approach to microfinance. Please see my comments.

The Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar: Dollar’s demise - Moneylife

The Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar: Dollar’s demise - Moneylife  We must get the book and read. Till then, let us comment on the review!

Money grows underground! - Moneylife

Money grows underground! - Moneylife You will enjoy reading this piece! M G Warrier

Business Line : Opinion : Gold management needs a makeover

Business Line : Opinion : Gold management needs a makeover Gold is again in the marketplace in the context of soaring prices and RBI's proposal to introduce new gold-backed financial instruments. This article will give some food for thought.

RBI to issue gold sovereign bonds to strengthen rupee

RBI to issue gold sovereign bonds to strengthen rupee This is a welcome move Please read this in the context of my article "Gold management needs a makeover" published in Hindu Business Line, April 13, 2012 (Link available on this Blog)

RBI mulling financial products to check gold imports - Moneylife

RBI mulling financial products to check gold imports - Moneylife  This is a welcome move Please see my comments

Business Line : Columns / C P Chandrasekhar & Jayati Ghosh : Whatever happened to microfinance?

Business Line : Columns / C P Chandrasekhar & Jayati Ghosh : Whatever happened to microfinance? Approach to microfinance should change. Pl read my comments M G Warrier

Verghese Kurien: The original social entrepreneur - Moneylife

Verghese Kurien: The original social entrepreneur - Moneylife Pl read this obit on Verghese Kurien by Sucheta Dalal

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Banking : Inflation, irritation widen gap between Govt, people

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Banking : Inflation, irritation widen gap between Govt, people  Read this in-depth analysis of common mans anger by Dr T V Gopalakrishnan I have added some comments to help you read between the lines

Emerging Kerala: Submerged priorities - Moneylife

Emerging Kerala: Submerged priorities - Moneylife  My take on Emerging Kerala Do read, contemplate, share and respond!

VITALINFO: Government mulls financial products to dampen gold...

VITALINFO: Government mulls financial products to dampen gold... : The government and financial sector regulators-the Reserve Bank of India a nd the Securities and Exchange Board of India -are in discussio...

How the middle class failed us

Read this MINT LOUNGE article in the context of my Moneylife article "Middleclass at crossroads" available elsewhere on this Blog: How the middle class failed us Instead of leading this country to modernity, we have chosen to run away from our problems Aakar Patel The prime suspect on the crime scene that is India is the middle class. Exactly 95.83% of Indians know absolutely nothing about India and they never will. This is because they haven’t travelled abroad (India has 50 million passport holders). They have no experience of difference. They will imagine the rest of the world behaves like us. The idea that corruption is an aberration in some societies, that traffic is not meant to be Hobbesian, that a single woman in public receives space, that physical work is not degrading and those who do it not menials, the idea that killing their daughters for falling in love is utterly alien to some cultures, that it is culture that keeps neighbourhoods clean and not the

Government mulls financial products to dampen gold demand

Please read the report "Government mulls financial products to dampen gold demand" in ET and my comments: Economic Times, September 17, 2012 17 Sep, 2012, 05.00AM IST, The writer has posted comments on this article Shaji Vikaraman & Hema Ramakrishnan,ET Bureau Government mulls financial products to dampen gold demand The government and financial sector regulators-the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India -are in discussions to launch financial products intended to discourage demand for gold in its physical form. MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The government and financial sector regulators-the Reserve Bank of IndiaBSE 3.74 % and the Securities and Exchange Board of India -are in discussions to launch financial products intended to discourage demand for gold in its physical form and excessive speculation in real estate. Data released by RBI last month showed that financial savings of Indian households, as a proportion of GDP or national income, f

Large cash market main driver of corruption: RBI - Moneylife

Large cash market main driver of corruption: RBI - Moneylife Corruption generating cash or vice versa? Find out!

