Do it yourself

Monday, April 27, 2015

Beyond the view of sky scrappers

Thought for the day

"I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else."

- Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)

Word for the day

Intenerate (v)

To make soft or tender; soften.

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Malice towards none

Why the conscience of the studio experts is shaken only when a crime - rape, suicide, murder, etc. - occurs in Delhi?

Beyond the view of sky scrappers

India, one of the best performing markets in 2014, is doing badly in 2015. Sensex is flat on YTD basis. This is despite Rs528bn net foreign portfolio investment flow into equities (upto 25th April). The YTD returns in Indian equities compares with China (36%), Russia (33%) and Brazil (11%).

The following news in last week's newspaper adequately summarize the reason for India's underperformance:

* Foreign investors upset over retroactive tax demand

* IMD predicts sub-normal monsoon for 2015

* A farmer allegedly commits suicide at a political rally in Central Delhi

* Government faces stiff resistance from opposition over key legislative business like Land Acquisition Bill and Constitution Amendment Bill to introduce GST

* Earnings season continue to be disappointing. Infosys fails to meet its own guidance.

Translating the above news headlines into economic and market context, we get the following:

* The promise of consistency in taxation policy has been misunderstood to mean safe passage for all tax avoidance tactics.

* The slowdown in rural economy that started last summer may extend to this summer, seriously impacting the consumption demand.

* The distress and anguish is rising to ominous proportion at the bottom of the society.

* There is little chance of any consensus emerging amongst political class over serious issues of economic importance. Anti BJPism has replaced Anti Congressism thus paving the way for strong partisan obstruction to most government business.

* The weak global and domestic demand is hurting businesses across sectors. The premium valuations for "quality stocks" may not sustain.

Cleaning toilets is wonderful, but much more needs to be done

The recent interview of famous commodity investor Jim Rogers, published in MINT, highlights the unrest amongst foreign investors.

I may not agree with the Roger's criticism of the incumbent government, but I could correlate to his frustration.

There are many investors and traders who sincerely hoped that PM Modi is secretly carrying a magic wand, which he will use to get India rid of all her problems as soon as he assumes the office of prime minister. No surprise these people are disappointed.

The disappointment of Jim Rogers perhaps comes from the fact that he barely knows India beyond Mumbai and Delhi. He assumed that stock market would be a top priority of the government as soon as it assumes office.

Unfortunately, it is true for many of us. We tend to evaluate the government performance by the return on our investments. We tend to overlook the fact that not more than 2.5% of India's population is concerned with stock markets, and not more than 25% is bothered about the rate of interest offered by banks on deposits or repo rate of RBI. The picture outside RBI and Stock Exchanges is much bigger.

Anyways, coming back to my groove, I share the frustration of all investors, including Jim Roger. My investments are also not performing well. The performance is likely to worsen further in coming months. In this context the following quotes from the said interview would come handy to boast - "I knew it. I could see it coming".

"I had bought shares in India—it was one of the few times I’ve done that in my life, and it was because of the new government. So far, the new government has done nothing but talk, and it is a shame because Modi had experience; he said he knew what needs to be done. He campaigned for many months saying he knows how to fix India, but he has done very little. Cleaning toilets is wonderful, but as far as building the economy or changing India (goes), he has not done very much. I still own Indian shares, and I wonder if I should continue holding, because, after a year of no action, you begin to wonder if anything is going to happen. One might say he is getting ready to act, but Modi had run a provincial government for a long time and he knows what to do. So what is all this talk about? I am getting disillusioned about India, but I’ve not acted yet."

"I have always been negative on India, because it is an impossible place. But Modi has a very large majority, he has experience, he has the contacts, and if anybody could do something, it has to be him. If he can’t do it, then I don’t want to remain invested in India. If he can’t save India, no one else can. So I would want to sell."

"Modi tells a good story. He is doing all the right things, but so far there has been no real action. I hope I am early—I am beginning to wonder if he is for real. I hope I am the first to see if he is for real. If he is not for real, I hope to get out early—I don’t want to get out of India after everyone else has done it. Modi has done a few small things, but these small reforms have had very little impact on India’s economy. Toilets are good for people, but Modi has not done much to improve the overall economic standard of living, or done much for investors."

