Couldnt ask for more...At peace...
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, October 2, 2009
Carnage of the Indian Monsoons...
The Indian government was the first to defy the pessimistic overtures of the World Bank and several reputed international organizations when they said that we would grow at a modest pace of 5- 6 percent. No doubt, the country is making rapid progress across all sectors but the main ingredient of the Indian success story has been the phantom like nature of the Indian monsoons.
As usual the monsoons this season have been erratic in nature. The stock markets in fact seem to be more predictable in the past months than the amount of rain showers expected in the country. Nevertheless despite all the technological advancements the wholly agrarian Indian economy is still at the mercy of rains.
The showers this season have been painfully lacking fervour. The total cumulative rainfall till now has been 26% below the long-term average and according to the latest data from Indian Meteorological Department, only 13 out of 35 states and union territories have recorded either normal or excess rainfall till August. These statistics make it the most profound drought situation in the last three decades.
The world over scientists have formulated a variety of theories for the lack of characteristic rains this season. Some have even reached conclusions which state that the end of the traditional Indian rainy season might be near and it might be soon replaced by longer dry spells and shorter wet spells.
More than 60 % of the Indian population is still dependent on agriculture. And one drought cycle is enough to play havoc with the spending capacities of the people in the economy. To top it up about 60 percent of Indians agriculture land is dependent on rains. The lack of rains spells further bad news for the billion plus citizens of the nation already suffering from the catastrophic effects of the world wide recession.
The Government of Indian has to some extent been able to tide the ill effects of a poor monsoon by already providing a huge farm loan waiver couple of years back and riding the progress of the nation on the back of a jubilant services sector. It is also to be credited to scrap the decision to export 900,000 tonnes of wheat and withhold the same as national reserves in case of a major drought situation. It has also announced plans to increase power supply and subsidize diesel to farmers to help them overcome the effects. The low rainfall will impact the summer as well as winter crop for the year as cultivation of important crops like rice, wheat, sugarcane and soya have suffered immensely.
The impact of less rainfall will be felt immensely on the of the world’s second fastest growing economy. And it will be significant in terms of the timing when the entire world is now trying to recover from the catastrophic effects of the recession. The rains for sure are going to impact the rural spending which now forms the backbone of the nation and is the major contributor to the GDP limping back to a healthy and optimistic 9 percent.
The sectors that have been badly affected are such as banks, automobiles including tractors, fertilizers, pesticides and agro-inputs, FMCG, and cement.
The Information technology sector has however been the least affected due to the virtually zero dependency on monsoons. The trend to outsource has in fact been helping several nations including India to counter the effects of the impending drought.
After gaining for the past five months the Indian stock markets have finally started to realize that internal demand is the only saviour for the companies and the drought can play the spoiler for the fiscal earnings.
The situation has become so grim that even the RBI is not in a position to tighten the monetary policies and reduce the money supply in the system. The current drought provides less spending power to the citizens and thereby driving factory output down. This in turn means lesser profits for the manufacturing industry with problems of huge surplus inventories and a complete breakdown of the economic system.
At this point of time the government should prop up industrial activity to offset the weak monsoons and help its citizens. It should wait before hiking important monetary rates. It should provide subsidies for all possible goods.
Sincere efforts should be taken to contain inflation which is growing alarmingly to more than 10 percent over the past year. Price rises of important commodities would directly add to the problem of unemployment and poverty.
Now is the time to reduce interest rates by banks so that more people can take loans and revive the spending power of the masses. This can be done by pumping more money in microfinance based schemes and lending more to the poor. We certainly must realize that our greatest strength lies at the bottom at the pyramid and it alone has the capability to lift the nation back to the paths of glory...
As usual the monsoons this season have been erratic in nature. The stock markets in fact seem to be more predictable in the past months than the amount of rain showers expected in the country. Nevertheless despite all the technological advancements the wholly agrarian Indian economy is still at the mercy of rains.
