Thought for the day
"The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to
live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience, not from our
mental resolution to try a new form of life."
-
Leo Tolstoy (Russian,1828-1910)
Word for the day
Daunt (v)
To discourage;
lessen the courage of
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
For BJP, from a distance of 35k feet, Kiran Bedi looks no different from
Sakshi Maharaj; semantics apart.
Water, oil and PM's 3D
"Next War will be fought over water" has been a popular
dictum since past few decades. While till date the peak oil theory has been
challenged seriously and proved wrong time and again, there appears little
challenge to the ever looming threat of a global water crisis.
I wonder whether the investors who are sounding so bullish on
ONGC, would be equally interested, if not more, if water corporations of the
states of UP, Punjab, Bihar, and Maharashtra, which perhaps control the largest
amount of country's water resources, are corporatized and make a public
offering of their shares!
If you argue that I am comparing apples with oranges, I concede.
I believe, water boards develop and distribute a much more precious natural
resource and touch more lives in comparison to ONGC. In our country the
insatiate demand for safe drinking water is much higher as compared to fossil
fuel. We have seen more elections won or lost on the issue of water as compared
to fuel. So, water represents the PM Modi's 3D (demand, demography and
democracy) much more closely than fossil fuel produced by ONGC.
My point is simple and small. If I feel the state water boards
are in a state of junk and make no investment sense, so does ONGC. Though it
does provide some interesting trading opportunities which could be availed by
professional traders and fund managers who are skillful enough to do that.
A number of thinkers and policy makers shared their views on the
present day government at ET Global Business Summit. Almost all sounded
positive on the government and bullish on the Indian economy. I found some
notes worth saving, for example:
(a) "The
government will depend on a partnership with private sector for investment-led
growth, but will blend sound economics with political wisdom and repel any
greedy corporate effort to grab resources cheap". (The minister for coal,
power and renewable energy Piyush Goyal).
(b) "Higher
education leads to a slowdown in risk taking. Think of what would have happened
to the computer industry had Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison stayed
in school — they are all college dropouts. These people were made to be
entrepreneurs. Had someone like Bill Gates stayed at school would have ended up
as a manager, or a consultant. So that is my comment on university education.
On the other
hand, school is not just helpful, it is a condition, it is necessary."
(Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
(c) "Raising
rates will lead to a complete panic by a generation of traders who have not
seen interest rates rise before." (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
These comments should warn the traders who are (a) unreasonably
optimistic of companies perceived closer to the government (b) complacent about
the rate hike cycle in the USA.
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