"Russia has been one of the strongest and most attractive stock markets in the world this year. Russia has vast natural resources, it is not a debtor nation and, unlike India, it doesn’t have exchange controls. If anybody should have changed that, it should have been Modi; but he is not doing anything about exchange controls. There are many things going right with Russia. The price of oil has collapsed, which is hurting Russia badly, but that has already happened—it is old news and it will not have much of an impact in the future. Russia is perhaps the most hated stock market in the world even though it is among the best performing. That is because most people’s reaction is, why would you invest in Russia? There are good things happening in Russia that are attracting me as an investor."

"China and Russia are much more attractive than India to my mind. Chinese and Russian markets are very big. Indonesia might be more attractive than India currently. Japan is attractive. I am not sure how long global investors will be patient with India, but I am beginning to lose patience. If investors are still positive, that is good news for me, because I want to be out before them. Modi is a popular guy and he has not done anything wrong so far—inaction is the only wrong he has done so far. He has not done anything foolish that will make investors say, “Oh my God—let us get out of here.” His is a sin of omission."

Jim Rogers comes from the land of opportunity and liberty. USA and American supposedly value the liberty and democracy more than anything else. These are the values that have made USA what it is today.

If he, and other traders like him, feel that they can trade off these values for money ( just a few basis points not a whole lot of it) good luck to them.

I would rather continue to have strong belief in these values and the story of India that is shaping up fast and nice beyond the view of the sky scrapers of Delhi and Mumbai.

Interesting reads:

What Swaraj meant to Gandhi?

U.S. Corporations Spent $1 Trillion in Stock Buybacks

When Your Banana-Guy Starts Trading Stocks, You Know It's Over

Ireland’s Lessons for Greece

Trivia

By trekking 16kms to the holy shrine of Baba Kedarnath, Rahul Gandhi, and through him the Congress Party, apparently seeks to achieve the following immediate goals:

(a) Set aside the scandalous debate on his religious affiliation and orientation;

(b) Demolish secularism as the fulcrum of anti BJP politics;

(d) Create a rift in Sant Samaj, an important traditional support group of BJP, over the issue of unquestionable support to BJP and RSS;

(e) Preparing ground for a viable third front in Bihar election - NDA, Janta Privar and UPA.

How much the idea will succeed, only time will tell.

Nonetheless, it is clear that Congress is opening to new ideas and willing to take risk in experimentation.

Digvijay Singh is emerging as the Chanakya to Rahul Gandhi. And this is a matter of concern.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

US economic growth trend to remain weak through 2040

Thought for the day

"Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility."

- Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)

Word for the day

Gauche (adj)

Lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless:

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Malice towards none

First chaiwala and now suitwala!

Can't wait to hear next speech of PM Modi - when he tears into the fabric of Congress party.

US economic growth trend to remain weak through 2040

Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015) released recently by the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), highlights a number of interesting trends in global growth and consequent impact on energy consumption and pricing.

The report presents a base case for the energy outlook over a period till 2040 (the AEO2015 Reference case) and compares it with five alternative cases, viz., (1) Low oil prices; (2) High oil price; (3) Low economic growth; (4) High economic growth, and (5) High oil and gas resource.

The key highlights of the AEO2015 are as follows:

Ø Growth in U.S. energy production—led by crude oil and natural gas—and only modest growth in demand reduces U.S. reliance on imported energy supplies. Energy imports and exports come into balance in the United States starting in 2028 in the AEO2015 Reference case and in 2019 in the High oil price and High oil and gas resource cases. Natural gas is the dominant U.S. energy export, while liquid fuels continue to be imported.

Ø Through 2020, strong growth in domestic crude oil production from tight formations (Shale) leads to a decline in net petroleum imports and growth in net petroleum product exports in all AEO2015 cases.

Ø The United States transitions from being a modest net importer of natural gas to a net exporter by 2017. U.S. export growth continues after 2017, with net exports in 2040 ranging from 3.0 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in the Low Oil Price case to 13.1 Tcf in the High Oil and Gas Resource case.

Ø U.S. energy consumption grows at a modest rate over the AEO2015 projection period, averaging 0.3%/year from 2013 through 2040 in the base case.

Ø Rising long-term natural gas prices, the high capital costs of new coal and nuclear generation capacity, state-level policies, and cost reductions for renewable generation in a market characterized by relatively slow electricity demand growth favor increased use of renewables.