The showers this season have been painfully lacking fervour. The total cumulative rainfall till now has been 26% below the long-term average and according to the latest data from Indian Meteorological Department, only 13 out of 35 states and union territories have recorded either normal or excess rainfall till August. These statistics make it the most profound drought situation in the last three decades.
The world over scientists have formulated a variety of theories for the lack of characteristic rains this season. Some have even reached conclusions which state that the end of the traditional Indian rainy season might be near and it might be soon replaced by longer dry spells and shorter wet spells.
More than 60 % of the Indian population is still dependent on agriculture. And one drought cycle is enough to play havoc with the spending capacities of the people in the economy. To top it up about 60 percent of Indians agriculture land is dependent on rains. The lack of rains spells further bad news for the billion plus citizens of the nation already suffering from the catastrophic effects of the world wide recession.
The Government of Indian has to some extent been able to tide the ill effects of a poor monsoon by already providing a huge farm loan waiver couple of years back and riding the progress of the nation on the back of a jubilant services sector. It is also to be credited to scrap the decision to export 900,000 tonnes of wheat and withhold the same as national reserves in case of a major drought situation. It has also announced plans to increase power supply and subsidize diesel to farmers to help them overcome the effects. The low rainfall will impact the summer as well as winter crop for the year as cultivation of important crops like rice, wheat, sugarcane and soya have suffered immensely.
The impact of less rainfall will be felt immensely on the of the world’s second fastest growing economy. And it will be significant in terms of the timing when the entire world is now trying to recover from the catastrophic effects of the recession. The rains for sure are going to impact the rural spending which now forms the backbone of the nation and is the major contributor to the GDP limping back to a healthy and optimistic 9 percent.
The sectors that have been badly affected are such as banks, automobiles including tractors, fertilizers, pesticides and agro-inputs, FMCG, and cement.
The Information technology sector has however been the least affected due to the virtually zero dependency on monsoons. The trend to outsource has in fact been helping several nations including India to counter the effects of the impending drought.
After gaining for the past five months the Indian stock markets have finally started to realize that internal demand is the only saviour for the companies and the drought can play the spoiler for the fiscal earnings.
The situation has become so grim that even the RBI is not in a position to tighten the monetary policies and reduce the money supply in the system. The current drought provides less spending power to the citizens and thereby driving factory output down. This in turn means lesser profits for the manufacturing industry with problems of huge surplus inventories and a complete breakdown of the economic system.
At this point of time the government should prop up industrial activity to offset the weak monsoons and help its citizens. It should wait before hiking important monetary rates. It should provide subsidies for all possible goods.
Sincere efforts should be taken to contain inflation which is growing alarmingly to more than 10 percent over the past year. Price rises of important commodities would directly add to the problem of unemployment and poverty.
Now is the time to reduce interest rates by banks so that more people can take loans and revive the spending power of the masses. This can be done by pumping more money in microfinance based schemes and lending more to the poor. We certainly must realize that our greatest strength lies at the bottom at the pyramid and it alone has the capability to lift the nation back to the paths of glory...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Hydro crisis..
The rains seem to have finally caught up with in the city after being a recluse for about one month. And as usual my loyalty towards the met department once again took a beating for handing over counterfeit dates about the early onset of monsoons this year..
Blaming the rain gods and the met dept. just seem to be the tip of the iceberg as far as the hydro management crisis in my household or in fact the whole city of Mumbai is concerned.
Unlike countries like Great Britain where the weather seems to the most important topic of discussion over a pint of beer,leisure takes a sorrow turn when our very own lakes start running dry..This now may start seeming more like a environment conservation documentary but the dilemma each monsoon puts us all Indians is certainly way beyond that friendly chilled pint of beer..
The pump machinery in my house ceases to suck in enough water through the pipes anymore and the water crisis deepens not only in the household but also the neighbourhood. To counter this challenge I end up installing an even higher capacity motor pump. But to my sheer disbelief the results are absolutely dismal. All I get is a higher electricity bill with the same old trickling droplets of water in the source pipes..