Everybody except Congress slams diesel price hike, LPG policy - Moneylife

Everybody except Congress slams diesel price hike, LPG policy - Moneylife See online comments also

Don’t hate germs, they are our saviours! - Moneylife

Don’t hate germs, they are our saviours! - Moneylife Very informative article

Middle class at crossroads - Moneylife

Middle class at crossroads - Moneylife This is a ersonal request from me to you. Please read this article. It is about you and me or someone who is near and dear to you. Or some other whom you love or hate! m G Warrier

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Banking : Prepaid payment instruments yet to pick up: RBI

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Banking : Prepaid payment instruments yet to pick up: RBI  RBI Executive Director G Padmanabhan says PPIs(Pre-paid instruments) should get higher share in transactions.Read report and both comments. I am talking about Gold-backed Debit Cards!

FITNESS MASTER AT OLYMPICS

Harisankara Varma is son of Udaya Varma Raja who is my childhood friend (Class 5 to SSLC in Kadathanad Rajas High School, Purameri) SPORTSSTAR. From the publishers of THE HINDU VOL.35 :: NO.37 :: Sep. 15, 2012 BOXING / INTERVIEW/HARISANKARA VARMA A witness for fitness “As the physio of the boxing team, my core area is rehabilitation and muscle-strengthening,” Harisankara Varma tells S. R. Suryanarayan. Every sportsperson has to go through the grind, be it in training sessions with the coach or at the physio’s table. After all he or she needs to be moulded and chiselled to shape before entering the arena, irrespective of the sport. So it is in boxing, much more physical than others where the toning of the muscle involves special attention because, as physio Harisankara Varma, the man who looked after the Indian boxers in the London Olympics, put it, “the sport is all about quick movements and sharp punches.” Hari is a native of Kerala but is now well conversant in Hindi,

Strengthen RBI's balance sheet - Moneylife

Strengthen RBI's balance sheet - Moneylife Strengthening the balance sheet of Reserve Bank of India will help GOI to improve the country's image and thereby get a better assessment for the country globaly.

A child's guide to monetary policyDetails

Details It was a great idea to put together some simple features of monetary policy and explain them in more simple terms. I am sure some bankers (and central bankers) reading this will start speaking more sense in the coming days. Looking forward to read in this column or elsewhere, some suggestions for GOI and RBI to factor in some ingredients in Fiscal Policy and Monetary policies which will help flush out secret reserves of the millionaires and billionaires, which, if brought to mainstream, will make the economy grow at a much faster pace and at the same time make the lives of both the rich and poor more secure and worth living.

Business Line : Columns / S S Tarapore : An MRI on health of the economy

Business Line : Columns / S S Tarapore : An MRI on health of the economy   Read this in the context of next blog "Final Diagnosis"

State of Indian Economy: Final Diagnosis

Hindu Business Line, September 8, 2012 Letters Final diagnosis This refers to the article “An MRI on health of the economy” (Business Line, September 7). The manner in which the precarious position of the economy has been explained goes well with the transparency in policy announcement that the RBI has exhibited in recent years. If the powers that be refuse to listen and make drastic changes in fiscal policy to reduce the obesity of the RBI’s balance-sheet, it could lead to the death of the central bank, and there should be no excuse that the diagnosis was delayed. The concern about dwindling reserves (as percentage of asset size) deserves immediate attention. That the transfer of surplus profit to the Government at Rs 16,010 crore, as percentage of gross income, was lower by 10.4 per cent as compared with 2010-11 is no reason for comfort. M.G. Warrier Mumbai (This article was published on September 7, 2012) Business Line, September 7, 2012: An MRI on the health of

Manmohan Singh asks people to stand up against attitude of disruption - Moneylife

Manmohan Singh asks people to stand up against attitude of disruption - Moneylife Do something, PM, people will support!

Needed: Financial literacy for regulators - Moneylife

Needed: Financial literacy for regulators - Moneylife  A must read for savers and investors Check out where your savings are going. Also read my comments. M G Warrier

The bliss of old age - Moneylife

The bliss of old age - Moneylife A different view on old age Dr Hegde's prescription is worth trying by old people of all ages!