Brent prices to stay below US$100/bbl till 2028

In the base case, continued growth in U.S. crude oil production contributes to a 43% decrease in the Brent crude oil price, to $56/bbl in 2015 (Figure ES1). Prices rise steadily after 2015 in response to growth in demand from countries outside the OECD; however, downward price pressure from continued increases in U.S. crude oil production keeps the Brent price below $80/bbl through 2020. U.S. crude oil production starts to decline after 2020, but increased production from non-OECD countries and from countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) contributes to the Brent price remaining below $100/bbl through 2028 and limits the Brent price increase through 2040, when it reaches $141/bbl.

There is significant price variation in the alternative cases using different assumptions. In the Low Oil Price case, the Brent price drops to $52/bbl in 2015, 7% lower than in the Reference case, and reaches $76/bbl in 2040, 47% lower than in the Reference case, largely as a result of lower non-OECD demand and higher upstream investment by OPEC. In the High Oil Price case, the Brent price increases to $122/bbl in 2015 and to $252/bbl in 2040, largely in response to significantly lower OPEC production and higher non-OECD demand. In the High Oil and Gas Resource case, assumptions about overseas demand and supply decisions do not vary from those in the Reference case, but U.S. crude oil production growth is significantly greater, resulting in lower U.S. net imports of crude oil, and causing the Brent spot price to average $129/bbl in 2040, which is 8% lower than in the Reference case.

In the base case, the Henry Hub natural gas spot price (in 2013 dollars) rises from $3.69/million British thermal units (Btu) in 2015 to $4.88/million Btu in 2020 and to $7.85/million Btu in 2040, as increased demand in domestic and international markets leads to the production of increasingly expensive resources.

US economic growth trend to remain weak through 2040

In the base case the U.S. population is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 0.7%, real GDP at 2.4%, labor force at 0.6%, and nonfarm labor productivity at 2.0% from 2013 to 2040.

In the base case U.S. real GDP is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 2.4% from 2013 to 2040—a rate that is 0.4 percentage points slower than the average over the past 30 years. GDP expands in the Reference case by 3.1% in 2015, 2.5% in 2016, 2.6% from 2015 to 2025, and 2.4% from 2015 to 2040.

Interest rates to stabilize at little higher level post 2015

The nominal interest rates over the 2013-40 period are generally expected to be lower than those observed for the preceding 30 years. At present, the term structure of interest rates is still at the lowest level seen over the past 40 years. In 2012, the federal funds rate averaged 0.1%.

Longer-term nominal interest rates are projected to average around 6.0%, which is lower than the previous 30-year average of 7.8%. After 2015, interest rates in ensuing five-year periods through 2040 are expected to stabilize at a slightly higher level than the five-year averages through 2013, 2014, and 2015, as the result of a modest inflation rate.

Use of gas and renewables to grow at expense of liquid fuels, coal steady

In the base case total primary energy consumption is projected to grow in by 8.6 quadrillion Btu (8.9%), from 97.1 quadrillion Btu in 2013 to 105.7 quadrillion Btu in 2040.

Most of the growth may come from consumption of natural gas and renewable energy. Consumption of petroleum products across all sectors in 2040 may be unchanged from 2013 levels, as motor gasoline consumption in the transportation sector declines as a result of a 70% increase in the average efficiency of on-road light-duty vehicles (LDVs), which more than offsets projected growth in vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

Total motor gasoline consumption in the transportation sector is projected to be about 3.4 quadrillion Btu (1.8 million barrels per day (bbl/d)) lower in 2040 than in 2013, and total petroleum consumption in the transportation sector about 1.6 quadrillion Btu (0.9 million bbl/d) lower in 2040 than in 2013.

In the transportation sector, which continues to dominate demand for petroleum and other liquids, there could be a shift from motor gasoline to distillate. Increased use of compressed natural gas and LNG in vehicles could replace about 3% of petroleum and other liquids consumption in the transportation sector in 2040.