Just a today ago the harsh truth dawned upon me that about 20 percent of the water is actually wasted by leakage.Now that's comes down to a huge number considering the enormous amounts of the precious liquid consumed by us on a daily basis.At least now I know where exactly the bulk of the supply is getting wasted on the way to my house. Things are not going to improve till the rains play hide and seek with the inhabitants of the nation.Lest the human evolution undergoes a drastic manipulation of genes and enables us to consume saline ocean water,days of a big catastrophe would not be far from now..
Wish the rain Gods spare me and country from a drought and help avert a calamity in the making..For all those around please save water..The end might be near...
Blaming the rain gods and the met dept. just seem to be the tip of the iceberg as far as the hydro management crisis in my household or in fact the whole city of Mumbai is concerned.
Unlike countries like Great Britain where the weather seems to the most important topic of discussion over a pint of beer,leisure takes a sorrow turn when our very own lakes start running dry..This now may start seeming more like a environment conservation documentary but the dilemma each monsoon puts us all Indians is certainly way beyond that friendly chilled pint of beer..
The pump machinery in my house ceases to suck in enough water through the pipes anymore and the water crisis deepens not only in the household but also the neighbourhood. To counter this challenge I end up installing an even higher capacity motor pump. But to my sheer disbelief the results are absolutely dismal. All I get is a higher electricity bill with the same old trickling droplets of water in the source pipes..
Just a today ago the harsh truth dawned upon me that about 20 percent of the water is actually wasted by leakage.Now that's comes down to a huge number considering the enormous amounts of the precious liquid consumed by us on a daily basis.At least now I know where exactly the bulk of the supply is getting wasted on the way to my house. Things are not going to improve till the rains play hide and seek with the inhabitants of the nation.Lest the human evolution undergoes a drastic manipulation of genes and enables us to consume saline ocean water,days of a big catastrophe would not be far from now..
Wish the rain Gods spare me and country from a drought and help avert a calamity in the making..For all those around please save water..The end might be near...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Cricket cricket everywhere...
Phew...Just a few days back and I was super excited at the prospects of Team Hyderabad winning the second version of IPL.And in style they won. Not less than two weeks and the mania is back. The popularity of T20 seems to be going overboard with every month and everyone seems to be cashing in on it. But how much seems to be enough?
Thanks to the men of the earlier decades that we still have some other games like soccer and tennis in the offing which saves us from the over whelming dosage of cricket. Though I cant deny the fact the cricket is and will remain the most popular game in my country India, but the fact is do we need to buy each and everything offered in the name of cricket? After all I certainly can't deny the fact it is the only game to have brought pride to the nation time and again.
After all the hoopla, the World Cup T20 starts of today in England, another cricket crazy nation. Though it seems now-a-days that the game actually originated in the Indian sub-continent rather than in England. The inaugural ceremony though turned out to be the damp squid thanks to the heavens downpour. And by Gods Grace, thankfully, I won’t see Mandira Bedi with her most weird hairstyles and awful costumes.This time we have a newer face Shonali Nagrani for Company who adds the oomph factor to the game. Though she has been given the task to sit in the studio and ask some stupid questions and simultaneously doling out 10,000 Rs for a right answer, she does add to the glamour of the game.
And good news to all those people like me who even after browsing through the so called entertainment channels for hours cannot find anything worth viewing. At least I know what exactly I will go through when I sit back and watch a T20 match for the entire three hours.
Over to the game, it should be a smooth sailing for us since we play minnow teams Ireland and Bangladesh in the group matches. And to top it all one thing that's surely attractive is the T20 World Cup trophy which is much prettier as compared to the badly designed IPL trophy. On the flip side the cheerleaders are absolutely next to trash!! Can you in your wildest of dreams imagine a T20 match without the pretty cheerleaders dancing their way at each and every big move in the game? Over the 2 years, I have started associating T20 with cheerleaders and lo there are a few of them hopelessly shaking a leg or two as if they haven't been paid their dues.This would definitely take away the eye candy of many such ardent fans.
