Do it yourself

Thought for the day ”Maids want nothing but husbands, and when they have them, they want everything." -           William Shakespeare (English, 1564-1616) Word for the day P lebeian (adj) Vulgar; common; crude or coarse in nature or manner. (Source: Dictionary.com) Teaser for the day TRS chief says "Will bury anyone who dares disrespect Telangana"! What could be worst disrespect to the motherland than suggesting that it is capable of being disrespected by any tom dick harry? Some books to finish and few places to visit In past few days, I have outlined my thoughts on hurdles Indian economy faces in achieving a sustainable 8%+ growth path. Positively, many readers have appreciated that there is little on the ground which could kick start the virtuous cycle of "higher income - saving - consumption - investment - income" in near term. Most also agree that morning st...

Thought for the day ”I am not bound to please thee with my answer. " -           William Shakespeare (English, 1564-1616) Word for the day Taciturn (adj) Habitually silent; not inclined to talk. (Source: Dictionary.com) Teaser for the day After Uttrakhand last year, it's J&K this year! Is anyone listening what Mother Nature has to say? On the brass tacks -IV Historically, a large majority of Indian businesses have grown on government patronage and/or resource arbitrage opportunities and have been low on innovation, productivity and scale. The politically advantageous socialistic façade of the government, especially during 1950-1990 led to misallocation of resources, trade and capital controls, demand suppression, and protectionism that promoted low productivity. The conditions have changed in past 10-15years but not sufficiently to make a majority of Indian bus...

Thought for the day ” Lawless are they that make their wills their law." -           William Shakespeare (English, 1564-1616) Word for the day Bevy (n) A group; an assembly or collection. (Source: Dictionary.com) Teaser for the day Surprisingly Congress Party does not appear to be making much effort to ask voters, who have rejected it, what went wrong! The leaders are audaciously persistent with their claim that gullible and innocent voters were misled by the false propaganda of BJP On the brass tacks -III Capital and enterprise are two most critical elements for sustainable growth in any economy. At present Indian economy is facing inadequacy of both. Capital adequacy Capital could be in the form of risk capital (equity) or fixed return capital (debt). For long gestation high risk infrastructure projects in a developing economy where capacity to pay for se...

On the brass tacks -II In past 15years or so, great emphasis has been placed on building of physical infrastructure by private sector enterprise. The private public partnership (PPP) model has been aggressively promoted for building infrastructure assets and public utilities like roads, airports, rapid urban transport system. Many projects under PPP model have failed to produce desired results. Besides a large number of projects are mired in controversies. The reasons are many and varied. Administrative delays in granting necessary approvals, failure in evolving and implementing an appropriate compensation and rehabilitation policy leading to frequent public protests, stalling of work and judicial intervention are some popular reason cited for partial failure of PPP model. In my view, inadequate or no attention to social costs and sustainability concerns are bigger reasons. For example, consider the long jams at toll booths across cities. A detailed social audit m...

Thought for the day ” Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone. " -           Jesus Christ Word for the day Cavil (int. verb) To raise trivial objections; also , a trivial objection (Source: Dictionary.com) Teaser for the day If religion of Sanskrit is Hindu, what is the religion of English, Urdu, Tamil, Bangla, Malyalam, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, French, German....? Why bother about things you can't help I am fortunate to have critics who are most charitable in their criticism. For past two weeks especially they are leaving nothing to imagination., Some of them have even picked up selective Punjabi expletives to express their frustration with me. Their main objection is to my nonchalance to seemingly exciting events and data, e.g., Ukraine, Pakistan, Gaza, ECB stimulus, Fed tightening, etc. My point is that anything which can be cle...

Thought for the day ”For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" -           Jesus Christ   Word for the day B letting (n) The ripening of fruit, especially of fruit stored until the desired degree of softness is attained. (Source: Dictionary.com)   Teaser for the day Pakistan gets its own AAP moment. There are lesson for all - Anna, Quadri, Kejriwal, Imran, Manmohan, Sharif and Modi!   Solve the puzzle In past couple days some market commentators and analysts have made seriously buoyant forecasts about Indian equity markets, almost disregarding the global unease about the bond and equity rallies in developed markets. It certainly feels good to hear calls for 10000 Nifty level in next 6-7months translating into 25% return from the current levels. The latest trigger for the bu...

Thought for the day ” Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." -           Jesus Christ Word for the day Osculate (v) To kiss (Source: Dictionary.com) Teaser for the day Hindu, Hindi, Indian, Bhartiya, Hinduness, Hindutava, Indianness, Bhartiyata   - What is the debate actually?   It's not UPA vs. NDA India GDP expanded 5.7% in 1QFY15, confirming the trend witnessed in past couple of quarters. This is highest rate of growth in nine quarters. Though the long term growth trajectory, considered necessary for substantial investment in building additional capacities and generating sustainable employment is expected to remain stuck at 6% for at least 3 more years, it is comforting to note that the economy has perhaps already hit the rock. The trend from here most likely will be pos...

Thought for the day ” When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run. " -           Abraham Lincoln (American, 1809-1865) Word for the day Rusticate (v) To go to the country (Source: Dictionary.com) Teaser for the day Is Modi relying too much on Japan? or Vice versa is also true?   No free rides Yesterday I called 50people randomly selected from my phone book to ask "what if Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, WhatsApp, and Yahoo are not available from tomorrow morning?". The reactions were unusually but expectedly uniform. I could imagine that all of them had expression "are you mad?" and "Do ya even realize what're you talkin' 'bout?" Not surprised, I followed this up with a supplementary "what is all these service providers start charging for their services?" Now the silence was deafening. The unease w...