Consumption of marketed renewable energy may increase by about 3.6 quadrillion Btu in the base case, from 9.0 quadrillion Btu in 2013 to 12.5 quadrillion Btu in 2040, with most of the growth in the electric power sector. Hydropower, the largest category of renewable electricity generation in 2013, contributes little to the increase in renewable fuel consumption. Wind-powered generation, the second-largest category of renewable electricity generation in 2013, may become the largest contributor in 2038 (including wind generation by utilities and end-users onsite). However, solar photovoltaics (6.8%/year), geothermal (5.5%/ year), and biomass (3.1%/year) all increase at faster average annual rates than wind (2.4%/year), including all sectors.

Interesting reads

Should Asia’s Governments Spend More?

In the past two decades, careful financial management and export booms helped repair Asia’s balance sheets. Many policy makers don’t want to undo that good work. In Indonesia, for instance, public debt-to-gross domestic product ratio went from nearly 90% in 2000 to 25% in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund. (WSJ)

ECB Leaves Greek banks hard-pressed to survive

In what seems like a coincidental retaliation for Greece's pivot to Russia (and following Greece's initiation of capital controls), the supposedly independent European Central Bank has decided suddenly that - after dishing out €74 billion of emergency liquidity to the Greek National Bank to fund its banks - as The NY Times reports, the value of the collateral that Greek banks post at their own central bank to secure these loans be reduced by as much as 50%, and the haircuts could increase if negotiations with Europe remain at an impasse. As we detailed earlier, this is about as worst-case-scenario for Greece as is 'diplomatically' possible currently, and highlights an increasingly hard line by The ECB toward The Greeks as the move will leave banks hard-pressed to survive. (Zero Hedge)

Trivia

Facts

Kharif 2014 - Crop lower due to sub-normal monsoon.

Rabi 2015 - Crop lower due to abnormal rains and hail storms.

Kharif 2015 - Crop may be impacted due to sub-normal monsoon.

Doubts

Will farmer distress reflect in forthcoming Bihar election?

Will foreign investors pause for a minute to have a rethink on India story?

Will fiscal maths of the government fail - lower tax collection, higher borrowing, and higher yields?

Will the stress on financial system continue to rise?

Is PM Modi's luck deserting him after 15yrs?

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

I hate you like I love you

Thought for the day

"My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso."

- Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)

Word for the day

Atticism (n)

Concise and elegant expression, diction, or the like.

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Malice towards none

One thing the Congress Party has certainly not learned in past fifteen years - It is tough to beat Narendra Modi in Bhashan Bazzi!

I hate you like I love you

The controversy over applicability of MAT to book profit of foreign portfolio investors is unfortunate; though it is not new and perhaps not the last one to erupt.

In past 15yrs the markets have faced the brunt of concentrated selling, whenever the government of day or the regulators have raised the issues such as misuse of DTAA with Mauritius, money laundering in the garb of foreign portfolio investment, and taxation of foreign investor at par with domestic investors.

Unfortunately, on no occasion the government or the regulator could withstand the pressure. The sharp fall in the equity prices and currency would almost instantaneously invite a retraction of the thought.

Five things stand out clearly from this trend:

(a) The ghost of the collapse of Thai Baht and consequent trouble in Asian economies in late 1990's has left a lasting impact on Indian psyche.

(b) We have miserably failed in managing the paradox - Cursing the influence of foreign culture and capital on India and sparing no occasion to invite, welcome and embrace anything foreign.

It reminds me the love and hate relationship between Lord Krushna and Gopis of the Brij pradesh. Gopis would curse Krushna and vow daily that they would not give into his charms. But the hatred and resistance would last only till the time they heard the magical notes of his flute.

(c) In past 25yrs of their presence in India, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have frequently caused huge volatility in Indian markets. We have not seen any credible plan to manage this phenomenon.

(d) We have not been able to decouple the long term real investment (FDI) and relatively short term FPI investment. The latter though much smaller leads the trend of flow in the former.

(e) Despite tough stance of FM Arun Jaitely on issue of applicability of MAT on FPIs, a 10% further fall in market will see a retraction.

China’s RRR cut reeks of desperation

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is “desperate” to control Shanghai’s red-hot equity rally, analysts said, after the central bank slashed the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on Sunday.

The 100 basis-point RRR cut to 18.5 percent is the biggest since 2008 and comes in response to a sharp selloff in stock futures on Friday after the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) tightened margin trading rules. The CSRC aims to cool Shanghai’s stock market, which is up over 30 percent year to date at seven-year highs. Futures plunged during late trading on Friday, with the China A50 futures contract down 6 percent in New York.