But we, particularly as Indians have reasons to keep our heads high. One, we are the defending champions and without doubt would want to retain the crown with us and two, I was delighted to see two of our very own brands Reliance Mobile and Hero Honda with their banners right in the center of the field. Now that's what I call an achievement as far as Corporate India is concerned which proves India as a nation surely has the capabilities to rescue the world out of this economic crisis.
Here's wishing the Indian Cricket Team to go for it once again and prove that they are and will be the King of T20...
Thanks to the men of the earlier decades that we still have some other games like soccer and tennis in the offing which saves us from the over whelming dosage of cricket. Though I cant deny the fact the cricket is and will remain the most popular game in my country India, but the fact is do we need to buy each and everything offered in the name of cricket? After all I certainly can't deny the fact it is the only game to have brought pride to the nation time and again.
After all the hoopla, the World Cup T20 starts of today in England, another cricket crazy nation. Though it seems now-a-days that the game actually originated in the Indian sub-continent rather than in England. The inaugural ceremony though turned out to be the damp squid thanks to the heavens downpour. And by Gods Grace, thankfully, I won’t see Mandira Bedi with her most weird hairstyles and awful costumes.This time we have a newer face Shonali Nagrani for Company who adds the oomph factor to the game. Though she has been given the task to sit in the studio and ask some stupid questions and simultaneously doling out 10,000 Rs for a right answer, she does add to the glamour of the game.
And good news to all those people like me who even after browsing through the so called entertainment channels for hours cannot find anything worth viewing. At least I know what exactly I will go through when I sit back and watch a T20 match for the entire three hours.
Over to the game, it should be a smooth sailing for us since we play minnow teams Ireland and Bangladesh in the group matches. And to top it all one thing that's surely attractive is the T20 World Cup trophy which is much prettier as compared to the badly designed IPL trophy. On the flip side the cheerleaders are absolutely next to trash!! Can you in your wildest of dreams imagine a T20 match without the pretty cheerleaders dancing their way at each and every big move in the game? Over the 2 years, I have started associating T20 with cheerleaders and lo there are a few of them hopelessly shaking a leg or two as if they haven't been paid their dues.This would definitely take away the eye candy of many such ardent fans.
But we, particularly as Indians have reasons to keep our heads high. One, we are the defending champions and without doubt would want to retain the crown with us and two, I was delighted to see two of our very own brands Reliance Mobile and Hero Honda with their banners right in the center of the field. Now that's what I call an achievement as far as Corporate India is concerned which proves India as a nation surely has the capabilities to rescue the world out of this economic crisis.
Here's wishing the Indian Cricket Team to go for it once again and prove that they are and will be the King of T20...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A day lost....
Just another usual yesterday and things were moving at a smooth (read ridiculously slow) pace as usual. Morning passes by doing daily unimportant activities and follows the so very important homemade lunch which I feel still deprived off after surviving away from home for more than two years. The thought of having a sumptuous lunch makes me feel lethargic; forget about actually gulping down the plate full.
And no sooner than this, the indolent brains inside my head signalled the start of ultra sluggish behaviour and lead me into to the "Go to Bed" syndrome. Having taken a resolution to avoid moving into deep slumber after every meal, I decided to switch on the PC to help me survive the sleep onslaught. And then came a shocker, I was literally stunned when I saw the system flashing a limited connectivity in front of my eyes. That signalled the end of my laxity and coaxed my mind into contemplating the world of possibilities without my dear Internet connection.
Surely in this Internet age, life doesn’t get a better best friend than the small little two computers that sit on the right hand of our monitor screens. Getting connected suddenly seemed to be the most important mission of my life. After hurling several imaginary abuses at the MTNL guys for suddenly disconnecting my life (from the Internet), started the grand endeavour of resurrecting my Internet connection.