Empowering India - Assembly Election Results 2012: Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand

Empowering India - Assembly Election Results 2012: Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand This link came in as a forward in response to my article "A Finishing School for Politicians" Worht watching. M G Warrier

Make gold hallmarking mandatory to safeguard consumers: CAG - Moneylife

Make gold hallmarking mandatory to safeguard consumers: CAG - Moneylife Please read my comments here and my article "Gold management needs a makeover" in Business Line published on April 13, 2012 M G Warrier

The Hindu : Today's Paper / OPINION : Don’t undermine the auditor

The Hindu : Today's Paper / OPINION : Don’t undermine the auditor  It is comforting to see that media publishes articles like this. Institutions like CAG cannot always speak to media, even when criticism is unfounded.

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Banking : Cricket with tennis balls?#.UEP1W-b3kEk.blogger

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Banking : Cricket with tennis balls?#.UEP1W-b3kEk.blogger  Margins enjoyed by banks are irrationally high. So is the case of profit margins of industries. Read my comments: M G Warrier

RBI has only itself to blame

RBI has only itself to blame Possibly, this is something that the vocal RBI Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty should turn his attention to instead of railing at these banks, for the misdemeanours of the broader system. Because more than how these banks be.....have, the broader issue is how RBI approaches institutional issues in the banking sector, chasing will-o’-the-wisps. It is these aberrations that possibly encourage banks to pick up shortcuts....... Read.......... Posted by RBI PS FRATERNITY at 8:55:00 AM Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook1 comment: M G Warrier said... This takes us to a much wider HR issue. Inability to hire experts at market related compensation up to the position of Secretary/CEO in government and public sector is behind the reluctance of the government to take any diversion from the path of just shuffling over-aged civil servants and executives at the top instead of throwing at least some posts open for market competition. There ma

Of prices, people and policies

This article was published in the New Indian Express sometime back. Thought it worth sharing here. M G Warrier Of Prices, People and Policies The Nano experiment by Tata, among other things helped in opening up one thought process in the industrial circle world over. That is about the need to relate cost to prices. Till Nano days, prices were driven by market conditions and cost did have a very insignificant role in deciding prices. When Ratan Tata pegged the price of his dream car at rupees one lakh and asked his team to work backwards and make it possible, various market players reacted to the idea in diverse ways. People in the manufacturing field viewed the idea with scepticism and pessimism and consumers worried about the quality of the product getting affected with attempts at cost reduction. A conscious effort to understand the real components of price we pay for goods and services in daily life will give startling results. The eye opener for me to think on these lines w

A finishing school for politicians - Moneylife

A finishing school for politicians - Moneylife This is my fourth article Moneylife has published. Earlier ones were on NPS, HR Management in Pubic Sector and Corruption: Achallenge to managers. Do read, respond and share views. M G Warrier

Rights, Duties and Responsibilities

This article was published in Dignity Dialogue sometime back Read, share/respond. Regards M G Warrier RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITY AND DUTIES M G Warrier These days, especially during the days preceding the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, we will be coming across several sermons on rights, responsibilities and duties. Just as an academic exercise, let us have a bird’s eye view of these aspects based on the text of our Constitution. RIGHTS Most of us are aware of our rights. Still, it will be interesting to look at them in the context of what the authors of our Constitution had to say about them. The Indian Constitution specifically protects rights such as right to life, right to education, right to work, right to property and right against exploitation. A perusal of the following Articles of the Constitution will throw more light on the kind of rights protected under the Constitution: • Protection of life and personal liberty Article 21- No person shall be deprived of his

RBI doubles contingency reserve, surplus transfer to Centre falls - Indian Express

RBI doubles contingency reserve, surplus transfer to Centre falls - Indian Express There is need to further augment RBI's reserves. Pl see my comments. M G Warrier

RBI doubles contingency reserve, surplus transfer to Centre falls - Indian Express

RBI doubles contingency reserve, surplus transfer to Centre falls - Indian Express