“After the announcement on Friday, stock futures were looking horrible so something needed doing to put a floor under that from a short-term point of view. But everybody’s going to take a look at this and say ‘hold on, why are they [PBoC] overreacting so strongly?’ People are going to start sensing desperation here,” Paul Gambles, co-founder of MBMG Group, told CNBC on Monday.

Indeed, policy watchers were scratching their heads over the series of conflicting announcements. The PBoC is scrambling to ensure stability in China’s notoriously volatile share market, said Mark Andersen, global co-head of Asset Allocation at UBS CIO Wealth Management.

“They want to see markets go up to some extent, but not out of control. With some of this margin financing, they want to see a relatively stable capital market with property prices falling so they don’t mind equity prices moving up a bit to support the broader economy, but they don’t want to see bubble territory,” Anderson said.

The PBOC ‘needs’ markets

The magnitude of Sunday’s RRR cut confirms that authorities have become increasingly dependent on equity markets, economists say.

Beijing is using the stock market to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship and channel liquidity to the real economy to hedge economic downside risk, as well as to facilitate deleveraging of state-owned enterprises, HSBC said in a report. “[The RRR cut] is a political goal to create wealth effects in both A- and H-share markets.”

This past weekend was a replay of recent events, according to Macquarie Securities. Three months ago, the CSRC rolled out margin financing curbs on a Friday, only to back down Monday night after markets slumped.

These about-turns in policy aren’t surprising though “as policy makers need equity markets more than ever,” the bank said.

Time to cash out

“Crazy things like a 100 bps RRR cut are not going to help confidence. It’s going to make people respond in the short term, but people will remain negative in the long-term,” said MBMG’s Gambles, who recommends investors to cash out now.

(Reproduced from Contra Corner)

Will Kaisa's default trigger more defaults?

Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. captivated Wall Street by minting fortunes from troubled real estate in China.

Now the developer is in trouble itself -- and the question is how far the pain will spread.

On Monday, the news came that many had been dreading for months: The company, caught up in an anti-corruption probe, is buckling under its debts as a slumping real estate market weighs on the entire Chinese economy. After missing $52 million in interest payments, Kaisa, once a stock market darling, now confronts an uncertain future.

It’s a remarkable comedown for a company that burst onto the scene in 2007 as billions poured into Chinese real estate. Its troubles, long in coming, have set investors on edge and have many asking if Kaisa is a one-off or the start of something worse. Just last week, Standard & Poor’s warned that “more defaults cannot be ruled out,” saying it’s concerned profitability in the Chinese property sector is faltering.

“More than one big developer is going to go under,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan who examines legal issues in corporate and sovereign debt restructuring efforts. “Busts follow booms. There’s no reason for it to be any different in China.”

While reaction to the default was muted in Chinese markets on Tuesday, the saga has sparked jitters among the country’s corporate bond investors on multiple occasions over the past several months. (Bloomberg)

Trivia

The Japanese drug maker Dai-ichi Sankyo bid Sayonara to India by off loading its entire ~9% stake in Sun Pharmaceutical Limited. This obviously raises a big questions - "WHY?".

The true answers to this will however be known only when some big shot at Dai-ichi or Sun publishes his biography or memoires, perhaps a decade or two later.

Some possible answers are:

(a) Ranbaxy was a nightmare, which some big shot at Dai-ichi just could not bear any longer.

(b) Dai-ichi found Sun to be an expensive and had better alternatives.

(d) Dai-ichi management knows something bad about either Sun or Dai-ichi, that the public would come know in due course.

Anyways, Singh brothers must be having a good laugh.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Are we ready for Gen Y?

Thought for the day

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

- Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)

Word for the day

Brio (n)

Vigor, Vivacity

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Malice towards none

In the national interest, the PM should start each day by publically apologizing to all aggrieved by sundry comments, remarks, tweets, writings etc. of all members of BJP, NDA allies and other friendly organizations.

Are we ready for Gen Y?

Historically, the Indian entrepreneurs have been constricted by the culturally strong agriculture mindset. The hard working and intelligent people missed the entire industrial revolution as a consequence. To some extent the colonial rule could be held responsible. But largely it was the mindset that was responsible.