As expected, the so called help lines (call centres) lived up to their reputation of being of absolutely no help. On dialling the supposed magic digits, as usual I was greeted with the world famous "You are in Queue. Please dial after some time" recorded message. I think MTNL should take a cue from the private companies who at least take the pains to record such cliché messages in beautiful female voices. Nevertheless, after around five minutes of forced torture some lady finally took pity on me and took the call. And then within the next 15 seconds it was all over. Bang! She kept the receiver after handing me over the mandatory complaint number, even before I could ask her the countless questions that I had in my mind. And subsequently, I was pushed into the lifeless world of no connectivity with no orkut,no gtalk,no Internet banking, no moneycontrol.....Life seemed to be going nowhere and came to a complete standstill for the first time ever. I took solace in the sole source of entertainment called 'Television' which perhaps could console me just for half n hour (with the innumerable amount of junk available).
But that was not all. On making several futile attempts (which also included me bashing up the same lady on phone for her utter dismal behaviour at rescuing me out from the connectionless life) at resurrecting my Internet connection, the truth finally dawned upon me that there was a major server failure and the whole network was affected. After this, started the endless wait hoping that the MTNL guys do wake up from their slumber and get going at some CRM in order to retain grumpy customers like me. For the first time in life, I realised the horror all clients go through when he/she faces an issue and we as employees, sometimes though, get over with our tea/coffee breaks.
The no connectivity syndrome not only made me feel restless but also drained me of my emotional health.The only hope around was to expect a miracle and the servers would stand up right on their feet.After going through the entire ordeal for some 30 hours, life finally returned a whole circle and thankfully I was back on internet with my mind full of wierd thoughts about the day lost in my life...
And no sooner than this, the indolent brains inside my head signalled the start of ultra sluggish behaviour and lead me into to the "Go to Bed" syndrome. Having taken a resolution to avoid moving into deep slumber after every meal, I decided to switch on the PC to help me survive the sleep onslaught. And then came a shocker, I was literally stunned when I saw the system flashing a limited connectivity in front of my eyes. That signalled the end of my laxity and coaxed my mind into contemplating the world of possibilities without my dear Internet connection.
Surely in this Internet age, life doesn’t get a better best friend than the small little two computers that sit on the right hand of our monitor screens. Getting connected suddenly seemed to be the most important mission of my life. After hurling several imaginary abuses at the MTNL guys for suddenly disconnecting my life (from the Internet), started the grand endeavour of resurrecting my Internet connection.
As expected, the so called help lines (call centres) lived up to their reputation of being of absolutely no help. On dialling the supposed magic digits, as usual I was greeted with the world famous "You are in Queue. Please dial after some time" recorded message. I think MTNL should take a cue from the private companies who at least take the pains to record such cliché messages in beautiful female voices. Nevertheless, after around five minutes of forced torture some lady finally took pity on me and took the call. And then within the next 15 seconds it was all over. Bang! She kept the receiver after handing me over the mandatory complaint number, even before I could ask her the countless questions that I had in my mind. And subsequently, I was pushed into the lifeless world of no connectivity with no orkut,no gtalk,no Internet banking, no moneycontrol.....Life seemed to be going nowhere and came to a complete standstill for the first time ever. I took solace in the sole source of entertainment called 'Television' which perhaps could console me just for half n hour (with the innumerable amount of junk available).
But that was not all. On making several futile attempts (which also included me bashing up the same lady on phone for her utter dismal behaviour at rescuing me out from the connectionless life) at resurrecting my Internet connection, the truth finally dawned upon me that there was a major server failure and the whole network was affected. After this, started the endless wait hoping that the MTNL guys do wake up from their slumber and get going at some CRM in order to retain grumpy customers like me. For the first time in life, I realised the horror all clients go through when he/she faces an issue and we as employees, sometimes though, get over with our tea/coffee breaks.
The no connectivity syndrome not only made me feel restless but also drained me of my emotional health.The only hope around was to expect a miracle and the servers would stand up right on their feet.After going through the entire ordeal for some 30 hours, life finally returned a whole circle and thankfully I was back on internet with my mind full of wierd thoughts about the day lost in my life...
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