Most entrepreneurs did not think long term, hence did not invested much in R&D activities. They would rather import technology and pay royalty for it.

Furthermore, most entrepreneurs were easily satiated. Complacency would easily meander through their enterprise. A few which had travelled, worked or studied abroad did only think big.

The governments also preferred less consumption over more production. You needed to pay annual license fee for owning a radio set and bi-cycle. Long queues for cement, sugar, scooters, telephone, cars, kerosene, diesel, passport, were order of the day and not much protested about.

The generation post Maruti 800 is not so constricted by this mindset. And particularly those born post 1991 have not seen experienced these queues. These people were born with color TV beaming many channels through satellite in their homes.

This post 1991 generation is now coming out of business schools. These young men are global in their vision, hungry in their stomach, and have resources to take risk. They do not stutter while talking about billion dollar. Their role models are likes of Jeff Bezos, Steve Job, Larry Page and Mark Zukerberg.

Anyone could see the change not only through Flipkart and Snapdeal, but through traditional businesses like Haldiram.

These are the people who will define the economic history of India in 21 century.

The question is whether our systems are ready to support these young entrepreneurs.

Capital markets are not yet ready

The primary function of the capital market is to provide an organized platform to entrepreneurs who have business ideas and want capital to fund the execution of their business ideas.

The secondary market for securities through which various entrepreneurs have raised money in past (popularly known as stock market) is an essential part of the capital market. It is this part that helps in discovery of current price of the issued securities and also seeks to facilitate trade in such securities.

Price discovery and liquidity are thus two primary functions of stock markets. These two functions usually supplement each other. Adequate liquidity is pre-requisite for an efficient price discovery. A fair price discovery mechanism on the other hand augments the liquidity through a wider and deeper participation.

An investor in corporate securities therefore needs to bother about two things:

(a) Whether the entrepreneur in whose business the investors is investing is his money, has a viable business idea, is competent enough to profitably execute that business idea and economic environment is supportive to him.

(b) Whether he will be able to liquidate the investments so made at a fair price, whenever desired, subject to any statutory lock-in restrictions.

Since 1991, the market regulator and government have played no role in pricing of the transaction between the issuer and investors. Despite an overwhelming number of issuer failing in achieving their business goals as stated in the offer documents, or even changing their goals altogether, the regulators have refrained from imposing any restrictions on pricing of public offer of securities. Caveat emptor is the rule followed in latter and spirit.

However, same is the not the case with secondary market operations. (a) Except for prescribing a minimum "25% public holding" norm, there is no market mechanism to ensure adequate liquidity for the publically traded securities; and (b) There are restrictions in fair price discovery in form of daily circuit limits.

Consequently, the stock market in India lacks depth and breadth. The skew in the traded volume at stock exchanges is worrying. Even at current elevated level of market activity, top 100 stocks account for over 75% volume at NSE. More than 50% of the listed securities do not trade on daily basis.

In an admittance of failure to control market manipulation and malpractices of "operator-promoter" combine, daily movement limits ranging from 2-20% are imposed on all stocks not traded in derivative segment.

Politicians are not yet ready

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is reflection of this change. It has successfully demonstrated that the 1990's generation could defeat the traditional politician comprehensibly. Given the opportunity these people will show that they could assimilate the modern milieu much better and manage the affairs of the state accordingly. (It is pertinent to clarify that the author sincerely believes that Arvind Kejriwal is constricting the growth of the idea of AAP to service his personal ego and aspirations.)

Whereas the traditional politicians are refusing to even acknowledge the change. They are still stuck in medieval history and skeptical of anything foreign.

· The debate over FDI is marred by this mindset.

· The whole debate over secularism vs. communalism emanates from it.

· The whole debate over gender equality, women security, social justice, and racism germinates in this mindset.

Feudal Giriraj Singh is pulling the maverick Modi back.

Feudal Digvijay SIngh will not let Rahul Gandhi set himself free.

Feudal Mulayam and his brother are constricting Akhilesh.

Trivia

Considering the communist leanings of Neta Ji, BJP's emotions for him raise doubts.

Is it a case of enemy's enemy my friend; or

It is just "let's try we have nothing to lose"!

The indications so far are that it is going to be hell of a mudslinging match that will leave all red faced in the end.